Jan 062021
David Bowie’s “Heroes” is a song about the triumph of the human spirit. Written in 1977, it is about two lovers separated by the Berlin Wall. Lots of people love this song and are cheered by it:
A lot of singers have covered it. And then… Peter Gabriel released his own version. Same melody, same lyrics, and at least to me it seems utterly flipped into a lament. To me it comes across not “we can be heroes” in the sense that “we have this great potential,” but “we could, but we’re not.” It almost sounds like someone who had the chance to be a hero and failed and is now living with the failure.
I gotta say I find the Gabriel version far, FAR more evocative.