Italian Battalion Chief

Johnny T fought fires on the western side of Chicago
He was burned in a fire at the corner of Lake and Cicero
On a day that would leave a mark
The floor collapsed and it all went dark
But here comes the part with the angel voices so y'all best just hark
Johnny woke to a sound that was prettier than Judy Garland singing
It was an angel asking our hero how he was feeling
He said, "I guess I've died and gone to heaven"
She said, "I bet you say that to all the women"
And as the fog cleared Johnny found himself in a hospital bed
But he was still breathing
Our angel introduced herself as nurse Betsy
She was gonna help our hero get back to the line of duty
Johnny said, "That sounds fine to me"
Then he found himself a victim of irony
A life spent fighting fires
And here he was just trying to light a spark
And so began the world's slowest recovery
Anything Johnny could do to spend a little more time with Betsy
And she nursed him back to health
And for the second time he fell
But this time he wasn't alone, he fell for the lovely Betsy Bell
Those two kids ended up getting married and having a family
And Johnny became the first Italian battalion chief
Yeah, life, it was pretty sweet
And if you ask old Johnny what he think
He'd say getting burned up in that fire
Was the best thing that ever happened to me
So if there's a moral to our little story
Some life lesson to be learned from Johnny's journey
It's that sometimes life leaves a scar
A little reminder of how you got to where you are
Yeah, sometimes you gotta get a little bit hurt
If you wanna get to perfect