This week, Women of Substance Radio & Podcast is playing "Fly Now" from Clean Slate as part of their September 11th memorial programming.
I am very proud of “Fly Now” and have often hoped to get it out in the world more so that other people might hear it.
As it is for everyone who was in New York that day, the experience of witnessing the Twin Towers burning and falling is etched forever in my mind. Julian Marshall and I wrote “Fly Now” for Eye to Eye's CD “Clean Slate” (2006). I find the song’s intro most haunting. We were taking a break from recording and went for a walk in Greenwich Village. I wanted to record the sound of children's voices and remembered that there was a small playground on Thompson Street.
While I was recording the children's voices in Vesuvio playground, the church bells from St Luke in the Field started chiming. It was a chilling moment, as it replicated the city sounds just before all hell broke loose on that clear Tuesday morning in September a year before.
“Fly Now” is dedicated to Ladder 3 and Captain Patrick Brown. Ladder Company 3 is on East 13th Street and is part of FDNY's 6th Battalion, 1st Division. On September 11, it received some of the heaviest casualties of any fire company in the FDNY. Most of its men were lost in the attacks. Captain Brown and his men were last known to be on the 40th floor of the north tower.
Their firehouse was en route to Dan and Keenan's school. Walking my 9 and 11 year old boys to school a few days after the attacks, I noticed that some of the bouquets that were left for the men were not fresh anymore. They needed a flower lady! I started sorting out the dead flowers.
For months, I looked after their flowers, one small gesture of care that I could offer to those who had thought “first of all to help someone.”
To listen to my tribute and others from a variety of talented women artists, tune in to the Women of Substance Radio "In Memory of 911" Show all week at 5 PM ET (2 PM PT). Listen at http://www.womenofsubstanceradio.com.
You can also listen anytime here.
Women of Substance Radio “In Memory of 9/11”
http://www.womenofsubstanceradio.com
Monday, September 5 through Sunday, September 11
5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)
Sending love and thanks to you this week and always,
xxx
Deborah