To celebrate the Wall coming down, I give you Heroes
Cats: music|Originally posted on GT couple of years back.
“Heroes” by David Bowie is one of my fave tunes of all time.
It is a song about two lovers who meet at the Berlin Wall beneath an exchange of Cold War bullets.
They know their relationship is doomed because they are from opposite sides of the wall, yet they find a way to seize the moment and extract the joy.
The lyrics are ambiguous (some say improvised) but for me “Heroes” is a song about passion and optimism. But it’s not a misguided optimism.
It’s practical – heroes, yes, but just for one day. Perhaps this message of practical optimism is the reason a 1977 song has stood up so well over the years.
If you can find passion and optimism in the ho-hum reality of the everyday, the song seems to say, if you can find a way to block out forces over which you have no control and take the moment like the two lovers, then you are truly inspired, a hero.
The other reason “Heroes” makes my top-song list is, of course, musical brilliance.
The song is based on a simple chord progression that builds with intensity, gradually reaching a driving thrum that spools and spools, tighter and tighter until Bowie’s voice cracks, and in that moment the raw human passion spills out creating a sensation that exceeds the sum of the music and the lyrics.
Without fail, that sensation makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Very fews songs can produce such a response.
“Heroes” is a pop masterpiece.
November 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Heroes is a great song. David Bowie is just brilliant.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I love that song, you’ve explained exactly why.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
It really is a fantastic song, and your analysis really does it justice. Have you heard the Magnetic Fields’ cover? Jaw dropping.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Great analysis! I’m in need of some Bowie listening, thanks for the reminder.