1
I woke up this morning
I could barely breathe
Just an empty impression
In the bed there you used to be
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Blood on the streets
Blood flowin' down
I hear the blood of my blood
Cryin' from the ground
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
On the plains of Jordan
I cut my bow from the wood
Of this tree of evil
Of this tree of good
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
I could barely breathe
Just an empty impression
In the bed there you used to be
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Blood on the streets
Blood flowin' down
I hear the blood of my blood
Cryin' from the ground
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
On the plains of Jordan
I cut my bow from the wood
Of this tree of evil
Of this tree of good
I want a kiss from your lips
I want an eye for an eye
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to the empty sky
Empty sky, empty sky
I woke up this morning to an empty sky
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Definitely a 9/11 heartbreaker. He has a better 9/11 track called "You're Missing". Breaks your heart when the violins kick in.
springsteen: the greatest
I think it is because all flights where grounded on 911
God, this song is awesome. Sometimes I feel like I woke up to an empty sky.
Whenever I hear this song I think of 9/11. The empty sky is where the towers once stood.
everyone has hit the nail right on the head, it refers to the tragedy of 9/11.
I believe the "empty sky" was referring to when they grounded all flights within the country following the attacks.
badassssssss
The song is a parallel between what we all lost on 9/11 and the very personal loss of one individual. We all woke up to an "Empty Sky" the towers that once marked the south of Manhattan Island were conspicuously absent.
And if someone lost their true love in this incident, they also woke up to "an empty impression" in the bed where he/she used to be.
They were torn between wanting just one more kiss from their loved one and the need for revenge "an eye for an eye" as the Boss says.
The reference to the plains of Jordan, One tree of evil, One tree of good refers to the division of the Muslims and the Christians which went back to Cain and Abel.
Perfect prose....
Yes, an exquisite response to the despair of 9/11
just to add to what theoracle2b wrote, the difference between the two types of "empty skies" is acknowledged by springsteen in the way he refers to one as "an empty sky" and the other as "the empty sky"; while the latter references a fact that we all share as a result of the wtc attacks -- namely that the view of the lower-manhattan skyline will never again be the same -- the former speaks from the points of view of the people who actually lost loved ones that day in new york.
(i also think this subtle change in the lyrics might have been springsteen taking a shot at members of the bush administration who used 9/11 to push their political agenda; in many ways 9/11 and its aftermath became so commercialized that most of us fail to remember that there were people who actually suffered direct losses because of the attacks.)
i am by no means a big springsteen fan but this is a damn perfect song.