The story of Walk to Heaven

Ode to Dalma and Balázs

September 14, 1993. At 4 am that morning there was a large explosion in an apartment building located in Békásmegyer, a suburb outside of Budapest, Hungary. A man with mental health issues had been illegally storing flammable chemicals in his apartment and somehow they ignited. In the blaze that followed he was killed, along with his mother, and a next-door neighbor. On the floor directly above lived a family of four; a mom, a dad and 16-year-old twin siblings Dalma and Balázs.

The parents were killed in the initial blast, but the twins survived, only to realize they were trapped by flames and rubble. As horrified neighbors listened, the twins called for help, and debated jumping to safety. Despite the pleas of those near enough to hear them . . . they leaped to their deaths. When the bodies were found under the smoldering rubble their hands were still clenched tightly together.

The scene of the tragedy.

The narration above is what Walk to Heaven is about, and I'm very sorry to say it is a true story. I was teaching high school in Pécs at the time, with students about the same age as Dalma and Balázs. I even had students with the same names in my classes. The sadness of this story really hit me hard, and it still hurts to this day. It could have been anyone - but for some reason it was them.

I wrote this song when I was living in Pécs, where I had a band with Juhász Kornél and a couple of other local musicians. One day at rehearsal the drummer said "Let's play the happy song!". He didn't speak English and so he was only going off of the beat and energy of the song. Unfortunately I had to tell him the truth. It isn't really a happy song, quite the opposite actually. I like to think of it as a celebration though, rather than a dirge.

Many families across Europe live in similar apartments.

It is an honor to dedicate this song to Dalma and Balázs, and some day I hope to complete a video as well. It is the least I can do, as a way to preserve their memory and as an acknowledgment that life can end suddenly and horribly, through no fault of our own. There really are no lessons to be learned from this other than sometimes tragedies occur. And we can all be thankful for every day we have without something similar happening to us or those we love.

Hear "Walk to Heaven" on the Songs page

Hungarian newspaper articles about the accident.

Walk to Heaven lyrics

Wake up Dalma I think we must run into the night

There’s something not right, there’s too much light

Sister dear I fear we have to leap for life below

Oh no, cause there’s no place else to go

Balázs tell me tell me why, oh why we have to fly

Something’s not right, there’s too much light

We came into this world together, together you and I

Oh why, why together we must fly

So take my hand (take my hand)

Don’t look down (don’t look down]

Help me say a prayer, before we reach the ground

I can see the fire reflecting in your eyes

So let’s take a walk to heaven

See you on the other side

Help me if you can I can’t go now oh no

I just want to live my life

May the angels help us float on down and float up in to heaven’s light

So take my hand . . .

Don’t look down . . .

Help me say a prayer . . .