Nobody's Hero

This song is about heroism. A "hero" is not a singer, actor or athlete, but people who really make a difference in the world, either in a global way or in a personal way. Example of the first are scientists who cure diseases, people who save lives, etc. The second are people who, often in a subtle manner, enhance the lives of people around them - like the gay person mentioned in the first verse who expanded the lyricist's reality. The murder victim was one of the Karla Homolka/Paul Bernardo's victims, whose family knew one of the band members.

This has been one of my favorite Rush song's since it came out. It really does make you think about who real heroes are. Everytime I've ever heard it, I think about those who I know that have passed on, and it always makes me think about the heroic attributes they've had (everyone has a few). Tonight it got me thinking about my most recent hero:

A few months ago, there was a mass murder in my area (Utah, Trolley square shootings)... My ex girlfriend's father was one of the casualties, and her brother was seriously injured... They were the first two people shot in the attack... The way the story has been told to me is that as soon as the father saw the gun, he immediately turned to cover his son. His son got shot first, and he jumped on him and covered him from the shooter. He took 5 bullets in the back and the head, giving his life so that his son had a chance to live.

That, my friends, is a hero.

I always imagined this song was about Freddie Mercury...

I think it's meant to show the difference between heroes and role models.

I think the song is aobut who the public sees as a hero.

The rue heros are listed in the song. they are out there curing diseases, They are the firefighters, the doctors, the policeman. But we sledom call them ehroes unless they, say doe something spectacular. You don't call a cop a hero just for doing his job. The same applies for everyone. All the people who work hard for the sake of it. Who show up to work and do their job heard. We don't think of them as heroes. We see ehroes as the actors, athletes, and other famous people, but they aren't the real herops, the real heros are in fact, Nobody's hero.

"As the years went by, we drifted apart When I heard that he was gone I felt a shadow cross my heart "

• To me, this is the key lyric in the song. It's important that the dead friend, isn't really a friend any more. The chorus mentions how the person is "Nobody's hero" - in that their death won't effect the rest of the world. Although, I suspect this is a reflection of the personal guilt felt in the song. The guilt derived from knowing that the person's death won't make a difference to the narrator's life, in any way, since they haven't been a close friends for a while.

i think this song is about a friend of Geddy's who passed away...correct me if i'm wrong

This song tells us about those who make the difference in the world. The heros that step up to the plate, take the world head on so that others can live a better life.

I think it goes a bit beyond that though, to show the view that those who DON'T land the crippled airplane can never be considered a hero, even though they greatly expanded the people around them, brought them to know a great deal about themselves, about the world, about... well, lots. I'd consider these people heroes, in my opinion, but I'm sure dozens wouldn't. Sad, I know, but that's the fact of it all.

Beautiful song.

I think this song examines the difference between what popular media calls a hero (ie: the handsome actore, glamor girl, etc.) and what should really be considered a hero (scientists, people who save others lives) but all too often are forgotten about.