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The Mann Gulch Fire (The Wag Dodge Escape)

from Honey If You're Lucky by Stranger in the Alps

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lyrics

it was the hottest day on record
when the mann gulch went alight
the call went out and wagner dodge
and fourteen men took flight
they flew down to the far side of the river
dodge said boys it's all right
every man's gotta face a fire sooner or later
every man's gotta learn to fight

dodge thought that the river bed
would keep the flames at bay
he never guessed the wind would change
and carry the embers their way
but like a devil dancing the fire jumped
and landed on the other side
and wagner dodge and fourteen men
started running for their lives

don't you run like hell boys
stop and turn around
that fire's loud as heaven
and the flames are bearing down
mama said don't play with matches
you might burn up where you stand
but sometimes you gotta fight the fire you can't control
with the one you can

a two storey high inferno
moving like a train
all dodge and his boys could do
was run and pray for rain
but the only intervention coming
that day was the sound
of whatever told wagner dodge
the stop and hold his ground

he lit a match and burned away
the grass around his feet
he wet a rag and held it
on his mouth so he could breathe
then he lay down in those cinders
that were smoldering on the ground
and like the hell the mann gulch fire
came roaring all around

don't you run like hell boys
stop and turn around
that fire's loud as heaven
and the flames are bearing down
mama said don't play with matches
you might burn up where you stand
but sometimes you gotta fight the fire you can't control
with the one you can

at thirty miles an hour
and two thousand degrees
the fire torched the grass
and seared the bark off all the trees
and thirteen unlucky men
burned alive that day
but from the ashes wagner dodge
got up and walked away

they asked dodge how he knew
his plan would work so well
he told them that he didn't
that he was scared as hell
but a fire's only as strong
as what you feed it to survive
burn it all you're left with nothing
but you might get out alive

so i'm sorry babe
i know i've been a coward and a liar
and i'm guessing it was probably me
who first started that fire
but if we keep on running now
we'll surely end up dead
so strike a match
and let's lay down here in these flames instead

don't you run like hell boys
stop and turn around
that fire's loud as heaven
and the flames are bearing down
mama said don't play with matches
you might burn up where you stand
but sometimes you gotta fight the fire you can't control
with the one you can

credits

from Honey If You're Lucky, released December 10, 2013
written by steve kolowich
produced by louis weeks
performed by kolowich with noah bein, bernardo guzman, travis lyon, xaq rothman, kristine teets, & brannon walsh
mixed by cory foley-marsello
mastered by mike monseur

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Stranger in the Alps Washington, D.C.

Stranger in the Alps is a singer-songwriter based in Washington, DC.

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