Ten days following the September 11 attacks, a slew of artists and musicians came together for America: A Tribute to Heroes, a benefit concert that aired simultaneously on the four major networks. The attacks left me in a state of confusion and mixed emotions that, for a 17 year old high school student in Los Angeles, were hard to put a label on. In years and days past I would come across reports of enemy fire in hostile countries, and wars and battles fought over differing beliefs, guided by anger and hate, but those stories weren't occuring here, they were miles away, in countries foriegn to many of us, and we as God fearing upstanding citizens of the United States were safe from harm. Words like terrorism and terrorist attacks were not apart of my daily vocabulary, and following the attacks I, along with the rest of the country, searched for clarity, simply wanting to understand what and why this had happened.
Sitting in front of that television screen on September 21st I just wanted to forget about it all and let the musical performances overtake me. Yes, this was a concert for September 11th, but I did not want to think about September 11th. As was the case many times before, I just wanted my favorite artists and musicians to allow me to escape for a few minutes, and get lost in the words and melodies of a song. Performance after performance, I quickly found solace in Bruce Springsteen's forceful demands of rising up, Wyclef's powerfully singing about redemption, and the passion and pain present in every touch of the keys and push of the voice as Alicia Keys tore threw Donny Hathaway's Someday We'll All Be Free.
But the performance that moved me the most, stirring my emotions til they were no longer mine, was that of the Dixie Chicks as they sang I Believe in Love. I don't know what it is, but when Natalie Maines opens her mouth, you listen. She emotes, you listen. She wails, you listen. She sings about hope, you listen [and you believe her]. "I believe in love.../I believe in love.../love that's real/love that's strong/love that lives on and on.../Yes I belive in love." It may look trite and simplistic on paper, but give it a listen and you'll quickly chuchk that thought out the window.
I Believe in Love can be found on the Chicks' third disc Home, of which I have said this:
"...I became a true bonafide fan with the release of Home, one of my favorite albums of all time. Glorious instrumentation, heart wrenching lyricism [lovers torn apart by war in Travelin Soldier, a somber yet hopeful ode to love present in I Believe in Love] and of course the smirks and the humor we have all come to know and love present in Long Time Gone and White Trash Wedding..."
And I still stand by those words today.
Look, I as I have said many times before, sometimes you just want to dance or bob your head to the beat, but more times than not you want to shut up and listen, escaping in the words and melodies of a song, seek refuge in a chorus, or find solace in a bridge. From the start of track 1 right on down to the end of track 12, I am able to do that with Home, and for those 51 minutes I find comfort in the emotive power of a song.
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