Ordinary Hero
September 11th 2020
19 Years.
6,935 days.
Not a day has gone by that I do not think of that day. Not one. It’s impossible.
That day, there was no racial divide.
That day, there was no lower, middle nor upper class.
That day, we all lost someone, as well as part of ourselves.
That day, we all wept for the people and families that we never met.
That day, we cared more about each other than we ever had before.
That day, we realized how fortunate we were for lives that we had.
That day, we realized how fortunate we were, for life.
That day, we were all unified and united as we stared true evil in the face.
That day, the site of our flag made us unapologetically proud and humbled, and we stood, we all stood proudly, with unwavering respect as tears filled our eyes in its presence.
That day, first responders of every race, color, religion, sex and creed ran into the flames of hell with the sole intention of saving anyone they could find, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex and creed.
That day, all lives mattered. We all mattered.
That day, was far more unifying and hopeful than where we are today.
Today, those first responders have been defunded, crippled by hiring freezes, minimized, ostracized and have actually become the hunted, domestically, with targets intentionally placed on their uniforms.
Fucking insanity. Shameful.
Let us never forget that day; the victims, the families, the ones left behind, the children who lost parents, the parents who lost children, the husbands who lost wives and the wives who lost husbands and the brothers and sisters who lost their siblings. Let us never forget the overwhelming embrace of unity, love and respect that day created for all us.
Out of the tens of thousands of music projects I have been involved with over the past 30+ years, this one, created at JSM Music 19 years ago, stands alone. This was one of many songs on an album we created where all of the proceeds went to the first responders and to their families. All of the songs were written and performed by some of the phenomenally talented artists in our commercial music production industry - our colleagues, competitors and our friends. It was something we felt we all needed to do. Something, we had to do.
We started writing the songs on 9/12/01 and released the project 10 days later. The images you see were found online as more details of the attacks were released. They were not meant to be slick nor polished in its production.
The images are what they are. Historic, heartbreaking snapshots of a day that should never be forgotten, and changed our world forever.
Let's not get confused and dilute the gravity of what true sacrifice means and looks like. Unconditional sacrifice are acts that these ordinary heroes perform everyday by believing in something more than themselves, even when it could mean for them to sacrifice everything.
Literally, everything.
I am truly humbled by the "Ordinary Heroes" I see everyday.
9.11.01. #NeverForget #NeverAgain #NeverForgive #UnitedWeStand
God Bless them and the United States of America. I remain, forever, in a New York State of Mind.
"Ordinary Hero"
He doesn't look like Redford
And he cannot dunk a ball,
Hell, he doesn't have a talk show
Or a book that tells all.
He doesn't own a mansion
And he wouldn't if he could,
Just goes about the job
All through the day, all through the night
He's so good.
Just an Ordinary Hero
Nothing special he would say.
Nothing more than others do
On any given day.
Just an Ordinary Hero
He's not the type to boast
Just an Ordinary Hero...
Just a better man than most.
He's racing up the stairway
While the world is falling down,
He'll risk his life to save you
Or to save this crazy town.
He never hears a thank you
They never catch his name,
But he'd put his life down on the line
For a stranger just the same.
Just an Ordinary Hero
Lives just down the way.
Hugs his wife when she lets him know
There's a little one coming any day...
Gets a call from Ground Zero,
But before he goes
One kiss can last forever...
They're gonna miss him so.
He didn't have to do it
Don't know what made him that way,
Someone out there's grateful
He saved a life today.
Just an Ordinary Hero
Nothing special he would say.
He did more than others do,
On this special day....
Just an Ordinary Hero
And a faithful friend
If he could he'd still be out there....And do it all again....
Do it all again......
He'll do it all again......
