List of songs about the September 11 attacks
This list contains songs which were inspired by or contain lyrics referring to the September 11 attacks.
| Artist/composer | Title | Album | Year | Description |
| Libera | New Dawn | 2008 | Written by Peter Skellern to honor those who lost their lives in the 9/11 attacks, as well as those who passed away in WWI and WWII. | |
| 50 Cent | "Patiently Waiting" | Get Rich or Die Tryin | 2003 | Lyrics include: "Sit and politic with passengers from 9/11." and "Shady Records was eighty seconds away from the towers." |
| "My Blue Manhattan" | Love Is Hell | 2004 | ||
| "Him" | It's Not Me, It's You | 2009 | Lyrics include "Ever since we can remember, people have died in his good name, long before that September, long before hijacking planes." The lyrics acknowledge the deaths of many in the name of god during 9/11 due to the attacks. | |
| "I Can't See New York" | Scarlet's Walk | 2002 | The song describes the experience of an airplane passenger on September 11, 2001, circling over New York City and unable to see the World Trade Center. | |
| Amps for Christ | "AFC Tower Song" | |||
| And One | "Seven" | Tanzomat | 2011 | Lyrics include: "Grey smoke hit the ground; Seven came down without a sound; Rich man company; WTC mystery" |
| Arcade Fire | "" | Neon Bible | 2007 | Lyrics include: "I don't want to work in a building downtown; I don't know what I'm going to do, 'cause the planes keep crashing, always two by two." |
| Automatic Loveletter | "Dream With Me" | |||
| Autopilot Off | "The 12th Day" | Make a Sound | 2004 | |
| "By The Sword" | n/a | 2001 | Released as a charity single. | |
| "Ranaji" | Gulaal | 2009 | Gulaal Soundtrack album by Piyush Mishra | |
| Beastie Boys | "An Open Letter to NYC" | To the 5 Boroughs | 2004 | |
| Dan Bern | "NYC 911" | Unreleased | 2001 | |
| Beyoncé | "I Was Here" | 4 | 2011 | |
| TheBibleCodeSundays | "The Boys of Queens" | Song about a soldier who is a member of an Irish family from Queens. His family has a long firefighter tradition and lost most of its male members to 9/11. Furthermore, it deals with him suffering from the events and the aftermath and his own death in the Middle East. | ||
| Black 47 | "Mychal" | |||
| Bloc Party | "Hunting for Witches" | A Weekend in the City | 2007 | |
| Blue Man Group | "Exhibit 13" | The Complex | 2003 | |
| Bon Jovi | "Undivided" | Bounce | 2002 | |
| Bon Jovi | "Another Reason To Believe" | Bounce | 2002 | |
| "America The Beautiful" | ||||
| Box Car Racer | "Elevator" | Box Car Racer | 2002 | This song was written from the perspective of a jumper from the towers and from the perspective of someone watching from below. |
| Box Car Racer | "Watch The World" | Box Car Racer | 2002 | Lyrics include "I watched the smoke, as it grew darker, and blew up through the roof. I watched the fed, saw them panic as the fire grew. I saw Virginia, get rid of Langley, and its secrets too." |
| "Sirens" | Shake The Tree | 2012 | This song was written by New York singer Nell Bryden and Patrick Mascall and was later covered by Cher on her Closer to the Truth album | |
| Kate Bush feat. Elton John | "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" | 50 Words for Snow | 2011 | "9/11 in New York, I took your photograph." |
| Camel | "For Today" | A Nod and a Wink | 2002 | |
| "Grand Central Station" | Between Here and Gone | 2003 | ||
| "Remember the Day" | 2002 | Remember the day The courage the valor We ran to the towers At such a great cost | ||
| "This Ain't No Rag, It's a Flag" | Live! | 2001 | ||
| "The Last Fallen Hero" | Redneck Fiddlin' Man | 2002 | ||
| Borrowed Angels | 'As I Am' | 2005 | ||
| Cher | "Song for the Lonely" | Living Proof | 2001 | |
| "Hey You" | "Another Happy Ending" | 2002 | ||
| "On That Day" | Dear Heather | 2004 | ||
| Coldplay | "Politik" | A Rush of Blood to the Head | 2002 | Written the day of the attacks. Chris Martin told NME that it reflects his realization of mortality after 9/11. |
| The Cranberries | "New New York" | ' | 2002 | |
| "God Bless this Mess" | Detours | 2008 | Linked 9-11 with the Gulf War. | |
| "Out of Our Heads" | Detours | 2008 | About the courage shown on 9-11; also criticizes Bush as giving a manipulative television address on that day. | |
