Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

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September 11, 2001.  A day most will never forget.  Alan Jackson didn't want to forget it and wrote and recorded a song about his emotions on that infamous day. According to THIS ARTICLE:

The song is based on the September 11 attacks, a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States on September 11, 2001. Jackson had finished walking outside and returned indoors to discover news of the attacks on television. He immediately wanted to write a song expressing his thoughts and emotions, but he found it hard to do so for many weeks. "I didn't want to write a patriotic song", Jackson said. "And I didn't want it to be vengeful, either. But I didn't want to forget about how I felt and how I knew other people felt that day." 

Finally, on the Sunday morning of October 28, 2001, he woke up at 4 a.m. with the melody, opening lines and chorus going through his mind. He hastily got out of bed, still in his underwear, and sang them into a hand-held digital recorder so he would not forget them.  Later that morning, when his wife and children had gone to Sunday school, he sat down in his study and completed the lyrics. 

Initially, he felt squeamish about recording it, much less releasing it, because he disliked the idea of capitalizing on a tragedy. But after he played it for his wife Denise and for his producer, Keith Stegall, and it met with their approval, Jackson went into the studio to record "Where Were You" that week. On Stegall's advice, Jackson played the finished track for a group of executives at his record label. "We just kind of looked at one another", RCA Label Group chairman Joe Galante said later. "Nobody spoke for a full minute."

Here are the lyrics to that song:

"Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning)"

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in L.A.?
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know?
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below?
Did you burst out with pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do?
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters?

[Chorus:]
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell
You the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?
Were you teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate?
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone?
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her?
Did you dust off that Bible at home?

Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep?
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street?
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Or go out and buy you a gun?
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns?

Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Did you stand in line and give your own blood?
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love?

[Chorus x2]

And the greatest is love.
And the greatest is love.

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?

Alan Jackson asks a good question.  Many people can recall what they were doing when John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  I can't because I wasn't born yet.  Others can recall where they were when we landed a man on the moon.  I can't remember that either because I was not yet 3 years old. But I can remember vividly the day of 9/11.  Can you?

I was farming at the time.  I remember the day was a beautiful one, with brilliant sunshine and a clear blue sky.  We were plowing some land and I had dropped by the shop to pick up the grease gun to grease the bearings on the plow.  We had a television in the shop that was always on during the day, and I stopped in front of it as they were showing images of the World Trade Center. There was smoke coming from one of the buildings and the host of the Today show was talking to reporters about what happened.  News was slow coming in and they were speculating that a small commuter plane had accidentally flown into the side of the building.

Then the second plane hit the other building and everyone knew this was an attack. It was no accident.  All I could do was watch with a sickening emptiness as the camera showed people on the upper floors and the streets below littered with paper. The smoke got thicker and people began jumping out of the building.  Later, with a rumble and billowing clouds of dust, the buildings came tumbling down.  And then news came out about the Pentagon attack and Flight 93 that crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Part of me wants to say that as a country, we lost our innocence that day, but I know that evil has existed since that fateful day in the Garden.  Sure, America has been attacked before in an ambush 60 years earlier on December 7, 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, but this was different.  These were innocent civilians in peace time on our shores.  The horror!

The photo below was taken by me in 1987 during a trip to New York City.  I took this picture looking up, craning my neck to see the top of those towers.  I was awestruck.  They were huge and symbolized strength, permanence, and might.  We took the elevators to the observation deck and viewed the panoramic sights from atop the mighty tower.

My pic of the Word Trade Center Towers from 1987

It is hard to imagine that those towers are completely gone.  Something that seemed so permanent was brought down in a matter of 102 minutes one September morning, bringing down with it the hopes and dreams of the victims and those of their families.  The World Trade Center towers, as it turns out, were not permanent.

It is easy, even 14 years later, to succumb to thoughts of anger and bitterness, and I know that is not productive.  I think Alan Jackson summarized the better way to channel my emotions:

I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love.

The twin towers from a distance (Aug 1987)