‘Heroes’ is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 12th studio album of the same name. Co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno and co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the song was recorded in mid-1977 at Hansa Studio 2 in West Berlin. The backing track was recorded fully before lyrics were written; Bowie and Eno added synthesiser overdubs while Robert Fripp contributed guitar. To record the vocal, Visconti devised a "multi-latch" system, wherein three microphones were placed at different distances from Bowie and would open when he sang loud enough. Like other album tracks, he improvised lyrics while standing at the microphone.
Released in edited form on 23 September 1977 as the album's lead single, initial reviews for the song were mostly positive, with some welcoming it as a classic addition to the artist's catalogue. Bowie heavily promoted the song with a music video and sang it on numerous television programmes, including Marc Bolan's Marc and Bing Crosby's Christmas special. Bowie also released German and French-language versions of ‘Heroes’, titled ‘Helden’ and ‘Héros’, respectively. Despite its large promotion, the song only peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and failed to chart at all on the US Billboard Hot 100, but reached the top 20 in multiple European countries and Australia.
This song tells the story of a German couple who are so determined to be together that they meet every day under a gun turret on The Berlin Wall. Bowie, who was living in Berlin at the time, was inspired by an affair between his producer Tony Visconti and backup singer Antonia Maass, who would kiss "by the wall" in front of Bowie as he looked out of the Hansa Studio window. Bowie didn't mention Visconti's role in inspiring this song until 2003, when he told Performing Songwriter magazine: "I'm allowed to talk about it now. I wasn't at the time. I always said it was a couple of lovers by the Berlin Wall that prompted the idea. Actually, it was Tony Visconti and his girlfriend. Tony was married at the time. And I could never say who it was (laughs). But I can now say that the lovers were Tony and a German girl that he'd met whilst we were in Berlin. I did ask his permission if I could say that. I think possibly the marriage was in the last few months, and it was very touching because I could see that Tony was very much in love with this girl, and it was that relationship which sort of motivated the song."
Over time, the song has grown substantially in reputation and been seen as one of Bowie's best songs, with some considering it one of the greatest songs of all time. His biographers pan the single edit for diminishing the song's power. Following Bowie's death in 2016, the song reached a new peak of number 12 in the UK. The song remained a staple throughout his concert tours and live performances and is Bowie's second-most covered song after ‘Rebel Rebel’ (1974). A version of ‘Heroes’ by the Wallflowers was positively received and charted in the US and Canada in 1998. Another version by the finalists of The X Factor was a UK number one in 2010. The song has also been used predominantly in advertising over the years and has appeared in several television series and films.
Bowie played this at Live Aid from Wembley Stadium, England in 1985, and also at the Berlin Wall in 1987. Regarding the later performance, Bowie said in his Performing Songwriter interview: "I'll never forget that. It was one of the most emotional performances I've ever done. I was in tears. They'd backed up the stage to the wall itself so that the wall was acting as our backdrop. We kind of heard that a few of the East Berliners might actually get the chance to hear the thing, but we didn't realize in what numbers they would. And there were thousands on the other side that had come close to the wall. So, it was like a double concert where the wall was the division. And we would hear them cheering and singing along from the other side. God, even now I get choked up. It was breaking my heart.”
Label – RCA
Songwriters – David Bowie, Brian Eno
Producers – David Bowie, Tony Visconti
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
[Chorus]
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes, just for one day
[Verse 2]
And 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 that
[Chorus]
Though nothing will keep us together
We could steal time, just for one day
We can be heroes, forever and ever
What d'you say?
[Verse 3]
I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
[Chorus]
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them forever and ever
Oh, we can be heroes, just for one day
[Verse 1]
I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
[Chorus]
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be us, just for one day
[Verse 4]
I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing by the wall (By the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads)
And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall)
[Chorus]
And the shame was on the other side
Oh, we can beat them forever and ever
Then we can be heroes, just for one day
[Bridge]
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
We can be heroes, just for one day
We can be heroes
[Outro]
We are nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, just for one day