Sunday, March 25, 2007

Group Five : Rachel D. (19), Rob P. (19), Justin R. (33), Byron R. (27), Julia P. (27), Katharine J. (34)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning? by Alan Jackson

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Out in the yard with your wife and children
Working on some stage in LA
Did you stand there in shock at the site of
That black smoke rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger
In fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry

Did you weep for the children
Who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below

Did you burst out in pride
For the red white and blue
The heroes who died just doing what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself to what really matters

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you love her
Did you dust off that bible at home
Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened
Close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Speak with some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some stranger
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I can tell you
The difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith hope and love are some good things he gave us
And the greatest is love

The greatest is love
The greatest is love

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,

My name is Rob P. and I am a Health Science major. The song assigned to us is “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” by Alan Jackson. This song is very straight to the point. It focuses mainly on the events of September 11. Many people can still remember exactly what they were doing when they heard the news about the terrorist attacks. You could’ve been “out in the yard with your wife and children” or “working on some stage in LA”. The song names the feelings and actions that the people of America were feeling that day when the “world stopped turning” in September. Many emotions are examined in the song. People felt everything from overwhelming grief to anger to pride. Everyone viewed the events of that day differently. It affected each individual person uniquely. I believe that this song coveys that message.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5!
My name is Rachael D. and I’m a Pre-Business major, probably going into either Accounting or Marketing. Alan Jackson’s recent song entitled “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning” is about the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. Jackson conveys that although this event was extremely tragic, it brought America together. As the title suggests, everyone around the country was doing something different at this moment in our history, but the artist points out that God’s gifts of “faith hope and love” are all around us and should never be forgotten. Whether one was “teaching a class full of innocent children” or “working on some stage in LA,” everyone reacted and dealt with these events differently. With a mixture of anger, fear, and pride, some people turned to God, some went out and bought a gun, and some took notice of the beautiful sunset for the first time in awhile, feeling fortunate to just be alive. The incident on 9/11 forced us to realize how lucky we are and how absolutely nothing should be taken for granted.
-Rachael D.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,

My name is Justin R.(33), and I am a Pre-Rehabilitation major planning on doing physical therapy. Alan Jackson's song, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" recalls the tragic events of 9/11 and the reactions of many Americans. In instances of tragic events like 9/11, many people remeber exactly where they were and what they were doing at the time of the tragedy. In this song, Alan Jackson ask listeners where they were and how they reacted to the terrorist attack. He shows through his questions that the events of 9/11 were sad and devastating but that they also brought pride and unity to Americans. Many Americans were furious but it also made Americans and people in general re-think what is really important in life. He goes on to say that he is just a simple man and doesn't know everything but that he does know that God gave us "faith, hope and love," the greatest being love. I think that he was tring to point out that as long as we have loved ones close to us, we can come together and make it through anything. Everybody has their own story about where they were and what they were doing that day, but all were brought together in some way to appreciate life and move forward.

Anonymous said...

Hey yall
I'm Byron R.(27) and i'm a business major. I think more than anything Alan Jackson wants us to try to take something good away from the tragedy of September 11. In addition he wants us to never forget how we felt on that horrible day. He analyzes almost any emotion a person could feel on that day. "Did you burst out in pride, For the red white and blue" all the way to "Did you feel guilty cause you're a survivor". I think this masterpiece will stand out among the songs of the time period as one that truly connected with the American people. This song is what America is all about.

Anonymous said...

Hey, My name is Julia Purvis and I'm a Political Science major. The Alan Jackson song, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?" conveys all the different feelings and reactions of Americans after they found out about the terrorist attacks on September 11. Jackson shows how the world stopped turning on that day because everyone was focusing on the same thing, and all of our common feelings of grief, fear, and anger brought us together. The American people came together to mourn for those lost in the attacks and to comfort each other. We also united as proud Americans, supporting "the heroes who died just doing what they do", fighting for the country we love. The song conveys how this horrible incident made everyone stop their everyday activities and remember what is truly important in life, and realize that we need to cherish every moment because it could all be taken away at any time.

