Song written to help attack victims

Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

Henderson singer-songwriter Shawn Eiferman watched the tragedy of Sept. 11 unfold on his TV screen, turning momentarily to watch his 3-year-old son Vaughn watch the same horror.

"Wow!" the child exclaimed, his eyes widening and mouth opening as he dropped his toy and watched a second hijacked plane crash into the World Trade Center.

Eiferman realized his son had just witnessed the first defining moment of his life, and he decided he had to do something to help the victims of the worst terrorism attack in U.S. history.

"You cannot shelter your children from this and, because of things like this, you are concerned about their future," said Eiferman, a 31-year-old single father of Vaughn and a 6-year-old daughter, Danielle. "I wanted to do something, so I did what I do best to help those people."

Eiferman wrote the song "Find A Way," recorded it and anonymously delivered copies to several radio stations in town.

In a letter to the radio stations, he wrote, "I hope the media takes it and sells a million copies so that all of the proceeds can go toward relief programs and rebuilding what was destroyed today. I don't want money or recognition -- I just want to help."

Eiferman, who plays 26 instruments and has performed locally for several years, lost his anonymity when disc jockeys at KKLZ 96.3-FM heard the tape and recognized his voice and acoustic guitar from performances at the Nils Lofgren Guitar Bar at the Reserve and at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

"They asked me why I did not want my name used, and I said I thought the mystery of an unknown American songwriter would better help the cause," said Eiferman, son of longtime Las Vegas fitness advocate George Eiferman, who was Mr. Universe of 1962.

"I was hesitant, because someone like Celine Dion could record a song like this and her celebrity is so great no one would think she was doing it to further her career. I am not a millionaire performer, and people might have thought I was doing this to build my name or otherwise profit from the tragedy."

In the end, Eiferman agreed to allow the station and a local music studio, Mars Music, to use his name and burn CDs. So far 500 have been sold at donations ranging from a minimum $5 to more than $100. The song has played on KKLZ since just days after the Sept. 11 tragedy.

All proceeds from the song that Eiferman -- the author of more than 200 songs -- wrote in a half-hour, are going to the Uniform Firefighters of Greater New York Widows and Childrens Fund.

The lyrics of the song include:

"Standing in the middle of the room in disbelief,/I turned the TV off, but I don't feel no relief./ He says another man's gone and taken a bite./ I think today's the day we have to unite/ ... Keep your chin up./ Love will find a way. / Lift your head up./ We'll get through today."

Eiferman, who performs with the local band Epstine's Mother, was to join KKLZ disc jockeys Dennis Mitchell and the Warrior, other artists and students at Vail Pittman Elementary School in Henderson at 3:15 p.m. today to record "God Bless America."

That anthem, Eiferman's song and the tunes of other artists will appear on an LP that will be sold to raise even more money for victims.

Others in the Las Vegas Valley still were raising money to help with relief efforts in the wake of the terrorist attacks: