[Intro: Arena-rock male lead, heavy and slow] Stairwell B One hundred and ten [Verse 1: Arena-rock male lead, steady and strong] Sixty pounds of turnout gear and a mask across my face Number on my back and a helmet in its place Clipped onto my belt, the one that never made it down Rafa's name in marker on the leather of the crown Every year they line us up at the bottom of the tower Firemen from every city climbing for an hour Some go up for medals, some go up to beat the clock I go up for the man who taught me how to climb a block [Chorus: Arena-rock male lead, full force] Every flight I climb, I carry two One for me and one I'm holding up for you Every step is heavy but I'm walking it through Every flight I climb, I carry two [Verse 2: Arena-rock male lead, footstep kick on every step] Floor forty, lungs on fire, legs like they're full of sand Floor sixty, I can hear you saying keep the rail in hand Floor eighty, I am crying and the mask is fogging white Floor ninety, I can't feel a thing except the light Floor one hundred, there's a window and the city's down below Floor one ten, I hit the landing and I've got no more to go People clapping, someone hands me water and a medal on a string And I look down at your helmet and it doesn't mean a thing [Chorus: Arena-rock male lead, full force] Every flight I climb, I carry two One for me and one I'm holding up for you Every step is heavy but I'm walking it through Every flight I climb, I carry two [Bridge: Arena-rock male lead, rising] You were on the thirtieth when the floor gave out You never got to finish, never got to shout I put the medal in my pocket and I rode it to the ground Walked back to the bottom, and I turned myself around [Verse 3: Arena-rock male lead, second climb, twice as hard] Volunteers are shouting, sir, the race is done I said not for him, it isn't, he still has one to run Every flight a second time, the helmet in my hand Forty, sixty, eighty, ninety, I can barely stand Half the guys who finished came back in to climb behind Thirty men in turnout gear, a hundred in a line Reaching the top together and they hang his helmet high Every flight I climbed for you, brother, we finally arrived [Chorus: Arena-rock male lead, full force] Every flight I climb, I carry two One for me and one I'm holding up for you Every step is heavy but I'm walking it through Every flight I climb, I carry two [End]
