The song jumps back and forth through different parts of time. I think there are two perspectives, one from a fireman who is a first responder and the other is from the country as a whole. The first verse is the fireman tracking through the World Trade Center. The smoke makes it so he "can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing coming up behind." The chorus could be from either perspective. It could be the fireman talking to someone trapped in the building who is injured or terrified saying, "take my hand, we'll get out of here." It could also be the country after 9/11 talking about how if we work together, we will rise. When he talks about the "spirits above and behind me," he's talking about all the people who have lost their lives. It's almost as if the fireman can see their spirits leaving their body and he is surrounded by them. And in the last two verses, I think the fireman dies. I think "Mary" and their "children" is symbolic for heaven. I think he is going up there with everyone else who sadly lost their lives and he can feel their arms together and feel their blood mixing with his. And while he is going up to heaven, one: he sees what the sky is filled with these sad things like "Sky of fear" and "sadness," but also, "a dream of life." That all the people he has fallen with, will now be together. And then Bruce ends it with the the chorus and the country telling everyone that we will never forget you.
The song jumps back and forth through different parts of time. I think there are two perspectives, one from a fireman who is a first responder and the other is from the country as a whole. The first verse is the fireman tracking through the World Trade Center. The smoke makes it so he "can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing coming up behind." The chorus could be from either perspective. It could be the fireman talking to someone trapped in the building who is injured or terrified saying, "take my hand, we'll get out of here." It could also be the country after 9/11 talking about how if we work together, we will rise. When he talks about the "spirits above and behind me," he's talking about all the people who have lost their lives. It's almost as if the fireman can see their spirits leaving their body and he is surrounded by them. And in the last two verses, I think the fireman dies. I think "Mary" and their "children" is symbolic for heaven. I think he is going up there with everyone else who sadly lost their lives and he can feel their arms together and feel their blood mixing with his. And while he is going up to heaven, one: he sees what the sky is filled with these sad things like "Sky of fear" and "sadness," but also, "a dream of life." That all the people he has fallen with, will now be together. And then Bruce ends it with the the chorus and the country telling everyone that we will never forget you.
Bruce is just and unbelievable songwriter