We are who we were, we grow and we learn, we learn and evolve and transform
We are who we were, we grow and we learn, we learn and evolve and transform
So who was Ned before?
Who was Ned before?
Before he moved to the Mohawk Valley…

He was born in the fifties, grew up in the sixties
Came out in ‘78
He was a product of privilege and a product of wealth
He was poised to be rich and be great
He got his degrees from universities in finance and business galore
He moved to New York and got a job at the top of a tower, cocked to the core
As the 80s began he was hungry and able
He invested impressive amounts
His bosses were pleased, he fudged all his fees
He believed a man’s worth is what counts
And so it was and so it went for twenty-plus odd years
Ned the hard-ass banker man
Ned the stressed out suit, the downtown dweller

Those decades were fast and those decades were dark
Monstrous fortunes were made
Ned fell in love with a man in the park and the man had the gay plague
Nobody knew how to treat it or beat it
Reagan ignored it was real
Ned’s lover died alone in the hospital
Ned taught himself not to feel
He was lucky to live, he was not infected
He buried his hurt and his pain
He lost himself in his work, his stocks went berserk
And Ned rose to Wall Street fame

Yes, it’s safe to say Y2K was a bust
By then Ned was a billionaire
He was overweight and overworked and a heart attack waiting to happen

He was a company man
He was a company man
He was a company man

On the morning it happened Ned had an appointment in his office on the 69th floor
He got in at eight, he never was late
Whatever he had he could always make more
He happened to look out and up and at Tower One at 8:46
The airplane came fast, flew in with a flash
And Ned thought, “I can’t believe this”
His co-workers screamed, his bosses appeared
They all knew that danger was near
Ned thought, “If airplanes are targeting towers we gotta get folks out of here”

Then commotion ensued and the folks were confused
An announcement came on the P.A.
“Listen to me, this is the Port Authority
You’ll be safe if you stay where you are.
The South Tower is good, the South Tower is strong
You’ll be safe if you stay at your desk.”
The people calmed down, the people relaxed
It’s good to know what to expect
But Ned wasn’t buying it, Ned wasn’t sure
Ned simply did not agree
He looked out a window to the south and the west at the Statue of Liberty
He spotted the plane, he watched it fly in in a terrible trajectory
He watched it crash into the South Tower ten floors about him at 9:03
Oh Ned, Oh Ned
Thousands of people will be dead

The building exploded, the deafening noise assaulted their ears and their minds
And folks who were wealthy and folks who were not
Were suddenly all terrified
Ned saw it happen and Ned saw the danger and Ned’s intuition kicked in:
“We’ve gotta get people through hallways to stairways, we’ve gotta get people out now”
He calmed them all down
They were cooled by the sound of a man who was steady and clear
He brought them together down 69 floors and he sang to them, quelling their fears
They emerged from the building at 9:51
In the sun they were blinking and fine
They were walking away, feeling almost okay, when the tower collapsed at 9:59
They all ran for cover, they jumped in an alcove, with Ned again in the lead
In the smoke and the ash, through the screams and the terror and the coughs
Not a single employee was lost

He was a company (wonderful) man
He was a company (wonderful) man
He was a company (wonderful) man

An era was over, the towers were gone
The city was never the same
Ned went to his boss at the end of the month and said, “I gotta get out of the game”
He sold his place and he moved upstate where the air was quiet and clear
In the Mohawk Valley he started over again while the country collapsed into fear
It took several years to release and unwind and to find the sweetness in a simpler life
But Ned had the cash and Ned had the time to heal his heart and transform his mind
And do his part to end the cycle of violence