| "Safe and Sound" | C'mon, C'mon | 2001 | ||
| CunninLynguists | "Appreciation" | SouthernUnderground | 2003 | |
| Curse | "Nichts Wird Mehr So Sein Wie Es War" | n/a, released as a free download | 2001 | |
| Dawnstar | "Don't Die A Martyr For Me" | 2007 | Lyrics include: "I wanted to be a suicide bomber but she changed my life, I fell in love with her" | |
| dc Talk | "Let's Roll" | |||
| "No History" | Instigator | 2016 | ||
| "We Ain't Scared of You" | ||||
| "Self Evident" | ||||
| Disturbed | "Prayer" | Believe | 2002 | |
| DJ Sammy | "Heaven" | |||
| Dream Theater | "Sacrificed Sons" | Octavarium | 2005 | Opens with samples of 9/11 news broadcasts; the song itself is about the attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath |
| "Truce" | The Dresden Dolls | 2003 | ||
| Eagles | "Hole in the World" | The Very Best Of | 2003 | |
| "If I Had My Way" & "If I Should Loose My Way" | ||||
| Eminem | "My Dad's Gone Crazy" | The Eminem Show | 2002 | Lyrics include: "More pain inside of my brain than the eyes of a little girl inside of a plane aimed at the World Trade" |
| "Choir of Angels" | Awaken | 2009 | Enoch "" Bog | |
| Epica | "Façade of Reality" | The Phantom Agony | 2003 | |
| "Tuesday Morning" | Lucky | 2004 | ||
| Evanescence | "My Last Breath" | Fallen | 2003 | |
| Everclear | "The New York Times" | Slow Motion Daydream | 2003 | |
| Mary Fahl | "The Dawning of the Day" | The Other Side of Time | 2003 | Fahl's version of the traditional Irish tune "The Dawning of the Day" was featured in the film version of the Broadway play The Guys. |
| Fear Factory | "Controlled Demolition" | Mechanize | 2010 | |
| "Words I Never Said" | Lasers | 2011 | ||
| "Newmyer's Roof" | Faith in the Future | 2015 | ||
| Five for Fighting | "Tuesday" | 2009 | Five for Fighting's "Superman," released in late 2000, also became an unofficial anthem for the first responders in the days following the attacks | |
| Fleetwood Mac | "Illume " | Say You Will | 2003 | |
| "Grim Cathedral" | Skating Rink | 2003 | "Grim Cathedral" reflects the jingoism and Nationalism that arose following 9/11. | |
| "Makeshift Patriot" | n/a | 2001 | Lyrics include "Don't waive your rights with your flags" | |
| Goldfinger feat. Mest & Good Charlotte | "The Innocent" | The Best of Goldfinger | 2005 | |
| Gorillaz feat. D12 & Terry Hall | "911" | Bad Company | 2002 | |
| "I Don't Know Why" | Simple Things | 2003 | ||
| "Ghosts of planes" | Thin Air | 2009 | ||
| "Ground Zero" | Vigil | 2002 | Released on a benefit album organized by Suzanne Vega, entirely of original songs about 9/11. | |
| "Hole in the Sky" | About the gap in the Manhattan skyline left by the destruction of the Twin Towers. | |||
| Heems | "Flag Shopping" | Eat Pray Thug | 2015 | About backlash racism in the wake of 9/11 |
| "When New York Had Her Heart Broke" | Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns | 2011 | ||
| Iced Earth | "When the Eagle Cries" | The Glorious Burden | 2004 | |
| Imagine Dragons | "America" | Night Visions | 2011 | Lyrics include "From farmers in the fields, to the tallest of the towers that fall and rise, 1-7-7-6, the names upon the list, for all the ones that gave until they died." |
| Imagine Dragons | "Real Life" | Origins | 2018 | Lyrics include "She prays on her knees as the towers fall to a god she does not know." Also includes references to the Boston Marathon bombing and mass shootings in America. |
| Immortal Technique | "Bin Laden" | n/a | 2005 | Attributes much of the blame for 9/11 to U.S. foreign policy. |
| Immortal Technique | "The Cause of Death" | Revolutionary Vol. 2 | 2009 | |
| "Where Were You " | Drive | 2002 | ||
| "Little Did She Know " | n/a Single | 2001 | Written in response to the 9/11 Tragedy. The song makes reference to a passenger on Flight 93. Responses to the song were later turned into a book. | |
| "What More Can I Give" | n/a | 2001 | Performed at an October 2001 benefit concert. Originally intended as a benefit single, but it was never released commercially. | |
| Jackyl | "Open Invitation " | |||
| Jadakiss | "Why" | Kiss of Death | 2004 | Lyrics include "Why did Bush knock down the Towers?" |
| James | "Hey Ma" | Hey Ma | 2008 | Addresses the price paid for revenge |
