The images of September 11^th, 2001 conjure up no shortage of emotions, opinions, and memories. We all remember it, and we all have feelings about it. For some, it was an act of terror that could have been prevented by both a tighter security at home and a close self-examination as to why some people harbor so much hatred for us. For some, it was the tipping point for a broader foreign policy that took the fight to our enemies across the globe. For others, a more sinister inside job was at play, a conspiracy like no other. In the end, it was a day that shook us all to our very foundations; a day that changed everyone in some way. But through all the smoke, both figurative and literal, one thing is incontrovertible: the first responders rushed into an inferno that they couldn’t be sure they’d walk out of. It was their job, and they didn’t know any other way.

The sky was falling and streaked with blood

I heard you calling me then you disappeared into the dust

Up the stairs, into the fire…

“Into The Fire” is written from the perspective of someone who’s loved one is in New York City that momentous day, doing the only job they know how to do. I picture someone in their kitchen, pacing back and forth by the phone, waiting for a reassuring call that everything is ok. In the living room, adorned with family photos, the television drones out its horrifying sounds and images. A child calls from her bedroom, asking if breakfast is ready. The person in the kitchen just stares back and forth between the phone and the television. She can somehow hear him, calling out to her through the ether, as he takes that first step into the building.

I need your kiss, but love and duty called you someplace higher

Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire…

She needs his kiss, at this moment more than any moment she can remember. She always knew this was possible, his line of work called for it. Love. Love for his beloved city, the only place he ever called home. Love for his family, whom he worked every day to provide for. Duty. This was his job, and like so many others, his job went a long way in defining him. When that bell rang in the station house, he didn’t stop to ask questions. He just went. This was his duty, and his duty didn’t afford him the luxury of giving his wife one last kiss before he left.

May your strength give us strength

May your faith give us faith

May your hope give us hope

May your love give us love.

I’ve always found a great sense of community in Bruce Springsteen’s writing. When our community experiences a tragedy, we take care of our own. We become one. Your strength gives me strength. Your faith gives me faith. My hope gives you hope. Our communal love permeates everything. We become one living, breathing organism. This is the point in the song where we are given hope; the hope that we will rise again out of the ashes both in brick and mortar and in spirit. No matter how much we’ve lost, and we lost a great deal on 9-11, the strength, faith, hope, and love of our community will help us persevere.

It was dark, too dark to see, you held me in the light you gave

You lay your hand on me, then walked into the darkness of your smoky grave

Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire…

We return back to our narrator, perhaps now lying in her darkened bedroom. Maybe it’s a dream, maybe it’s a hallucination, or maybe in some way it’s real, but she sees a glow. He comes back to her one last time, lays his hands on her cheek. No words spoken, he turns his back and walks away again. This is his goodbye. Up the stairs, into the fire…

 

“Into The Fire” is the second track on Bruce Springsteen’s 2002 album The Rising, his first album with the E-Street Band in 18 years.