The "New" New York

The “New” New York

            In class this week we talked about the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the music that many artists created after the fact. My group analyzed and presented about the song “New New York” by The Cranberries. This song intrigued me initially because of the title. As many people know the tragedies that occurred changed much more than just the New York skyline, when the towers went down safety protocols all across the country changed. 

            This song opens with “New New York skyline, wounds they heal in time/Don’t crawl and don’t despair, it’s a new New York today”. This line tells about how the country as a whole is suffering and although they feel pain now, that will all heal in time. The song then moves into the next verse which repeats in different ways throughout the song. This verse says, “I look across these city streets, my heart is numb it still beats/ Nothing to say-y, there’s nothing to say-y/ I look across this empty room, my heart is still in bloom/ There’s nothing to say-y, I only can pray-y”, this really shows how the artist felt a personal connection to the song and how watching the events unfold touched each and every person. This verse of the song uses the poetic device repetition, this really drives the point that the artist is trying to make. 

            This song is a great example of how artists wrote about the tragedies of 9/11. They not only wrote about the attacks, but also about their personal experiences. This is important because it really shows how individual the reactions of the American people were after the tragic event.