By Loud Atlas
A short note:
With respect to any listeners and readers, in order to produce varied playlists on this sensitive topic, there are a range of views, themes and lyrics within the following songs that may offend. There is explicit langage in tracks 1 and 9 of the A List and tracks 2, 5, 7, 8 10 and 13 of the B List. They are asterisked (*) below.
The world was given the rudest of awakenings on 9/11. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead capture that in Worlds Apart by detailing the criticism of the spoilt Western way of life in its 'candy store'.
As an overview of that Bright Sunny Morning, Bert Jansch shows us how it only took 'twenty minutes to change history'. Profound metaphors abound in this gently performed track.
Watching events unfold from afar, as much of the world did, is the theme for Sleater-Kinney. Far Away conveys the shared empathy for those affected, condemnation of authority's lack of action and bewilderment at how it all came to pass.
Ordinary people caught up in the events are the focus of both Living Colour and Bruce Springsteen. Flying tells a tale of an office worker and his unexpected morning, whilst Into the Fire focuses on the heroes of the emergency services who flew into the chaos.
When New York Had Her Heart Broke is John Hiatt's matter-of-fact meditation on the state of shock NYC felt after the attacks. The last line, though, brings hope.
Dream Theater examine the struggle between the two contrasting cultures in their musically complex Sacrificed Sons. Both sides have lost so much – has anyone won anything politically, spiritually or otherwise?
Watching the day unfold from his friend Newmyer's Roof, Craig Finn reassures his pal that he has to look for good amidst the gloom in this tale of hope: 'Look at these mountains / Look at these trees / Tom there must be something you believe'.
Based on a radio interview from an iron worker's experiences at Ground Zero, Mary Chapin Carpenter gives us a tender exploration of the the spiritual. This is a song of a worker who arrives at Grand Central Station to cleanse his soul.
Conspiracy theories and questions galore spewed forth from the moment of the first plane's impact. David Rovics compares the attacks to the Reichstag Fire of 1933, another event steeped in controversy.
Eighteen years after its release, Where Is The Love? still resonates in an anxious post-9/11 world. When they posed the question, I suppose the Black Eyed Peas thought it might have been answered by now. Intolerance and war still abound, sadly.
Although a fictional tale, Anohni's story of a young Afghan girl is all too believable. Drone Bomb Me is a deeply affecting account of the immense grief felt by the victims of war-torn countries of the Middle East.
To end, Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 is a harrowing marriage of witness testimony and string quartet - a term Reich calls 'speech melody'. Unsettling music at its most stark and painful.
The A-List Playlist:
*...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Worlds Apart (Shoegazer)
Bert Jansch - Bright Sunny Morning (Alaricmc)
Sleater-Kinney - Far Away (Uncleben)
Living Colour - Flying (BanazirGalbasi)
Bruce Springsteen - Into the Fire (treefrogdemon)
John Hiatt - When New York Had Her Heart Broke (Uncleben)
Dream Theater - Sacrificed Sons (Alaricmc)
Craig Finn - Newmyer's Roof (tincanman2010)
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Grand Central Station (Fred Erickson)
*David Rovics - Reichstag Fire (Alaricmc)
Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love? (Isabelle Forshaw)
Anohni - Drone Bomb Me (severin)
Steve Reich - WTC 9/11 (severin)
The B-List Playlist:
Beastie Boys - Open Letter to NYC (happyclapper)
*Sage Francis - Makeshift Patriot (barbryn)
Richard Shindell - Last Fare of the Day (Uncleben)
Jello Biafra and the Gunatanamo School of Medicine - White People and the Damage Done (happyclapper)
*Julian Cope - All the Blowing-Themselves-Up Motherfuckers (Will Realise The Minute They Die That They
Were Suckers) (Shoegazer)
Rod Macdonald - My Neighbours in Delray (Fred Erickson)
*Lupe Fiasco - American Terrorist (Alaricmc)
*Team America - America, Fuck Yeah (Chris7572)
Michael Franti & Spearhead - Bomb the World (Traktor Albatrost)
*Fred Smith - Derapet (Nicko)
Robb Johnson - Stop the War (Samba Mix) (TatankaYotanka)
The Restarts - Enemy's Enemy (Carpgate)
*Wax Audio - Imagine This (Shoegazer)
Guru's Wildcard Picks:
Jack Warshaw - United 93
Bruce Springsteen - I'll See You In My Dreams
9/11 rescue dog
The memorial
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Call 9/11: songs relating to the September 11 attacks. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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