| Jay-Z and Alicia Keys | "Empire State of Mind" | The Blueprint 3 | 2009 | The song is largely about New York City in general, but includes the line "Long live the World Trade." |
| "Land of the Living" | The Red Thread | 2004 | ||
| "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue " | Unleashed | 2001 | Toby Keith wrote this song in response to his father's death and the 9/11 attacks in 2001. At first, he was reluctant to record the song and decided to only play it live for military personnel. Later however, Corps James L. Jones convinced him to record it saying that it was his, "duty as an American citizen to record the song." | |
| "My list" | Pull My Chain | 2002 | Tells about a firefighter who decides to spend more time with his family after witnessing the 9/11 attacks on TV. | |
| "Sacrifice...For Me" | It's Only Natural | 2011 | ||
| Killswitch Engage | "Life to Lifeless" | Alive or Just Breathing | 2002 | |
| L.A. Guns | "OK, Let's Roll" | Waking the Dead | 2002 | |
| Living Colour | "Flying" | Collideøscope | 2003 | From the perspective of a man who gets the nerve to ask out a woman in the World Trade Center moments before the first plane hits, and the couple then jump from the burning building to their deaths. |
| and Emmylou Harris | "If This Is Goodbye" | All the Roadrunning | 2006 | Inspired by Ian McEwan's piece in The Guardian. |
| "The Proud" | Quality | 2002 | A 9-11-oriented tribute. | |
| "Smashed" | Elements of Persuasion | 2005 | ||
| "Firehouse" | Vigil | 2002 | Released on a benefit album organized by Suzanne Vega, entirely of original songs about 9/11. | |
| Lonestar | "I'm Already There" | I'm Already There | 2001 | |
| "Boeing 737" | Smart Flesh | 2011 | ||
| "My Neighbors In Delray" | Recognition | 2003 | A portrait of the hijackers, 13 of whom lived in Delray Beach, FL just prior to September 11, 2001. | |
| "Covered in Rain" | As/Is | 2003 | ||
| "Freedom" | Driving Rain | 2001 | ||
| "I'll Be Here" | Go Back Home | 2003 | From the musical "Ordinary Days" | |
| "World on Fire" | Afterglow | 2003 | ||
| Megaherz | "Glas Und Tränen" | Herzwerk II | 2002 | Literally "Glass And Tears", contains an account of the violent atmosphere during and ideologies behind the attacks. |
| Megaherz | "I.M. Rumpelstilzchen" | Herzwerk II | 2002 | From the point of view of a double agent employed by a tyrannical government; about the paranoid global political climate after the attacks. |
| MellowHype | "Decoy" | Mellowhypeweek | 2013 | |
| Bret Michaels | "One More Day" | Songs of Life | 2003 | |
| Misia feat. Erykah Badu | "Akai Inochi" | Mars & Roses | 2004 | An anti-war song which speaks about how the events of 9/11 turned the "seemingly distant existence of war into the reality of now". |
| Ministry | "Lieslieslies" | Rio Grande Blood | 2006 | |
| Moby | "Harbour" | 18 | 2002 | |
| My Chemical Romance | "Skylines and Turnstiles" | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | 2002 | Gerard Way wrote this song after witnessing the 9/11 attacks while on his way going to work. He formed the band, My Chemical Romance after witnessing the Twin Towers' fall and this marks as the first ever song written by the band. |
| Carrie Newcomer | "I Heard an Owl" | The Gathering of Spirits | 2002 | Written in response to the 9/11 attacks. Chorus starts "so don't tell me hate is ever right or god's will" |
| No Use for a Name | "Insecurity Alert" | |||
| "Raise Up " | ||||
| Paris | "What Would You Do?" | Sonic Jihad | 2003 | About 9-11 conspiracy theories. |
| "The Bravest" | Looking for the Moon | |||
| Porcupine Tree | "Collapse the Light Into Earth" | In Absentia | 2002 | |
| "Tall Buildings " | "JeffPowers" | - | ||
| Renaud and Axelle Red | "Manhattan-Kaboul" | Boucan d'enfer | 2002 | "Deals with the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York" |
| "WTC 9/11" | WTC 9/11 | 2009-2010 | ||
| Rush | "Peaceable Kingdom" | Vapor Trails | 2002 | |
| Scarling. | "Alexander The Burn Victim" | Sweet Heart Dealer | 2004 | |
| Slayer | "Jihad" | Christ Illusion | 2006 | |
| Sleater-Kinney | "Far Away" | One Beat | 2002 | The song contrast's President George W. Bush's actions on September 11, when he was flown away to a secure location, with those of the emergency responders at the World Trade Center. |
