The Impact 9/11 Had on Me

This week in class we talked about the way music developed around the time of the gulf wars, 9/11, and Afghanistan. I was only 3 at the time of 9/11 but, I will always remember what happened and the way people reacted. I won’t personally ever understand what people were going threw but I can only imagine how awful and heartbreaking it was. Personally 9/11 affected my life because my dad is a Marine, I would say was a Marine but they have a saying, once a Marine, always a Marine and I would hate to disrespect that. My dad wanted nothing more than to join and fight again after what happened on 9/11/2002 and I always wonder, what if my mom hadn’t been pregnant and he did? As I said I can’t personally connect to anyone about that incident but I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be in New York on that day. People everywhere were scared, they had no idea what had happened or if their was going to be any more attacks. The east coast was affected more than the west simply because we were closer to the incident. Although we were closer, people everywhere extended their help or anything they could to those in need, including singers and songwriters. When something tragic and explainable happens, people look for answers, for ways to cope, for a remedy for their pain, anything that will take the pain away, even if it’s only a 3 minute song. Many songs came out after 9/11 about the incident and how people came together and dealt with it. There is one song in particular that always sticks in my head when I think of music related to 9/11. The chorus especially always makes me think, a few of the lines are “Have you forgotten how it felt that day, To see your homeland under fire, And her people blown away, Have you forgotten when those towers fell, We had neighbors still inside, Going through a living hell.” The entire song talks so much about what happened that day and how traumatic and permanent those memories are going to be. I actually read a book once about two people who were inside the towers the day of 9/11 and what they did, only one of them survived but still, the book described what everyone was going threw and how they were all trying to evacuate at once while trying to avoid fires. There is so much information about that day, personal stories, families stories, survivor stories, it’s just so awful to think about. I know we’ve been involved in a few wars and other situations, but getting hit on home soil is a whole other thing. It’s more personal and terrifying because you never know what will happen and that was a more personal attack. A lot of artist used this tragedy to make music to help people heal. Music is a way that everyone can connect no matter what you’ve been through and sometimes hearing about it makes it known that you are not alone and that you are not the only one going threw this. Obviously some people had worse experiences than others, but everyone experienced loss that day.