Ballad of Vitaly

In the German sky there once was a plane

It carried 71 children and their mothers to Spain

Well, this plane was sure somethin'

It was full of young Russians

Proudly to gander at topics discussin'

Now Pete the Swiss was doublin' shifts

Jugglin' the iron controlled by his lips

Not a minute too soon children fell to their doom

Struck dead in the air, orphan a father or two

He just laid in the alley

Now orphan Vitaly met a young girl, married her quickly

Was so damn in love that they had their two kids

Had a great job, construction in Spain

They were goin' to see Papa from Caucasus mountain range

Now that damn Swissman crashed them into a plane

I will find where he lives, speak to his face

With the blood in my eyes, he will see my pain

Many weeks passed, for fear of a suit

The airline said nothin', Vitaly turned blue

For the killin' they done, no apology made

Is it 'cause we are Russian you treat us this way?

Through a friend that he new Vitaly found Pete

He came to his doorstep expectin' to speak

But Pete blew him off, threw down the pictures Vi brought

Pictures of the three most important he lost

As the pictures fell down

Re-enacting the day

Vitaly's eye blackened

No human remained

Well, so much can be said

For a man in his shoes

There's no glamour in vengeance

There's only this rule

That the lives that you lost

Can never come back

And the deed in return

Is worse than the act

Blinded by love and the pain of his loss

He could not remember the act of assault

He awoke in his room all covered in blood

The cops they'd come knockin', they knew what he'd done

The government leaned

Vitaly was free

They called him the hero, a man above kings

A shadow of man, they were praising his deed

He was alone, killed a father of three

No deed that he did could make him complete

It could have been different if only Pete said

I'm sorry for killin' the few joys you had

But now there's nothin' for Vitaly to do

But step off a cliff or hang in the noose

Robbed of forgiveness that he could've gave

There's no man left to save