(Dolly Parton)      As we were dressing to go out our little girl and boy   Came in and asked if they could go this time   We told them little girls and boys don't belong at parties   And that they should be in bed asleep by nine.      The babysitter came in then   And we kissed the kids goodbye   And told them that we'd be home soon   And told them not to cry.      Then we left for the party   Like we'd so often done   Thinking only of ourselves   And not our little ones.      The party started out wild   And it grew wilder as the night wore on   With drinking, laughing, telling dirty jokes   Nobody thinkin' of home.      Then the strangest feeling came over me   And it chilled me to the bones   And I told my wife that we'd better leave the party   'Cause I felt that we were needed at home.      As we rode along I got to thinking   Of how the kids that morning had asked   If we would take them to church the next day   And how I'd put 'em off like I'd so often done.      By saying we'd probably get home too late   Then my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sirens   As they cut through the still night air   Then we turned down our street that's when we saw the fire.      The rest was like a nightmare   We took their little bodies to church the next day   Though we'd left the party early   We still got home too late...