Tragedy of September 11

       This week in class we discussed the tragedies of 9/11 and the music that was released in solidarity of it. Our whole class was split into groups and given a list of songs relating to 9/11 to listen to and break down. After everyones presentations it was interesting to see how similar yet how different every song talks about 9/11. 

       Instead of talking about one song I thought it would be interesting to look into a couple of the songs presented and compare the similarities and differences while talking about 9/11. Im going to compare the songs "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen and "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. While obviously both songs are about 9/11 they have different perspectives and tones to them. Springsteen's song is told from the perspective of a firefighter and has more of a sad tone to it. The song starts off by saying "can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing behind me" referencing to the amounts of smoke and debris created by the towers being hit. It then goes on to say "lost track of how far I've gone, how far I've gone, how high I've climbed, on my back's a sixty pound stone, on my shoulder a half mile of line." This is talking about the firefighter in the building not being able to see how remember how far or high he has gone, and the amount of weight that is resting on him literally and figuratively. While the versus seem to be from the standpoint from a firefighter its almost as the chorus is referencing to those who lost their lives. The chorus says "Come on up for the rising, come on up lay your hands in mine." I feel like this is a reference to those who lost their lives and saying that they will rise to heaven and lay your hands in mine is referencing God taking them out of the horrible situation they are in. Overall this song has a message of sadness and fight during and after the attacks.

       In the song "Far Away" by Sleater Kinney. The story is told by someone who witnessed the attacks from home. The song starts off taking about an average day by saying “seven thirty a.m, Nurse the baby on the couch.” Reading these lyrics you can tell that the day of September 11, 2001 started off for people just as every other day would. The song then continues on to say “turn on the TV, watch the world explode in flames.” From this point on you can tell the story of the song will be based around the collapsing of the twin towers. The song then says "and the sky over head, is silent, waiting, clear blue holds its breath, and the heart is hit." This part of the song is talking about how it seems we were all waiting for that tower to fall and the attack to be over but instead we witness the second tower being hit. After it discusses the witnessing of the towers the song later says “And the president hides, While working men rush in, And give their lives.” This line talks about how so many people were risking their own lives to try and save others and prevent more deaths than what had already occurred while the president sat and hid in his office doing nothing but watching. Lastly this song has a repeated chorus which says  why cant I get along?... No other direction for this to go and we all fall down.” I feel like this line was repeated because after this event everyone felt a sense of defeat and didn’t know where to go from there. Almost as if our nation was torn apart by this terrible attack. While the lyrics of the song seem sad and defeated like most other tribute songs, while listening you actually get a sense of fear and rage.

       Both of these songs have such similar meaning but when listening to them you hear very different tones. Both songs pay tribute to the horrible events that happened that day and give us a look at the event from different perspectives. But overall Springsteen's song gives us a sense of sadness and determination while Kinney's song gives a tone of fear and rage. Its interesting to see how similar yet different songs about the same thing can be.