Believe (Yellowcard song)

"Believe"
Song by Yellowcard from the album Ocean Avenue
Released July 22, 2003
Recorded Late 2002-Early 2003
Genre Pop punk
Length 4:31
Label Capitol Records
Producer Neal Avron
Ocean Avenue track listing
  1. "Way Away"
  2. "Breathing"
  3. "Ocean Avenue"
  4. "Empty Apartment"
  5. "Life of a Salesman"
  6. "Only One"
  7. "Miles Apart"
  8. "Twenty Three"
  9. "View from Heaven"
  10. "Inside Out"
  11. "Believe"
  12. "One Year, Six Months"
  13. "Back Home"

Believe is the eleventh track on Yellowcard's album Ocean Avenue. The song pays tribute to the firefighters and police officers who lost their lives trying to rescue people trapped in the World Trade Center towers after the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. The song also includes excerpts from two speeches: New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg's address on the first anniversary of 9/11 and Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address. This song is very popular among fans and is played at most of Yellowcard's shows.

Reception

The song is very well-received by music critics. MacKenzie Wilson of Allmusic highly praised the instrumental in the song and saying "Violinist Sean Mackin is impressively skilled, and his talent allows Yellowcard to have a bit of an advantage in making something sound original and fresh [on Believe]."

IGN liked the violins and drums on the song, claiming "a track like "Believe" comes from the opposite end of the spectrum in that it's uplifting, positive and much more typical of Yellowcard's overall vibe. Parsons and Mackin take the spotlight here by steering the tune in directions a guitar is not capable of."

Speeches

Approximately two minutes and forty-four seconds into the song, Mayor Bloomberg can be heard reciting these words:

Again today we take into our hearts and minds those who perished on this site one year ago, and also those who came to toil in the rubble to bring order out of chaos, and help us make sense of our despair.

This is an excerpt from a speech given by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg at Ground Zero on September 11, 2002, the first anniversary of 9/11. The excerpt refers both to the citizens who lost their lives in the towers as well as to the rescue workers who came to save them.

In the last fourteen seconds, New York Governor George Pataki can be heard quoting the Gettysburg Address: "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

This is an excerpt of former President Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address, in which Lincoln stood at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, and dedicated the Gettysburg National Cemetery. The Address was read in its entirety by New York governor George Pataki at the same 9/11 anniversary memorial, shortly after Mayor Bloomberg's speech.

References

CNN.com Transcripts [1]