“Dawning of the Rest of Our Lives”
Over the course of human history there are events that shake the very core of what is known. There are culminating moments that will render the world changed forever and very rarely are they expected.
At the start of a new millennia, there was a sense of hope in spite of uncertainty . The 90s were a period of conflict, but also tremendous prosperity and technological advancement. The future looked bright in America with the ushering in of the 21st century. However, the first year with a new president, 2001 brought an attack unlike any before in the United States.
On September 11th, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passanger airliners to be flown into buildings in suicide attacks. Of these attacks, two of the planes were flown into the North and South towers, repsectively, of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. Within a timeframe of two hours, both 110-story towers had collapsed with debries and fire further damanging surrounding buildings within the complex. A third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, the headquaters of the United States Department of Defense in Alrington County, Viriginia. A fourth plane was intended to target Washington, D.C.; however thanks to the bravery of passengers onboard who attempted to overcome the hijackers, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylania.
On that terrible day, a total of 2,977 victims along with the 19 hijackers died in the attacks. Additionally, 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement personallen werre killed. It was the deadliest terrorist attack to occur on U.S. soil.
The impact had a tremendous affect on Americans andpeople across the globe. The level of tragedy resonated on a world-wide scale, and spawned a new way of life and struggle for identity, from which music became a voice.
It can be said that nothing has been the same since that terrible day.
“In mentioning events like 9/11, we touch upon the most familar explanation for why political music is made: that it is a response to ‘reality’, and the way the world is (or should be changing.”
– John Street, Music and Politics
World Trade Center twin towers, pre-9/11.