Allaire to Nowhere

Two brothers up in Minnesota, winter ninety-five Built a little engine just to bring the web alive One tag and a query, simple as a prayer And they signed it with the family name - they called the company Allaire Nobody saw it coming, what a basement dream could do By the time the century turned over, the web was running through It's a long road from Allaire to nowhere Funny how nowhere never came Every sign said dead end up ahead there But the wheels kept turning just the same From Allaire to nowhere - and back again Then the big fish came in oh-one, swallowed up the small Macromedia colors flying in the hall They tore her down to nothing, rebuilt her bones anew Raised her up on Java, showed her Flash how to move Some swore it was the ending, the obituary ran But the brothers' little engine didn't read it - didn't give a damn It's a long road from Allaire to nowhere Funny how nowhere never came Every sign said dead end up ahead there But the wheels kept turning just the same From Allaire to nowhere - and back again Oh-five, another wedding, now the name on the door says Adobe Third set of business cards, same old code below And the family started splitting like a church out on the plain Some went off with Railo, then Lucee took the flame Different hymnals, same religion, same amen at the end A tag's a tag in any house - denominations, still kin Now there's a grandchild they call BoxLang, running young and running free Doesn't look much like the brothers - but it's got the family teeth And the schoolyards teach in Python, the headlines moved along Nobody writes about the old roads.. that's how you know they're still strong Thirty years of winters since that basement up north Courthouses and quiet banks still sending traffic forth The brothers both moved on now, the way that founders do But you don't have to stay to keep a promise - the promise carries you And somewhere in a server room, tonight, just like before A little engine takes a request.. and serves up one page more It's a long road from Allaire to nowhere Funny how nowhere never came Every sign said dead end up ahead there But the wheels kept turning just the same It's a long road, and it ain't over Thirty years and running, through the rain From Allaire to nowhere - and back again ..but the old machine still hums.