11 Songs About 9/11 (Pt. I)

As the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, words still fail to describe the tragic day, so I thought I'd let the music speak for everyone, especially the folks of New York City.

I'd like to dedicate the following two posts to Lou Caporicci - a man with an undying sense of humor - who lost his life on 9/11.

Here are 6 songs that confront the horror, suffering, the undying human spirit, and indomitable hope surrounding September 11, 2001. (Tomorrow we'll take a look at the top 5 songs about 9/11.)

11. "Let's Roll" by Neil Young

 

Mr. Young wrote a song about Todd Beamer and flight 93. Beamer and other passengers were planning to overtake the highjackers when he uttered the celebrated phrase "let's roll."

10. "Empty Sky" by Bruce Springsteen

 
The only artist to have two songs on the list, Springsteen's album The Rising is a poignant reflection on the attacks of September 11th. 

9. "New New York" by The Cranberries

 

Lyrically, Dolores O'Riordan struggles to find something to say: "I look across these city streets/My heart is longing, still beats/Nothing to say/There is nothing to say."

8. "On That Day" by Leonard Cohen

Leave it to the poet laureate of folk-rock to cover one of the most cataclysmic events in American history as succinctly as he does: "Did you go crazy or did you report on that day they wounded New York?" 

7. "New York, New York" by Ryan Adams

 

At the end of the "New York, New York" video, Adams dedicated it to those who lost their lives and to "those who worked to save them." Profits from the video were donated to a September 11 charity. 

6. "Freedom" by Paul McCartney

McCartney witnessed the attacks while sitting in a plane, which was parked on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport and wrote the song the next day.