John Prine - Wonderful 99 lyrics

You've heard about the dirty dozen and the tales of the green beret The men that sank the bismarck and the fighting c.i. a. But if you're talkin' danger then one name comes to mind Make an unwise decision call the wonderful 99 It was way back in the nineties a dollar still was worth a dime An international coincidence made newsweek and time A hundred brave men or women, give or take a few Got started on a friday night by monday they were back in school Two kings, a pope, and the president of the denver savings and loan Made and unwise decision, wished they'd stayed at home A missile launching pad didn't go as planned The wonderful 99 were called to deliver it by hand 99 brave soldiers in 99 pair of keds Lookin' for a motel 6 with 99 twin beds A place to park a missile an watch some cable news Maybe rent the top gun video and grimace like tom cruise Now there's 99 yellow ribbons around the old oak tree Most of it's top secret, the rest is history It's been a couple weeks now, how the memory fades with time Of an unwise decision and the wonderful 99