Comments auto-close after one month but I received this one by email from Robert R.

“ Hi. I noted that the comments section on this article is closed already. Anyway I'd like to mention that I fully agree with the context of your reflections, and also would point you to three songs with similar messages.

It has absolutely nothing to do with any "macho attitude" to accept and welcome responsibility and value the term "duty" even when this would result in personal unfavorable consequences. Much to my despair, this is widely disparaged as "old white male" demeanor .. often combined with fierce rigor and invective, reminding me of Orwell's 1984 ... which, combined with Newspeak, Genderism, Cancel "Culture", and Political Correctness causes me to feel we are amidst a cultural civil war.

Three songs comparable to "Big Bad John"'s keynote I'd like to bring to your attention:

#1 Tom Paxton - The Bravest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFz3VHDHn2c
#2 Marty Robbins - Utah Carol
#3 Marty Robbins - Ride Cowboy Ride

#1 is IMHO the best tribute to the WTC firemen on 9/11, and certainly not a song for the kind of people we call "Snowflakes" here.

Here are the lyrics:

The first plane hit the other tower, right after I came in
It left a fiery, gaping hole where offices had been
We stood and watched in horror, as we saw the first ones fall
Then someone yelled, "Get out, get out, they're trying to kill us all"

I grabbed the pictures from my desk and joined the flight for life
With every step I called the names of my children and my wife
And then we heard them coming up, from several floors below
A crowd of firefighters with their heavy gear in tow

Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down

And when we met them on the stairs, they said we were too slow
"Get out, get out", they yelled at us, "The whole thing's gonna go"
They didn't have to tell us twice, we'd seen the world on fire
We kept on running down the stairs, while they kept climbing higher

Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down

Thank God, we made it to the street, we ran through ash and smoke
I didn't know which way to run, I thought that I would choke
A fireman took me by the arm and he pointed me uptown
And, "Christ", I heard him whisper, as the tower came roaring down

So now I go to funerals for men I never knew
The pipers play 'Amazing Grace' as the coffins come in view
They must have seen it coming when they turned to face the fire
They sent us down to safety, then they kept on climbing higher

Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down”