9/11 Remembered: Musicians’ Reactions
"People are saying to me, and I felt the same way: 'I couldn't do anything for a week. My life, all my things, feel so trivial.' But to some extent, after the shock and mourning comes the adjustment to real life. During times of war, my parents tried to carry on as normally as much as you can, with adjustments. You can't let terrorists completely change your lifestyle. They would love that. That's a victory. People are knocked off their feet. But you don't want to lose hope and morale. You have to mourn. You're glued to CNN more than you should be. But in the end, you have to do what you do."
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Tori Amos
"Whether you're a country being invaded or a person being invaded, your trust goes, you're vulnerable, and you ask yourself, 'What does freedom mean?'"
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Yoko Ono
"I think we're going to create a new reality together. We are one mind, one body. And we have received an incredible shock to our body. This is a time for us to realize that we should not try, through anger or fear, to cut off another arm. That body has to live and survive. It's true what Mahatma Gandhi said: 'An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world blind.'"
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Tom Morello
"Unfortunately, some people are going to use this horrible tragedy as a pretext to tramp on our civil liberties. We simply can't allow it."
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Trey Anastasio
"I don't know what the answer is, but it seems to me that the smart thing and the most respectful thing to the families grieving over this horrible, horrible tragedy is to be honest about understanding why it might have happened. Then we can try to prevent it from happening again … No one wants to see any more suffering."
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Alicia Keys
"Sometimes it takes the most tragic circumstances for us to wake up and realize what's important."
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John Mellencamp
"I walked offstage and thought, 'These people did not die in vain because this country is going to change.' We have to. We cannot look at each other in such a frivolous manner anymore."
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Lou Reed
"I believe good comes out of bad. Always. One way or the other. It may take a long time to see it. Everybody I know is depressed and found it hard to focus, but the only way out of that is working – doing positive things … I'm not leaving New York. And neither is anyone else. We're here. We are quintessential Americans – we're not only American but New York-American."