The Wrong Tornado

Well the barn blew away and the tractor too,

The chickens were scattered on Route 22;

A year to the day since the big one came

and wrecked the county seat and the Sheffield train.

Daddy in the yard full of shingles and nails,

the satellite dish and goose-egg hail;

The phone line sparkin' in the last of the rain

and the gas line broken with a big blue flame.

But they all just recall the big one that tore

through the center of town the year before,

it was just as bad if you were in the thick of it

but people don't care they just get sick of it

Daddy got hit by the wrong tornado

nobody remembers at all.

Insurance man denied his claim

you filed a year too late, so who's to blame,

Daddy replied That's what they all say,

but nobody listens they just walk away.

He still finds remnants stuck in the trees,

a ragged old shirt and some rusty keys;

from a day that was lost like its calendar page

miles away in the storm's dark rage.

Now the winds have shifted and the radar's clear,

But deep in the night Daddy still hears

the drop in the wind and the freight train rumble,

the siding tear and the chimney tumble,

but Daddy got hit by the wrong tornado,

nobody remembers at all.

And you'd take to drinkin' if it happened it you,

you can't blame him but you always do;

Your life in ruins and your dreams all shot,

and all of the people just forgot.

But Daddy got hit by the wrong tornado,

nobody remembers at all.