What Have I Done

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Don Chandler checked the altimeter, thirty thousand up Oxygen mask strapped tight against his face The 727 hums, the back ramp opens wide He steps into the cold and leaves the plane No cord, no prayer, just falling through the blue The stratosphere goes quiet as he drops [Verse 2] The earth spins up to meet him, white and far below He sees his wife Dawn standing in the kitchen light He sees his daughter Zoe drawing at the table Two faces burning brighter than the sun He tumbles, free and fearless, till the sky turns black Then a crack of lightning splits the air [Chorus] Pull the cord, Don Chandler, pull the cord The thunder's coming down like a hammer on the stone Pull the cord, Don Chandler, don't you wait Dawn and Zoe need you coming home [Verse 3] The ripcord snaps, the canopy blooms wide A bolt of lightning finds the silk and sets it burning The angle cords go slack, the fabric turns to smoke He cuts away and falls again alone The second chute deploys a hundred feet from ground He hits the summit hard and does not move [Chorus] Pull the cord, Don Chandler, pull the cord The thunder's coming down like a hammer on the stone Pull the cord, Don Chandler, don't you wait Dawn and Zoe need you coming home [Bridge] Above the clouds he wanted just to prove he wasn't scared But the mountain doesn't care what name you carry He lies there on the ice with the wind across his face And thinks of Zoe's drawing on the table [Chorus] Pull the cord, Don Chandler, pull the cord The thunder's coming down like a hammer on the stone Pull the cord, Don Chandler, don't you wait Dawn and Zoe need you coming home [Outro] Thirty thousand feet of sky behind him now The summit holds him like a hand Dawn and Zoe, Dawn and Zoe Coming home