Anonymous said...

Hey, my name is Katherine J. I am a Packaging Science and Pre-Med double major. This song by Alan Jackson is one that came out soon after the twin towers fell. This song means exactly what it says. Most everyone in this country thought that day about where they were when our country was hit. I think it really made people think that many did have loved ones lost, and even if we don't live near NY, what if we had taken a trip. There were many innocent people hurt that day. I think that this really just made everyone realize that we are not indestructable

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
I think we all pretty much agree on the meaning behind Alan Jackson’s song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning.” Although everyone experienced the tragic events of 9/11 in different ways, it brought all Americans together with God’s “faith hope and love.” I liked what Justin had to say about how if you have loved ones close to you, you can make it through anything. I hadn’t really analyzed that when I first listened to the song. I also agree with what Katherine said about realizing that we are not “indestructible.” It’s such a powerful term, and it’s a characteristic that many young people have, as well as the United States as a whole. However, when this incident happened, it made everyone realize that everything could be taken away at any time. Sometimes, it’s so easy to take life and everything it offers for granted. But when something as devastating as the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers happens, Jackson points out how people start to appreciate the little things in life more.
-Rachael D.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,

Like Rachael said, I also think that our group has the same ideas about Alan Jackson’s song. There was a wave of reactions to the tragic events of 9/11, and with that it also brought Americans together as a whole and made us stop to take a step back and think. Byron made a good point that Alan Jackson does want people to take something good away from this tragedy. Even though it was a horrible event, it did bring family and friends together and make people think about what is important in life. Rachael also makes a good point in that “faith, hope, and love” are all around us. Maybe it takes things like 9/11 for us to realize it is there. I agree with Rob that everybody had their own unique experience, and like everyone has said, it did bring unity and appreciation for life.
-Justin R.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
As everyone else has said, we pretty much do all agree on the meaning of this song. As Justin just said that maybe it takes a horrible event like this for us to realize that we need to stop and just look around every once in a while. I feel like there are many times in life, especially so far in college that we all just get too caught up in the moment and start to just do things routinely. I think this song shows us that events like this occur to make us just look at our lives, how they are going, and tell you to pay attention to everything else that is going on. When you stop to take a look around, that is when the appreciation for all that we do have begins.
-Katherine J.

Anonymous said...

Hey group five,
I think everyone has basically the same ideas on the song. The basic theme of remembering where you were on September 11 is obvious. I agree with Justin that the devastating events triggered a sense of pride for many people. Even though it was a terrible event in history, it was something that brought us all closer together. I also agree with Julia that this song aims to make us rethink how we are living our lives. We need to stop and rethink our priorities. What is most important in our lives? Sometime we just go through our everyday routine without really looking around at the people around us that matter the most.

Anonymous said...

Rob Painter ^^^^

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, i guess theres really not that much to say because this song is so simple in meaning it seems. I think we each are on the same level of thinking regarding what Alan Jackson intended it to mean and so on. Its a great song with a simple message; never forget 9/11 and what it taught us.

-Byron R.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
It seems like we all pretty much got the same meanings out of the song. Alan Jackson's lyrics accurately portrayed the 9/11 attacks by illustrating the reactions and feelings of people from all over the country, and it seems that each one of us could easily relate to these words since we we are some of the people who experienced the effects of this tragedy. We all agreed that this event and its aftermath have made us stop and take a closer look at how we are living our lives, and we, as Americans, gained a sense of pride for our country. But one thing I do want to point out is that so much of the pride that developed at the beginning of the war on terrorism has faded in the eyes of many as things have gotten blurrier. Support for the war has decreased with time because of the belief that we are now fighting for different reasons, risking lives and wasting time without seeing results. But resolving conflicts and rebuilding societies takes time, and Americans need to continue to stand behind the troops as they risk their lives to finish what we started. There is no easy war and there will always be consequences; people cannot expect for us to be able to go in and immediately solve the problems at hand.
-Julia P.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
Americans responded to the awful terrorist attacks with extremely strong emotions at first. It brought all of us together with a great sense of pride in our country. Julia brings up a really good point about how the support for the war is diminishing with time. However, I don’t think Alan Jackson’s song really describes the “need to continue to stand behind the troops…to finish what we started” as Julia says. The song is more about how the power of God’s love shines through when events such as these happen and how one should appreciate life always. This goes along with what Rob said about “rethinking our priorities” and what is important in life. It’s sad to think that it takes such terrible things for us to realize this, but I don’t think the artist here is trying to promote any kind of war. The picture that I found that represents the same theme as this song can be found at http://www.september11news.com/GodBlessAmEagleTowerFlagLrg_10088909.jpg. It’s a picture of a bald eagle, which in this case represents life, flying in front of the twin towers with an American flag in the background. It says “God Bless America,” illustrating the unity of Americans and the pride in our country after the terrorist attacks occurred.
-Rachael D.

