Ten Great Songs From One Great Week
The songs the radio played this week in history

September 9-15, 2001

9/11 - The September 11 attacks were a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the United States on September 11, 2001, coordinated to strike the areas of New York City and Washington, D.C. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. The hijackers also intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and intended to pilot the fourth hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, into the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.; however, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control of the jet from the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 246 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived.

Suspicion quickly fell on al-Qaeda, and in 2004, the group's leader Osama bin Laden, who had initially denied involvement, claimed responsibility for the attacks. Al-Qaeda and bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and sanctions against Iraq as motives for the attacks. The United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, which had harbored al-Qaeda. Many countries strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. In May 2011, after years at large, bin Laden was located and killed.

The destruction of the Twin Towers caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant impact on global markets. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. Numerous memorials were constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial and Museum in New York, the Pentagon Memorial, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania. After a lengthy delay, the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center is expected to be completed at ground zero in New York by 2013.

Music Charts:

#1 Single -- "I'm Real" by Jennifer Lopez ft. Ja Rule 
#1 Album -- "Now" by Maxwell

Other Events:

1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there
1789 – Alexander Hamilton is appointed the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
1922 – The British Mandate of Palestine begins.
1941 – Ground is broken for the construction of The Pentagon.
1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes the Texas coast as a Category 4 hurricane, the second strongest storm ever to hit the state.
1972 – The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system has its opening day of passenger service.
1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel meet at Camp David and agree on the Camp David Accords a framework for peace between Israel and Egypt and a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
1985 – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's baseball record for most career hits with his 4,192nd hit

Superman (It's Not Easy) -- Five For Fighting



This song is about trying to fit in. It's written from Superman's point of view. The superhero is portrayed as misunderstood and not as powerful as people see him: "I'm only a man in a funny red sheet." Superman may be invincible, but he has feelings too, and while he's off saving the world he sometimes wonders if anyone thinks about what he is going through. This became very popular after the September 11 attacks. The reflective tone fit very well with the mood of the United States, and many radio stations put it in heavy rotation. Ondrasik heard from emergency workers and others who found it a source of comfort after the attacks.

I'm A Believer -- Smashmouth



Neil Diamond wrote this song. He had his first big hit in 1966 with "Cherry, Cherry," which got the attention of Don Kirshner, who was looking for material for The Monkees. Kirshner was sold on "I'm A Believer," and as part of the deal, allowed Diamond to record the song as well. While the Monkees' version was a number one hit, Smashmouth only took the song to #25, as it was featured in the motion picture, Shrek.

Ordinary Dream -- ELO



In 2001 Zoom, ELO's first album since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Jeff Lynne was Richard Tandy, who performed on one track. Zoom took on a more organic sound, with less emphasis on strings and electronic effects. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album Lynne reformed the band with completely new members including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela and announced that ELO would tour again. Former ELO member Richard Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: VH1 Storytellers and a PBS concert shot at CBS Television City, later titled Zoom Tour Live, that was released on DVD.

Be Like That -- 3 Doors Down



"This song," says 3DD lead singer Brad Arnold, "was strange, because I wrote the verses and the choruses at two completely different times. And I couldn't think of the verse for the chorus, or the chorus for the verse." Until one night driving home from band practice, the singer had an epiphany, "and I was sitting in my car singing, and I put those two together, and I was like, Duh. And I went home and just got a three chord structure going for the melody of it, and took it to practice the next day, and I asked Chris to make something out of it, and he came back the next day and he had it, and it just went from there."

Fallin' -- Alicia Keys



This opens with a bit of Classical music by Chopin. Keys studied artists like Chopin, Beethoven, and Mozart when played the piano growing up. The video shows a woman waiting for a man who is in jail. It was released after Keys' appearances on Leno and Oprah, and she performed this on the 2001 season premiere of Saturday Night Live. "Fallin" won the 2001 Grammys for Song Of The Year, Best Female R/B Vocal Performance, and Best R/B Song. Keys performed this on the show and also won awards for Best New Artist and Best R/B Album (the album sold over 10 million copies, earning the rare certification of "Diamond").

Someone To Call My Lover -- Janet Jackson



This uses the guitar riff from the 1972 America song "Ventura Highway." Jackson wrote it with her producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Lifting a Soft-Rock hit from the '70s doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for a Dance-Pop act like Jackson, but Jimmy Jam told us that Janet loves many kinds of music and was always willing to try different ideas. Describing the construction of this song, he said, "For 'Someone to Call My Lover,' she hadn't heard the 'Ventura Highway' sample before. She hadn't heard those songs. So it's kind of fun to come up with stuff like that and play it for her. And she hasn't heard of it, but she still really likes it. So you have something that's going to appeal to people that haven't heard it before, it's going to catch them, but it's also going to catch the people who are nostalgic about it."

It's Been A While -- Staind



In this song, Aaron Lewis sings about a girl who left a long time ago. He cant get over her and he feels ashamed of himself. In the video, the woman being sung to by Staind lead singer Aaron Lewis is actually his wife, Vanessa. They have been married since 1998. Vanessa likes to use her digital camera to record portions of every Staind concert. She gets shots of both the band and the crowd. Then the band sometimes watches the footage after the show.

Drops of Jupiter -- Train



In an interview with VH1, lead singer Pat Monahan revealed that he wrote this song about the death of his mother. Train released their first album in 1998, and were touring that year when Monahan's mother was dying of lung cancer - she was a heavy smoker. This was before the widespread use of cell phones, and Monahan made many stops to pay phones on the tour to speak with his mom during this difficult time. In December of that year, his mother died, and in early 1999 Train was working on their next album when their record company started pressuring them for a hit. Monahan returned to his childhood home in Pennsylvania, and woke one morning with the words "back in the atmosphere" in his head. Beginning a time of healing, he started to compose the song. Said Monahan: "Loss of the most important person in my life was heavy on my mind, and the thought of 'what if no one ever really leaves? What if she's here but different. The idea was, she's back here in the atmosphere."

Wherever You Will Go -- The Calling



The guitarist of The Calling, Aaron Kamin, wrote this song which caught on with the touching message of following someone to the ends of the earth. Aaron explained in a radio interview: "At the time my grandmother's best friend had passed away and she left behind a husband of 50 or more years and I was at the funeral and afterwards I just started thinking of what it would be like to be him and have your whole life change so dramatically and not for the best in a matter of moments. Somebody that you live and grow with and are one with, just to be gone, is crazy and I figured all he ever thinks about probably is finding a way to get back to her or be with her or make sure she's alright or something like that. That was the sentiment behind that."

Drive -- Incubus



Lead singer Brandon Boyd: "The lyric is basically about fear, about being driven all your life by it and making decisions from fear. It's about imagining what life would be like if you didn't live it that way." Boyd and drummer Jose Pasillas drew all the artwork for the video. It took them more than 50 hours to do it.