Richie Sambora: Engine 19 (9/11 tribute)

On the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Richie Sambora released "Engine 19", a song he wrote with Bernie Taupin (best known for his collaborations with Elton John).

Listen to Richie Sambora - Engine 19


I've transcribed the lyrics as I heard them... Corrections welcome.

We come from the islands and boroughs
We grew up on these streets round here
Me and my brothers Pat and Danny
Been putting out fires for years

Our old man and his father before him
Rode out when the siren screamed
Now we work out of the same place together
That's Engine 19

Yeah, we're boys from New York doing our job
There's times we get hurt, there's those that we've lost
In the fire and the smoke from the roof caving in
When there's one less comes out from Engine 19

I'll admit when the summers get brutal
I see twisted steel in my dreams
And I hear the crack of old timber
and I know there's a hell that I've seen
But we go round the corner on Friday
To this little old neighbourhood bar
Drink us some beers and shoot pool
Turn in a game or play cards

We're the boys from New York doing our job
There's times we get hurt, there's those that we've lost
In the fire and the smoke from a roof caving in
When there's one less comes out from Engine 19

The boys from New York get on back up
And out of the shields in the ashes and dust
Every inch of that ladder, every man on this team
They all ride out together with Engine 19

Singing la dada dada, Engine 19

We're the boys from New York, Engine 19

Feels good to be a part of something, the chain of command
A brotherhood bound like a family, the strength of a wedding band
Every inch of that ladder, every man on this team
They all ride out together

Our old man and his father before him
Rode out when the siren screamed

We are boys from New York doing our Job
There's times we get hurt, there's those that we've lost
In the fire and the smoke from a roof caving in
When there's one less comes out from Engine 19

But boys from New York get on back up
And out of the shields in the ashes and dust
Every inch of that ladder, every man on this team
They all ride out together with Engine 19

Singing la dada dada, Engine 19
Singing la dada dada, Engine 19

We're boys from New York, Engine 19
We're the boys from New York

The storytelling is something wouldn't feel out of place with Elton John sitting at a piano -- not surprising, given the contribution of Elton's lyricist -- but my first thought upon hearing "Engine 19" was that it reminded me of Bruce Springsteen, particularly "Racing in the Street", despite the different subject matter.

Do you like the song? Is this the type of solo stuff you'd like from Richie in the future?

Remembering 9/11: America the Beautiful

This video of Jon Bon Jovi performing America the Beautiful at a New York City fire station was shot as part of NBC's NFL Kickoff 2011: Back to Football tribute to September 11 victims.


It was a semi-recreation of a video that aired 10 years ago.

Undivided

In memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks here is "Undivided" as performed in Randers on the Lost Highway tour.

Saving a prayer for 9/11

The obvious Bon Jovi song for the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks (I know it's the 12th in many parts of the world including Australia but if I'm not mistaken it's still the 11th in the US at the time of writing) would be "Undivided". Maybe a little too obvious. Besides, I wrote a bit about that song in my Randers post. So given Keep the Faith won VoteNumber1.com's best 90s rock album poll today, let's go with one of the tracks that could have made a classic album even better.

Here's an unofficial fan video for "Save a Prayer" which was a bonus track on some versions of Keep the Faith (and IMO should definitely have been on the album proper). It also appeared on the Special Edition Bonus CD of Cross Road. The song has some relatively simple yet deeply profound lyrics and is right up there with my favourite Bon Jovi songs.

Dear Jesus, Buddha, Allah, or can I just call you Joe?
I got a lotta things to tell you and some things I gotta know
I'm tired of hearin' talk about this world's about to end
If we can die together then why can't we all be friends?

Oh, and I know it's been more than a "couple" of days but Magic Memory #16 WILL be up soon.