This is one of the most perfect songs ever. The lyrics are heartbreaking, but the melody is catchy, and the production is such a vibe. 10/10 song, truly.
29 years ago Mariah Carey released her sixth studio album, ‘Butterfly.’ 🦋
The 5x Platinum album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and produced two Hot 100 No. 1 hits with “Honey” and “My All.”
In 1993, Rick Rescorla walked through the smoking crater in the World Trade Center basement and wrote a report no one wanted to read.
He warned that the towers were still a target. He warned that the next attack would not be a truck.
It would be a plane.
Morgan Stanley listened, but breaking the lease on twenty-two floors of prime Manhattan real estate would cost hundreds of millions. They stayed.
So Rick made a choice: if they couldn’t leave the building, they would learn to survive it.
He instituted mandatory, unannounced evacuation drills. High-powered executives who billed thousands by the hour complained about trudging down concrete stairwells. Rick didn’t care. He drilled them relentlessly, two by two, keeping one side open for first responders. He knew that when terror struck, muscle memory was the only cure for panic.
On September 11, 2001, the North Tower was hit. Minutes later, building announcements echoed through the South Tower: The building is secure. Return to your desks.
Rick picked up a bullhorn and defied the order.
“Get out,” he said.
He launched the evacuation before the second plane ever hit. As thousands spiraled down the dark stairwells, Rick sang old Cornish battle songs and “God Bless America” through his megaphone to drown out the terror.
When United 175 tore into their tower seventeen minutes later, Morgan Stanley was already halfway home.
Of the 2,687 employees in the South Tower that morning, 2,674 made it out alive.
Rick was already safe on the lower floors. But he turned around and went back up. When colleagues begged him to save himself, he told them he would leave only when he was certain every single soul was out.
He was last seen heading up past the 10th floor.
At 9:59 a.m., the tower fell. Rick was one of the 13 who never came home.
He trusted his gut when the world told him he was paranoid. He broke protocol to save thousands of lives. And when his mission was done, he walked straight back into the fire.
Remember Rick Rescorla.