David Bowie’s most popular song on Spotify entered the British top 40 quietly in October 1977, eventually reaching no. 24 (it got nowhere at all in America). “I think his time has been and gone,” said the NME’s Charlie Gillett. “This just sounds weary.” Incredibly, the single Gillett was reviewing was “‘Heroes’”. The song that inspired Phillip Glass’s 1996 “‘Heroes’” Symphony, that announced the arrival of Britain’s athletes at the London 2012 Games opening ceremony, that has been covered by many artists before and since Bowie’s death in 2016, has become the ultimate epitaph for the man who gave popular music so much drama and adventure, so propulsive is his song’s build and its swell, so passionate and strange are its lyrics.
“‘Heroes’” was written and recorded in the summer of 1977 in West Berlin’s Hansa Studios, which overlooked the Berlin Wall and its watchtowers. Bowie had decamped to the city from LA after cocaine addiction and a failing marriage had nearly destroyed him. “It was literally like being reborn,” he told BBC 6Music in 2005. He released the first album of his Berlin trilogy, Low, a week after his 30th birthday in January 1977; his next album, also called “Heroes”, followed nine months later. Its title track had begun life as an instrumental, based on a dynamic, rhythmic riff by Bowie’s regular guitarist, Carlos Alomar, embellished by analogue synthesiser oscillations from Brian Eno (who has a co-writing credit) and a two-note guitar line created by feedback by King Crimson’s Robert Fripp. Its title has quotation marks around it because Bowie was not interested in triumphalism — we could be “‘heroes’”, he sang, but “just for one day”.
This lyric directly spoke to a situation that inspired the song. Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti had a new lover he would meet clandestinely by the city border, and the original third verse of “‘Heroes’” summons the passion and madness of their actions: “Standing by the wall/And the guns shot above our heads/And we kissed, as though nothing could fall”. Several versions were released to different lengths, appropriately enough in English and German.
“‘Heroes’” was covered early by Blondie, and included as a live b-side to their 1980 single, “Atomic” (Robert Fripp joining them on stage for a Hammersmith Odeon performance). German singer Nicoalso recorded it for 1981 album Drama of Exile, but the song’s place in German history took root six years later. At the 1987 Concert For Berlin at the Reichstag, near enough to the Wall for thousands of East Berliners to listen, cheering and singing along, Bowie performed the song. “It was one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever done,” he said in 2003. A violent police crackdown on the festival’s final night changed the mood against the DDR critically.
Other dramatic settings followed for “‘Heroes’”. Glass’s “‘Heroes’” Symphonytook elements from its host album as inspiration, but began, very powerfully, with its title track. Glass’s symphony soundtracked Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs fashion shows, and in 2003, electronic producer Aphex Twin remixed it, adding some of Bowie’s original “‘Heroes’” vocals.
Other covers of “‘Heroes’” have been unavoidable. In 2009, Brooklyn indie-rock band TV On The Radiocovered it for charity compilation, War Child Heroes — Bowie himself asked them to cover it. A less nuanced version made the UK no. 1 spot in 2010, performed by the X-Factor finalists. Peter Gabriel’sstark version from the same year was better, re-emerging on the first series of Netflix’s Stranger Things, while Motörheadreleased their heavy-rocking 2015 version last year, after the death of lead singer, Lemmy. Depeche Mode also released their take in September to mark the song’s 40th anniversary, Dave Gahan revealing he joined the band after having been heard singing it by founder member Vince Clarke. Gahan spoke for many when he said: “[It] is the most special song to me.”
We’re keen to hear from our readers. Do you have particular memories of Bowie’s “‘Heroes’”? Is the original version the best? Let us know in the comments below.
‘The Life of a Song: The fascinating stories behind 50 of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: Parlophone UK, Parlophone Catalogue, aura records, Decca Music Group Ltd., Parlophone UK, Real World Productions Ltd., Motörhead Music, Syco Music UK
Picture: Richard E Aaron/Redferns