| "There She Stands" | Worship Again | 2002 | ||
| feat. Mary J. Blige | "Tell Me Why" | 2005 | ||
| "Countin' on a Miracle" | The Rising | 2002 | ||
| "Empty Sky" | The Rising | 2002 | Told from the point of view of a person longing for one last moment with their spouse who was killed in the attacks. | |
| "Into the Fire" | The Rising | 2002 | Told from the point of view of a spouse of a firefighter. | |
| "Lonesome Day" | The Rising | 2002 | ||
| "Mary's Place" | The Rising | 2002 | Told from the point of view of a widow who lost their spouse in the attacks. A friend has invited this person to a party at "Mary's Place" to help with moving on. | |
| "Paradise" | The Rising | 2002 | ||
| "The Fuse" | The Rising | 2002 | A smoldering blend of lust and loss, having sex as a means to feel anything after tragedy. | |
| "The Rising" | The Rising | 2002 | "A religious-tinged reflection on the events of the day that focuses on a firefighter at Ground Zero." | |
| "You're Missing" | The Rising | 2002 | About how a family must continue to function after the Father is killed in the attacks. | |
| SR-71 | "Truth" | Tomorrow | 2002 | |
| Star Fucking Hipsters | "9/11 Was " | Until We're Dead | 2008 | |
| "Let's Roll" | Logic Will Break Your Heart | 2003 | ||
| "Ramshackle Day Parade" | Streetcore | 2003 | ||
| "Didn't They?" | ||||
| Sworn Enemy | "Sworn Enemy" | |||
| Tactical Sekt | "American Me" | Syncope | 2006 | |
| Serj Tankian | "Empty Walls" | Elect The Dead | 2007 | |
| Tesla | "Heaven Nine Eleven" | Into the Now | 2004 | |
| Testament | "The Evil Has Landed" | The Formation of Damnation | 2008 | |
| Thrice | "Broken Lungs" | The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV | 2008 | |
| Thriving Ivory | "Angels on the Moon" | Thriving Ivory | 2003 | |
| Twista feat. Faith Evans | "Hope" | Kamikaze | 2004 | "Wish God never gave the men power/ To be able to hurt the people inside the Twin Towers" |
| "Exodus Damage" | Pixel Revolt | 2005 | The second verse describes the narrator watching the second plane hitting the World Trade Center on television, as well as the lack of immediate military response to the attacks. | |
| "Anniversary" | 2007 | |||
| Velvet Revolver | "Messages" | Libertad | 2007 | |
| W.A.S.P. | "Hallowed Ground" | Dying for the World | 2002 | |
| "Jesse" | The Drift | 2006 | Presents the attack on the Twin Towers as a nightmare had by Elvis Presley and described to his own stillborn twin, Jesse Garon Presley. | |
| "United 93" | Good Road | 2011 | Lyrics include "United 93, remember their names Come tell of the time on that great silver plane The bravest band of travellers that ever flew the sky Said "We’re bound to fight ‘cause we know we’re bound to die." | |
| "Safe as Houses" | ||||
| Wheatus | "Hometown" | TooSoonMonsoon | 2005 | A love song to the group's hometown, New York, which thinks wistfully back to a time when the twin towers completed the New York skyline. Includes the lyrics “I swear it was beautiful before they sent those aeroplanes.” |
| Within Temptation | "Stand My Ground" | The Silent Force and also as additional tracks on some releases of The Heart of Everything | 2004 | |
| "Have You Forgotten?" | Have You Forgotten? | 2003 | The song is about the horror of the attacks, with lyrics including "Have you forgotten when those towers fell? / We had neighbors still inside going through a living hell." | |
| Wu-Tang Clan | "Rules" | Iron Flag | 2001 | |
| Yellowcard | "Believe" | Ocean Avenue | 2003 | The song is about rescue workers, and integrates news reports. |
| "Let's Roll" | Are You Passionate? | 2001/2002 | ||
| Cary Pierce of Jackopierce | "I Believe in America" | 2001 | Released 30 October 2001 | |
| Childish Gambino | "Freaks and Geeks" | EP | 2011 | Lyrics include "This beat is a disaster, 9/11 this track." |
| Ween | "Love Come Down " | Caesar | 2011 | Was recorded on the day of the attacks |
| Irene Sankoff and David Hein | "Me and the Sky" | Come from Away | 2017 | From the Broadway Musical "Come from Away" and tells the story of a pilot diverted due to the September 11 attacks. |
| Leigh Sloggett | "I Want to Go Home" | Sliding to Your Destiny'' | 2006 | From the point of view of a stranded foreign traveler based on the singer's own experience. |