There's something really eerie and otherworldly about this song. The production is wonderful -- the tone is almost creepy. I think Springsteen was pretty brave to include this song on 'The Rising' given the anger of post-9/11 America, and it really works.
If the meaning isn't clear to you, it's about a suicide bomber on the last day of his life. It's sequenced right after the title song on 'The Rising', and it mirrors that song (which follows a firefighter into the Towers and on into the afterlife). "I see you on the other side / I search for the peace in your eyes / But they're as empty as paradise" is symbolic of his discovery that the paradise he hoped for is empty and false (unlike the firefighter, who was selfless and therefore found happiness in the afterlife).
There's something really eerie and otherworldly about this song. The production is wonderful -- the tone is almost creepy. I think Springsteen was pretty brave to include this song on 'The Rising' given the anger of post-9/11 America, and it really works.
If the meaning isn't clear to you, it's about a suicide bomber on the last day of his life. It's sequenced right after the title song on 'The Rising', and it mirrors that song (which follows a firefighter into the Towers and on into the afterlife). "I see you on the other side / I search for the peace in your eyes / But they're as empty as paradise" is symbolic of his discovery that the paradise he hoped for is empty and false (unlike the firefighter, who was selfless and therefore found happiness in the afterlife).