Gates of hell

Pipers play laments in the distance
These days you seem to hear them everywhere
A sea of blue stands to attention
The mother walks down the chapel stairs
Through her crying eyes she watches her Paddy
As the shoulders carry her son away
Neighbours and friends just shake their heads
Coz they know there's nothing you can say

Folks figure Paddy, he's gone up into heaven
Coz he went missing at the gates of hell
Now the sun's setting down on the Rockaway ground
And when it's coming back just no one can tell

I met him in the canyon of heroes
When Lord Stanley finally came down Broadway
He was singing and dancing and drinking and laughing
Celebrating until the next day
Now there's a whole new canyon of heroes
Full of people who seem like me and you
But it's no ordinary guy who steps into the tide
And then tells you, "It's just what I do"

I walk into the autumn morning
Trying to make some sense of it at all
Then a fighter jet flies straight right over my head