Heroes
Gary Fjellgaard Lyrics

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I REMEMBER WHEN WE STOLE A CAN
OF TOBACCO FROM THE HIRED HANDS
AND SEEING AS WE WERE WORKING MEN
WE SMOKED TILL WE WERE GREEN
AND WE COULD SPIT AND WE COULD FIGHT
AND WE BELIEVED EACH OTHER'S LIES
RIDING FAST AND RIDING HIGH
FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE

CHORUS: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MY HEROES
THEY DON'T MAKE EM LIKE THEY DID IN 54
THEY WERE THERE WHEN I NEEDED THEM
I WISH THEY'D ALL COME BACK AGAIN
CAUSE I DON'T HAVE NO HEROES ANYMORE

THEY TRAVEL THROUGH MY MEMORY
THOSE RIDERS AND THE LEGACY
I KNOW THEY ALL REMEMBER ME
THEY CALLED ME BY MY NAME
AND LIKE A GHOST FROM YESTERDAY
MY HEROES THUNDERED ON THEIR WAY
BACK INTO A LONELY GRAVE
FOR ALL ETERNITY

CHORUS: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MY HEROES
THEY DON'T MAKE EM LIKE THEY DID IN 54
THEY WERE THERE WHEN I NEEDED THEM

I WISH THEY'D ALL COME BACK AGAIN
CAUSE I DON'T HAVE NO HEROES ANYMORE

Overall Meaning

The song “Heroes” by Gary Fjellgaard is a nostalgic recollection of the singer’s childhood heroes. He reminisces about the days of his youth when he used to trade comic books and homemade guns with his friends, and they would play cowboys and outlaws. The singer remembers Roy Rogers being a hero just for him, and how he and his friends used to hang dirty outlaws high with rawhide rope and binder twine. The lyrics talk about how they stole tobacco from the hired hands and smoked until they were green, and how they rode fast and rode high for all the world to see.

The chorus reflects the sadness and disappointment of the singer as an adult, who is looking back at the present and wishing his heroes would return. He speaks to how they don’t make them like they did in 54, and how he no longer has any heroes in his life. The riders from his memory are now ghosts, riding into a lonely grave for all eternity. The song captures the loss of innocence and disillusionment that often occur with age when we realize that our childhood heroes were not infallible, but human like the rest of us.

Line by Line Meaning

WHEN I WAS YOUNG I USED TO TRADE MY COMIC BOOKS AND HOME MADE GUNS AND LITTLE COWBOYS ON THE RUN WERE KILLERS JUST LIKE ME WE'D HANG THOSE DIRTY OUTLAWS HIGH WITH RAWHIDE ROPE AND BINDER TWINE ROY ROGERS WAS A FRIEND OF MINE A HERO JUST FOR ME
In my youthful days, I used to exchange things that I cherished such as comic books and self-made guns. I also played with cowboy figurines that depicted them as violent just like me. We hanged the bad guys with rough ropes and twines. Roy Rogers was the only hero I looked up to and admired.

I REMEMBER WHEN WE STOLE A CAN OF TOBACCO FROM THE HIRED HANDS AND SEEING AS WE WERE WORKING MEN WE SMOKED TILL WE WERE GREEN AND WE COULD SPIT AND WE COULD FIGHT AND WE BELIEVED EACH OTHER'S LIES RIDING FAST AND RIDING HIGH FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE
I recall the time when we took tobacco from the laborers, and as working-class men, we smoked it till our faces turned green. We were free to spit and fight as we believed in each other's lies. We rode our horses fast and high for the entire world to witness our bravery and supposed heroism.

CHORUS: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MY HEROES THEY DON'T MAKE EM LIKE THEY DID IN 54 THEY WERE THERE WHEN I NEEDED THEM I WISH THEY'D ALL COME BACK AGAIN CAUSE I DON'T HAVE NO HEROES ANYMORE
The chorus echoes the singer's lament about the disappearance of his heroes from the past. He wishes that the heroes he idolized in his younger days would reappear as no one in his present life can fulfill their role.

THEY TRAVEL THROUGH MY MEMORY THOSE RIDERS AND THE LEGACY I KNOW THEY ALL REMEMBER ME THEY CALLED ME BY MY NAME AND LIKE A GHOST FROM YESTERDAY MY HEROES THUNDERED ON THEIR WAY BACK INTO A LONELY GRAVE FOR ALL ETERNITY
The singer reminisces that his heroes from the past exist only in his memory. He believes that these figures acknowledge him, and he reminisces how they used to address him by his name. The heroes he once idolized are long gone, and they exist only as ghosts from the past, resting in their lonely graves forevermore.

CHORUS: WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MY HEROES THEY DON'T MAKE EM LIKE THEY DID IN 54 THEY WERE THERE WHEN I NEEDED THEM I WISH THEY'D ALL COME BACK AGAIN CAUSE I DON'T HAVE NO HEROES ANYMORE
The chorus repeats, emphasizing the singer's sense of loss and longing for the heroes he once cherished and depended upon in his life.

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Freibank Musikverlags und vermarktungs GmbH, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Bluewater Music Corp., Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Actual Music, S.L.
Written by: Brian Peter George Eno, David Bowie

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