analysis

Shine Your Light by Robbie Robertson is a tribute song to fallen firefighters who have lost their life in the line of duty.  You may think firefighters live an exciting life. Well yes they do, but there is also down time. Not every call that comes in is a huge call, sometimes you may be called out for a dryer fire or a grill on fire, or an accident,  it’s not like on TV where the entire building is engulfed in flames, and you have five or six trucks there, sometimes yes,  but very rarely will you get a structure fire.  Some calls that come in can be sad but, some can be rewarding. A sad call could be a person’s house is on fire and when you get to scene and there is no saving the house. A rewarding call could be saving someone’s house and their pets inside.  This song functions as a tribute song to firefighters because it recognizing the effort and selflessness the firefighters give. “Saw a shooting star like a diamond in the sky, must be someone’s soul passing by.” Firefighters risk their lives every day and work all hours of the night. “Wailing over the rooftops the whole night long.”  The lyrics, “Shine your light down on me, Lift me up so I can see, Shine your light when you're gone, Give me the strength, To carry on, carry on.” This symbolizes that when firefighters pass away their souls stays with the brotherhood of firefighters and look after them to keep them safe, and gives them strength and courage to continue and carry on. The light they shine down is not  an actual  beam of light, it is a metaphor for the souls that have been lost are looking down on the other firefighters giving them courage to keep going and to their very best and to push on. “These are the streets where we used to run, where your papa’s from.” The streets that you grew up on, and have made memories. “These are the streets where you become what you’ve become.” As a kid you play firefighter and pretend to put out small fires and play around, and now as an adult you have become a firefighter.    Firefighters try not to stand out they are just doing their job, just as if a police officer was doing his job “Don’t want to be a hero, just an everyday man.”  They do the very best and everything they can. “Trying to do the job the very best they can, even though sometimes nothing can be done.” Firefighters never know when it is their time; a split second choice could mean fatality.  Maybe they escaped injury or even death, or put their life on the line to save someone else. “But now it’s like living on borrowed time.” At any moment it could be the last, they make one wrong move and take the plunge and maybe another firefighter took the plunge in order to save your life. “Out on the rim, over the line.” Every day firefighters take the risk; they run into burning buildings risking their life for others, not thinking the floor could snap into two at any time or fatality could occur. They don’t think about the 12000 degree flames or the risks that they are willing to make to save someone, they just think I must save this person. “Always attempting fate like a game of chance.” Again they are risking their life, and playing a game with their life. Firefighters are willing to give their life to save someone else. “Never want to stick around to the very last dance.” Staying around to the very end of something can be very sad. It can mean that it is the end, and being the last person to leave is sometimes hard to do because you do not want it to be over. “Sometimes I stumble and take a hard fall.”  Sometimes there is that chance that a person cannot be saved or there is a mistake made, you have to accept that maybe this is their time and not everyone can be saved, as bad as it sounds it is the truth. “Lose hold of your grip off the wall.” The job can get very stressful and sometimes, a firefighter just needs to take a break. Give them some time to release the stress and or grief, or just take some time for themselves and be with their family. If the stress gets too much and they are overwhelmed, just take a step back, and breathe. It is not frowned upon to take a break. “I thought I saw him walking by the side of the road, Maybe trying to find his way home, He's here but not here, He's gone but not gone, Just hope he knows if I get lost.” These lyrics mean that even thou someone has passed away physically, mentally and emotionally they are is still with us. Their spirit is here looking after us and keeping us safe and giving us courage and showing us the way.  “Shine your light down on me, Lift me up so I can see, Shine your light when you're gone, Give me the strength to carry on, Carry on.  Look after us as we go to work fighting fires or responding to accidents, give us the strength to care for the victims, guide us through our journey and keep us safe and keep us strong.

This is a good song to tribute to firefighters because it tells what they do and how much they are willing to give. They are willing to give their life for a complete stranger. They don’t want to be recognized as heroes because to them it is their job, that’s what they do.  Not every day is an eventful day, sometimes you just sit around, but that’s what makes those days when you do have a call excited. And the best feeling you can get is running into that building and coming out with the victim and save their life.