Dedicated To The Victims of 9/11, The Brave Firefighters And All Their Loved Ones

This has got to be the most tragic blog. Even just looking for videos brings horrible memories as a 12 year old flooding back. I had been in the States on holiday not 3 months before and when I went home for lunch that day, the last thing I expected my Dad to say as he watched CNN was that the Twin Towers had been hit by terrorists. Now believe what you like, maybe it is all a conspiracy and the CIA and the US Government have something to do with it, but it doesn't lessen the magnitude of the situation. Thousands of people died that day, and whats more, people are still effected by it nearly 9 years on. Remember the scene in Michael Moore's Sicko? Some of the Firefighters are still suffering with horrific respiratory problems, and yet the health care system doesn't make it any better.

My video is a remix of Hero by Latino pop star Enrique Iglesias. I came across this a few years ago when trying to download the original version and this came down instead (obviously minus the video). I found it really difficult to listen to it because it was filled with soundbites from people who were in the towers, who had lost loved ones and who were just scared, all interlinked within the lyrics of the song. There are quite a few different versions of this on YouTube but I chose this one because it's just about the event, nothing to do with how bad Bush handled it or how it resulted in the current conflict in the Middle East.

It uses still photo's instead of video footage (which honestly, I find too traumatic to watch anyway) and has an old school movie look with the sepia effect, a nod to Classical Hollywood Cinema, something that made America great. I think having both Bush and Blair soundbites really emphasises the 'Special Relationship' between Britain and the US, and shows the solidarity between the two allies. I think the title of the song is very poignant as that is what many people were that day. It's a beautiful song and being so popular, many can relate to it. And as Enrique himself sang it on a television fundraiser, the song has now become synonymous with the events of 9/11.

As we discussed last week, Religion plays a big part in American life and I believe George Bush's closing words sums up the feeling across America at the time "Join me in saying a prayer for the victims and their families. God bless." I think we all said a prayer that day.

Sometimes in life, all we have are our memories. Whether they be in our mind, on film or in photo's. The events of that day defined a generation and changed the world forever. Any video that is made to commemorate that fateful day is a blessing because it reminds us what the world lost. We may not want to remember, but we'll never forget.