Today is the tenth anniversary of the terrible attacks on the World Trade Center and, in some ways, the wounds still feel fresh. I specifically remember sitting in science class my freshman year of high school. It was early in the day and the teacher was watching television, told us to sit down and watch, and we did. We just watched the smoke billowing out of this building I had never heard of before. As we watched for the next two days, we learned a lot about life. We learned about hatred, we learned about resilience, and learned what real heroes looked like. We saw a plane fly into the second tower and could do nothing but watch as a few thousand people died, right on television. We saw police officers and firefighters fight the debris, trying to find jsut one more person they could help out of the rubble.
I know I'm not alone in my experience. The media still talks about it and a new sense of American pride began to manifest itself in songs about national pride. People took all stances to the mayhem. Toby Keith, very angry, states his case in "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue."
I personally don't agree with Mr. Keith. The anger, I think, was felt by millions of people, but the jump to immediate violence, I don't believe is the correct answer. I feel this anger is misdirected sadness and there are more appropriate ways to deal with this grief.
Others stood with stoicism and sang the Star Spangled Banner and Amazing Grace. It seems that everybody took these songs much more serious after 9/11.
The song that most touched me, though, at this time was a song that seemed to symbolize the struggle of rebuilding and realizing that nothing would ever be the same again. This song reminds of the people who helped others during this time. To me, it talks about feeling invincible only to be knocked down and hurt. But it also gets back up. It's called "Superman" by Five for Fighting.
What were songs that you remember from that time? What meaning to they carry for you now?
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