The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon Sept. 11 struck a powerful chord with U.S. citizens, and music charts are showing it.

This past week, “God Bless America” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s top 200 album charts. The album was released by Columbia Records and was publicized as “a collection of songs of hope, freedom and inspiration.” It featured Celine Dion’s rendition of the title song, as well as Frank Sinatra’s “America the Beautiful” and Mariah Carey’s “Hero,” among others.

In its first week of release it sold 180,984 copies, sending it skyrocketing to the top of the charts, something virtually unheard of for an album of its kind in the past 40 years.

Joining the best-seller category was the re-release of Whitney Houston’s single “The Star-Spangled Banner” on the singles charts.

“There was an increase a couple days after [the attacks] of people asking about this kind of music, like Whitney Houston’s album, before they were even released,” said Jon Wilburn, assistant manager of Sam Goody in North Grand Mall, 2801 Grand Ave. “I think the trend will gradually fade, as any fad does, but right now it’s going strong.”

Coming in after “God Bless America” was Enya’s “Day Without Rain.” This album had been out for nearly a year, and was No. 20 before Sept. 11, but shot to No. 2 when figures were released last Wednesday. The spike in Enya’s album sales is most likely related to the popularity of “Only Time,” which is on this album and was played frequently in the days following the attacks.

History shows that music has had a profound affect on patriotic emotions in the past.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” was written in 1814, in the midst of the War of 1812. Frances Scott Key was sent aboard a British ship to negotiate the release of a local doctor,and was detained on board so he would not be able to warn the Americans of an attack. He watched through the night as the British bombed Fort McHenry along the shores of the Baltimore Harbor in Maryland. By “the dawn’s early light,” Key saw the American flag still waving, showing that the Americans had not been defeated.

He was so moved by the sight he was inspired to write a poem titled “Defense of Fort McHenry,” which was then set to music.

It was adopted informally by U.S. citizens as the national anthem, because of its inspirational message. It became even more accepted when it was sung during the World Series in 1917 in honor of the armed forces fighting in World War I, starting the trend of singing it before every game.

“More people know the words to the national anthem than to the Pledge of Allegiance,” said David Stuart, associate professor of music. “Music is an incredibly vital part of everyone’s life. No matter what the circumstances, music becomes a manifestation of it. It elicits strong emotions, sometimes even a physical response, and can be much more powerful than another form of expression.”

Stuart’s response to the newest trend in patriotic music, however, is cynical.

“I believe this trend is a combination of people feeling patriotic from exposure to so much information since the attacks, as well as this music being specifically geared towards people in a time of national crisis, almost as if they’re marketing patriotism,” Stuart said. “This is okay as long as it stays positive and doesn’t start singling out those of different nationalities they way songs sometimes did during wars of the last century.”

There are others who share Stuart’s feelings of cynicism. Michael Seager, junior in microbiology, fears that people are following this current trend for reasons other than patriotism.

“The situation is kind of scary, because it shows that a lot of people are either awaking to their own dormant sense of patriotism, or more likely, are jumping on the bandwagon,” Seager said. “This is also indicative of the current mob mentality, where everyone is riled up about `kill this, kill that.’

“Patriotism is fine until it becomes nationalism, when people stop thinking about what their nation is and stop questioning the government. This is dangerous, and has been the cause of many atrocities in the past.”

Others merely see it as a mentality that was late in coming.

“It’s about time,” said Alicia Root, undeclared freshman. “It’s just too bad it took something like this to make people appreciate where they come from.”

Regardless of differing opinions, patriotic music is flying off the shelves. The only uncertainty is how long this trend will continue.

“It will be interesting to see how long this goes on,” Stuart said. “Even more interesting, how long people will be able to put up with it.”