Jun 23
‘Heroes’ the Brit National Anthem?
In an article in The Guardian, John Harris is primarily trashing someone for remaking “Heroes” again. I didn’t care much for that part of the article. However, his description of what makes ‘Heroes‘ a great song is an ultra-special interpretation. I’m going to steal that part totally intact:
The reason is down to what might be rather pretentiously termed authorial specificity. No one apart from Bowie has ever been resident in Berlin with Iggy Pop, drugged to the gills and convinced they might alchemise their own self-importance, the thrilling melodrama of the cold war and humankind’s empathy with dolphins into a six-minute song. Thinking about it, few producers have ever matched Tony Visconti’s inspired idea of setting up three microphones in front of his charge, and taping the loudest verses through the one that was 50ft away, so they sounded like the work of someone bravely yelling into the historical void.
He also lists people who have remade “Heroes”:
- Blondie - Originally a live bootleg. Now a bonus track on “Eat to the Beat”. It’s good, not great.
- Oasis - Something ain’t right about it.
- King Crimson - Never heard this one.
- Nico - Never heard this one. Not sure I want to.
- PJ Proby - No clue.
- Magnetic Fields - Own this. It’s very good. If you don’t listen to any other version, you HAVE to hear this one!
Inexplicably, he leaves out probably the best remake. The Wallflowers version sticks very close to the original. I like it a LOT. Look for it on the Godzilla soundtrack.
I’m going to leave my interpretation pretty much the same as John’s. The story I heard was Bowie was creating a painting, and the story he “painted” he put to words. Doesn’t sound too far-fetched. Here are those lyrics:
I
I will be king
And you
You will be queen
Though nothing will
Drive them away
We can beat them
Just for one day
We can be Heroes
Just for one dayAnd you
You can be mean
And I
I’ll drink all the time
‘Cause we’re lovers
And that is a fact
Yes we’re lovers
And that is thatThough nothing
Will keep us together
We could steal time
Just for one day
We can be Heroes
For ever and ever
What d’you sayI wish you could swim
Like the dolphins
Like dolphins can swim
Though nothing
Will keep us together
We can beat them
For ever and ever
Oh we can be Heroes
Just for one dayI
I will be king
And you
You will be queen
Though nothing
Will drive them away
We can be Heroes
Just for one day
We can be us
Just for one dayI
I can remember
Standing
By the wall
And the guns
Shot above our heads
And we kissed
As though nothing could fall
And the shame
Was on the other side
Oh we can beat them
For ever and ever
Then we can be Heroes
Just for one dayWe can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
We can be Heroes
Just for one day
We can be Heroes
We’re nothing
And nothing will help us
Maybe we’re lying
Then you better not stay
But we could be safer
Just for one day
Nothing complicated. No subversive double entendre. No seldom-used words no one understands. Simple, straight to the point, and something people can relate to. To me, it’s a song about emotional survival. It doesn’t really matter if you win or lose the game, if nothing else, in your own mind, you can be a Hero, if just for one day. The real Heroes are the people “that can be us”. In other words, are true to themselves. That’s it.
I saw Bowie perform what I think was one of his best performances of Heroes for Glass Spider. The tour was largely panned for being over-produced. But, for a song like Heroes, the multiple layers of music, produced loudly and very clearly, made for one hell of a concert experience. I wanted desperately to see Charlie Sexton, but by the time they made it to Lexington, Charlie had been replaced with Peter Frampton. To say the least, that wasn’t a loss at all. Frampton nailed it. I still would love to see Charlie do it. I don’t much think he ever will now tho.
My special treat for this one is the video of the first known performance of ‘Heroes’:
( Note the drum flubs! )
My version, of course, is over there on my list. It’s one of my oldest mixes. And, still one of my favorites.
5 squawks so far
Squawk like a pink monkey bird
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Great video.
I love Heroes. It actaully sounds better to me than when I first heard it in 1977. In the UK, punk was at its height. The Stranglers had just released ‘No More Heroes’ the same year and the old wave was on the retreat. Bowie was bunked up in Berlin with Iggy and produced ‘Heroes’,now widely recognised as one of the best pop songs of all times. I loved the RCA adverts for Bowie at the time: ‘There’s old wave, there’s New wave and there’s David Bowie and; ‘Tommorrow Belongs to Those that can hear it coming’. Very clever advertising. I still have these in my Bowie scrapbook.
it wasn’t even a major hit. I love the german version, Helden.
The song lyrics from from what Bowie jhas stated was inspired by Tony Visconti and Antonia Mass who songs backing vocals on the album. The two of them were having an illicit affair at the time. Bowie saw them kissing while looking out of a window at the Hansa by the wall studios. The rest is history. The lrics speak for themselves.
Radio 2, did a great show recently on classic singles. It covered Heroes which was introduced by Blondie. the song meant a helluva lot to her. You may be able to still hear this on their archives. It was fascinating stuff and full of great trivia.
The song conatins some of Bowies most simple and romantic lyrics. ‘we can be heroes just for one day’ has now become an anthem for alot of poeple in varying situations e.g 9/11. Tho I wasn’t that keen on his version at the New York concert. I prefered America, it brought a tear to my eye.
The new version of Heroes is covered by Kasabian, a british group. i quite like this and I think it would be really good live. It’s being played on ITV during the coverage of the World Cup so its on TV everyday here in UK.
I prefer the live verions of Heroes these days. My favourite being the Stage verision. I have yet to hear him give a better vocal performance on this one. The Glastonbury 2000 version is also pretty awesome too.
I haven’t heard the Magnetic field version. I will check it out. I dont think the cover versions I have heard so far have a patch on the original or Bowies live versions.
As for Magnetic Fields, imagine Sisters of Mercy doing Heroes. If that’s not possible Limewire it, it’s worth it. I’m not saying it’s particularly great, it’s just very different and done well.
I have heard several different inspirational stories for this song. Which, I guess, is typical Bowie fashion. I had heard he saw two people kissing discretely, I had never heard it was Tony and Antonia. Speaking of art, time for another post……
Thanks for the video. that was a very powerful performance. Any one that has followed Bowie knows that the visual aspect
of a show means a lot to him. He is a singer but most of all a performer of the song as theater. The Glassspider tour was
just one in a long line of music theater.
I loved it. I was there in Lexington.
It’s where i gave him the glass spiders
ihad made for him and the crew.
I saw it in Philidelphia and twice in Atlanta. Each show was slightly diffrent.
Heroes has taken on a life of it’s own.
it may not be his favorite but his fans think it’s great. Bowie is my hero.
Small word. Looks like we were hanging out together about 20 years ago! ( I won’t tell anyone how long ago it was if you don’t. ) Yes, Heroes has a life of it’s own now. I have remixed it myself, and probably added a couple of parts. But musically, it’s not nearly as simple as it initially sounds. That’s the hook that got me originally, and still keeps me. The reason I decided to start remixing Bowie songs in the first place was Heroes. I could remix that song 20 different ways and it would still be Heroes. Most of the people re-doing Heroes tend to break it down and simplify it. It still sounds good, but I like the Eno version best. Bowie rarely uss the electric fiddle any more, as keyboards can do it for him. But, as the video above shows, it has a very unique sound to it and that’s what initially set the song apart from all the rest to me. Obviously, I could ramble on Heroes all day and night. It’s one of my top 5 Bowie favorites for sure. But those top 5 are on a level way removed from songs I just like. Not sure “love” is even a strong enough word.
[..YouTube..] A very good version.