Turner began her career with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1957. Under the name Little Ann, she appeared on her first record, "Boxtop", in 1958. In 1960, she debuted as Tina Turner with the hit duet single "A Fool in Love". The duo Ike & Tina Turner became "one of the most formidable live acts in history". They released hits such as "It's Gonna Work Out Fine", "River Deep – Mountain High", "Proud Mary", and "Nutbush City Limits" before disbanding in 1976.
In the 1980s, Turner launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history". Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It", which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number one song on the Billboard Hot 100. At age 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. Her chart success continued with "Better Be Good to Me", "Private Dancer", "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)", "Typical Male", "The Best", "I Don't Wanna Fight", and "GoldenEye". During her Break Every Rule World Tour in 1988, she set a then-Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience (180,000) for a solo performer.
Turner also acted in the films Tommy (1975), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), and Last Action Hero (1993). In 1993, What's Love Got to Do with It, a biographical film adapted from her autobiography I, Tina: My Life Story, was released. In 2009, Turner retired after completing her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour, which is the 15th highest-grossing tour of the 2000s. In 2018, she became the subject of the jukebox musical Tina.
Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, Turner became one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She received 12 Grammy Awards, which include eight competitive awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards, and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the first black artist, and first woman, to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone ranked her among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame. She was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Ike Turner in 1991 and as a solo artist in 2021. She was a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.
In 2020, she came out of retirement to collaborate with Norwegian producer Kygo on a remix of "What's Love Got to Do with It". With this release, she became the first artist to have a top 40 hit in seven consecutive decades in the UK.
Studio albums
Tina Turns the Country On! (1974)
Acid Queen (1975)
Rough (1978)
Love Explosion (1979)
Private Dancer (1984)
Break Every Rule (1986)
Foreign Affair (1989)
Wildest Dreams (1996)
Twenty Four Seven (1999)
We Don't Need Another Hero
Tina Turner Lyrics
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Out from the wreckage
Can't make the same mistake this time
We are the children
The last generation (the last generation)
We are the ones they left behind
Living under the fear 'til nothing else remains
We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the Thunderdome
Looking for something
We can rely on
There's got to be something better out there
Mm, love and compassion
Their day is coming (coming)
All else are castles built in the air
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change
Living under the fear 'til nothing else remains
All the children say
We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the Thunderdome
So what do we do with our lives?
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light
Or end in the dark?
Is it all or nothing?
We don't need another hero (hero)
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome
All the children say
We don't need another hero (we don't need another hero)
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond the Thunderdome
Tina Turner's song "We Don't Need Another Hero" was released in 1985 and was written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle. The song was created for the movie "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" in which Tina Turner also appeared as Aunty Entity. The song was a commercial success and reached the top 10 in multiple countries.
The lyrics of the song convey a message of hope and determination in the face of destruction and chaos. The song begins with the lines "Out of the ruins, out from the wreckage, can't make the same mistake this time," suggesting that the characters in the movie and perhaps society as a whole have been through tough times and need to learn from mistakes to move forward. The chorus, "We don't need another hero, we don't need to know the way home, all we want is life beyond Thunderdome," seems to suggest that the characters are not looking for a savior or someone to lead them, but instead are looking for a better life and a better future.
The second verse, "Looking for something we can rely on, there's got to be something better out there, mm, love and compassion, their day is coming (coming), all else are castles built in the air," reinforces the idea that the characters are looking for tangible solutions to their problems, and that love and compassion will eventually prevail. The final verse asks the question, "What do we do with our lives? Will our story shine like a light or end in the dark?" which seems to suggest that the characters and by extension, society as a whole, have a choice to make between a better future or one of darkness and despair.
Overall, "We Don't Need Another Hero" is a song with a positive message of perseverance and optimism, even in the face of destruction and chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
Out of the ruins
We emerged from the destruction of the past
Out from the wreckage
We rose from the debris of our failures
Can't make the same mistake this time
We must not repeat the same mistakes we made before
We are the children
We are the young and hopeful generation
The last generation (the last generation)
We may be the final generation before the end of the world or the collapse of society
We are the ones they left behind
We are the abandoned and forgotten ones left behind by previous generations
And I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change
We question if we will ever truly change and improve the world
Living under the fear 'til nothing else remains
We endure a constant state of fear until there is nothing left
We don't need another hero
We don't require a savior to rescue us
We don't need to know the way home
We don't need to be told what to do or where to go
All we want is life beyond the Thunderdome
We strive for a better life and future beyond the current chaos and violence
Looking for something
We search and seek for something better
We can rely on
That we can trust and depend on
There's got to be something better out there
There must be a better and brighter future out there
Mm, love and compassion
Love and empathy
Their day is coming (coming)
A time where these values will be valued above all else
All else are castles built in the air
Everything else is just unrealistic fantasies and illusions
So what do we do with our lives?
What is the purpose and meaning of our existence?
We leave only a mark
We only leave behind a small trace of our existence
Will our story shine like a light
Will our life and legacy be remembered and revered?
Or end in the dark?
Or will it fade away into obscurity?
Is it all or nothing?
Is it success or failure?
All the children say
All the young and hopeful voices proclaim
We don't need another hero (hero)
We do not require a savior to rescue us (hero)
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome
We strive for a better life and future beyond the current chaos and violence
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Graham Hamilton Lyle, Terry Britten
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind