Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me...

It's strange how this morning, every year for the past eight years, has been eerily similar.
Starkly sunny, with clear skies the bluest of blue. And the hustle and bustle of morning is still the same, only the kids are a little older now. I still pause for a moment as we head out the door for the school dropoff...remembering rushing out that morning, and pausing as Charlie Gibson talked about a "situation at the World Trade Center", seeing the second plane slam into
the tower, realizing that this "situation" was no accident.

Tributes will occur and memorial services and names will be read and families and friends remembered. There is plenty of ink and megabyte space being filled with what's changed, where we've been, where we're headed, what has not changed, the politics of it all...and for me, September 11 is not about that.

Like I always do, at some point today, I'll put on the Counting Crows' track "Chelsea". It has nothing to do with the events of the day, but the mood is entirely apropos. I remember reading Adam Duritz's liner notes to the "Across A Wire" album. He talked about how Counting Crows had never had horns on a track, but if they ever decided to, they'd have
the New Orleans'-based Soul Rebels play them. And "we'd all stand around in a circle, and play it just how it feels".

Today, it hurts. Still. So we remember.

You can listen to it here.

Chelsea
I never go to New York City these days
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Maybe in a month or two,
Maybe when things are different for me,
Maybe when things are different for you
You know all of this shit just sticks in my head
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different these days
It's good for everybody to hurt somebody once in a while
The things I do to people I love shouldn't be allowed
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Something about the buildings in Chelsea just kills me
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out,
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different these days
I dream I'm in New York City some nights.
Angels float down from all the buildings
Something about an angel just kills me
I keep hoping something will...
Is there anything different these days?
The light in her eyes goes out,
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are, maybe maybe maybe
Maybe things are, maybe maybe maybe maybe things are different,
Maybe things are different these days
The light goes out
I never had light in my eyes anyway
Maybe things are different ......these days.