Karaoké Me and the Sky Come From Away (musical) (Jenn Colella)

My parents must have thought they had a crazy kid

'Cos I was one of those kids who always knew what I wanted

They took me down to the airport to see all the planes departing

Watching them fly something inside of me was starting

I was eight when I told them that I'd be a pilot

But I was too young and too short

And there were no female captains

And my dad said "Be patient"

He said

"Just see what happens"

But I took my first lesson came down from the sky

And told my father I'd fly for the rest of my life

And I got my first job flying for a mortician

In a tiny Bonanza just a corpse and me

Five dollars an hour for flying dead bodies

I had to climb over their faces just to get to my seat

Then suddenly the wheels lift off

The ground is falling backwards

I am suddenly alive

Suddenly I'm in the cockpit

Suddenly everything's changed

Suddenly I'm not too young or too short

And the passengers in the back don't complain

Suddenly I'm flying company charters

Suddenly everything's high

Suddenly there's nothing in between me and the sky

American Airlines had the prettiest planes

So I applied as a flight engineer

But the World War Two pilots they all complained

They said "Girls shouldn't be in the cockpit"

"Hey lady, hey baby, hey

Why don't you grab us a drink?"

And the flight attendants weren't my friends back then

And they said "Are you better than us, do you think?"

But I kept getting hired

And the World War Two crew they retired

And the girls all thought much higher of me

Nineteen eighty-six the first female American captain in history

Suddenly I'm in the cockpit

Suddenly I've got my wings

Suddenly all of those pilots protesting me

Well, they can get their own drinks, haha!

Suddenly there's no one saying "Stay grounded"

Looking down, passing them by

Suddenly there's nothing in between me and the sky

Suddenly I've got an all-female crew

The news talked, it made headlines across the world

Suddenly it stopped

No one saying "You can't" or

"You won't" or "You know you're not anything 'cos you're a girl"

Suddenly I'm getting married

And we're putting pins on the map where we've flown

Suddenly I am a mother

And suddenly shocked at how much they've grown

Suddenly I'm wondering how my parents would feel

Seeing me teaching men to be pilots

'Cos suddenly I am a senior instructor

And somehow I'm fifty-one

Suddenly I'm flying

Paris to Dallas

Across the Atlantic and feeling calm

When suddenly someone on air-to-air traffic says

"At eight forty-six there's been a terrorist action"

And the one thing I loved more than anything was used as the bomb

Suddenly I'm in a hotel

Suddenly something has died

Suddenly there's something in between me and the sky