-- The words and music started coming to him soon after Sept. 11.

Like virtually every American, Gabriel J. Maciocia was transfixed by the seemingly unreal video images -- the hijacked airliners slamming into the World Trade Center, the towers collapsing like houses of cards and the scenes of chaos on the street below and hundreds of miles away at the Pentagon.

"We couldn't believe what we were seeing on TV," said Maciocia, who watched the events unfold with friends at Brook Florist, on Smith Street. "I was very moved by what I saw."

These and other friends told the local songwriter he should pen a tune about the attacks. But Maciocia figured that if he did, people would think he was trying to inappropriately turn the spotlight on himself.

"I said, 'I don't want to get involved,' " he said. "They said, 'If you don't do it, you're being selfish.' "

In a matter of days, Maciocia wrote "The Day Old Glory Cried."

"He did that very quickly. I loved it. It was very moving, very truthful," said Bob Petrucci, co-owner of the florist shop. "I said it's too bad no one can hear that. I hope they play it somewhere."

With the encouragement of his friends, Maciocia decided to record the song and distribute the CD to the local media under his performing name, Gabriel. He hopes that he can sell the song and donate the proceeds to the American Red Cross and the Firemen's Fund. He's also quite eager to perform it at any vigils or for any group that asks him to.

It's not the first time Maciocia has been involved in a patriotic recording. In 1991, during the Persian Gulf war, he produced a rap song, titled "America -- Don't Stop," written by an American soldier from North Providence stationed in Saudi Arabia.

He's written other songs too, including a much lighter tune, "Elvis is Smiling," that he wrote during his years in Las Vegas.

Maciocia, now 53 and back in his native North Providence, said the creation of "The Day Old Glory Cried" has been all-consuming. It kept him cooped up inside his Winona Street apartment.

"For three days straight, I wracked my head. I couldn't sleep," he said.

He quickly began hearing the music in his head -- the jangly but insistent acoustic guitar and the rootsy harmonica and congas. The lyrics were more difficult. The first ones were too sad, too evocative of death and destruction.

"It was too much about the people who died," he said.

He refocused his lyrics on America and how terrorists can't defeat this country:

It's a sad day in America. It's a sad day for the whole world too,
Let's all unite and win this fight, together we shall all pull through
I was born in America, I'm proud for all she stands for
Old Glory, if you can hear me now, I know we're gonna win this war

Maciocia had a bad experience at one recording studio. He thought the owner wasn't sympathetic to his patriotic desire to record a song. He then went to Q Studios, in Pawtucket, and was pleased at the response.

What was supposed to be a 4-hour session turned into a nearly 12-hour one as Greg Williams, the producer and engineer, helped Maciocia lay down the tracks. Williams played the congas, the guitar and keyboards. Stephen Capara, a friend of Maciocia's, played harmonica.

"We gave him a break" on the cost, Williams said. "He's trying to relate what happened. I think he did a good job."

Maciocia's father was in the U.S. Air Force. Maciocia said that when he tried to join the armed services, during the Vietnam War, he failed the physical exam because of health problems that persist today, preventing him from working.

"I couldn't serve my country properly," he said. "I thought [writing the song] was my way of serving the country."

That's the American Way, God bless, the USA
Her spirit will never die
A better life for you and I
The day Old Glory cried

Orders for the CD may be placed at Brook Florist, 231-8720 or 231-8721

Digital Extra:
Hear Gabriel's song "The Day Old Glory Cried" and other Songs for these Times at:
projo.com/extra/terror/songs/

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