Anonymous said...

The link to the picture...

http://www.september11news.com/GodBlessAmEagleTowerF lagLrg_10088909.jpg.

-Rachael D.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
Alan Jackson’s song is a song that all people in the United States can relate with. It’s a part of our history now and forever. As Katherine said, I think that a lot of times most people do get into such a routine that we forget to stop and enjoy the things that are important in life. I think that it is important to realize how fortunate a lot of us are here in this country. I also agree with Julia that some of the support for the war on terrorism has faded. I’d like for us to get out of Iraq, but as for now, we have to continue to support and be behind our troops. For a representation of this song, I chose a picture. You can find the picture at http://artwerker.tripod.com/iron_cross.jpg. It is a picture of an iron cross that was left standing in the aftermath of 9/11. Standing around the cross are some men that appear to be praying together. I chose this picture because I believe it is very representative of Alan Jackson’s lyrics. It represents people coming together in a time of need and also the “faith, hope, and love” that we all needed to move on after this tragedy.

-Justin R.

Anonymous said...

Hey Group 5,
I'm glad that everyone basically has the same ideas about this song. There are some opinions that i don't fully agree with however. I don't agree with Byron on one thing. I personally don't believe that this song is solely about the events of September 11. It might seem like it just by the lyrics, but I believe that Alan Jackson is trying to capture the overall mood of a certain time period. The country was in a state of shock. An image that i found that i feel captures this mood is that of a bald eagle with a tear in its eye and the twin towers in the background. http://free2.kyberlandia.it/patrickeffe/patrickeffe/September-11-2001.jpgThis picture shows how the whole country mourned the events of September 11.
Rob P.

Anonymous said...

As Rob just said, I agree with him in saying that the song is not written solely on September 11, 2001. I do think that that day was the action that spurred the nation to go into that state of mourning and unity. For the rest of the song, I think we obviously all agree on the basis of the song because we have restated the same thing in each post. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/paulyblog/images/060911_america-flag.jpg
I think that this picture represents the whole idea of unity and mourning because it shows how most of the country can together to show their pride in our country.
-Katherine J.

Anonymous said...

I would be very interested in hearing someone who does not like this song, or at least doesnt like its message. I don't think there is anyone that can oppose the message this song is sending. It's not attacking any group of people, its simply explaining the feelings felt on that day by Americans.

http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/0305911-lead-lg.jpg

This picture sums up the feeling of helplessness and anger in a very simple way. It shows the second plane going into the trade center tower.
-Byron Revels

Anonymous said...

Group 5,
I'm glad that we all agree on the meaning of the song and the importance of American pride and support it expresses. I also agree with Rob that the song pertains to more than just 9/11... it portrays the response and reactions of any time of chaos or warfare. I believe that this song can best be represented by the picture at this site: http://www.911fsa.org/images/wtc_jw2_torn.jpg ... It is a picture of the site of the twin towers, with the image of two American flags in place of the fallen towers. The picture illustrates the American pride that brings us all together in recognition of those lost and in support of those fighting to keep our country safe from future terrorist attacks.
-Julia P.