Heroes

Interesting comments. This is my take on this brilliant song:

Absurd and very tragic, IMO the best love song ever written. Two very imperfect lovers (not deserving of the label, "Heroes") are in an impossible situation that is tearing them appart. Both, well aware of their limitations know that the "heroic" thing to do is to break up...or at least that's the sense you get from the lyrics, wich are absurdly over the top (intentionally, of course). All the same, possibly the best love song ever written. Bowie sings two distinctly different versions, one short and one long. The short version of the song, unfortunately, eliminates the ambiguity of the long version, not to mention that it diminishes its effect musically because in the long version Bowie starts the first couple of verses very softly, which makes the whole song a crescendo where at the end he is shouting at the top of his lungs. This song's vagueness (as winessed in the comments here) allows listeners to insert whatever meaning they may think is there. A homosexual couple facing discrimination or resistance from those around them ("And the shame was on the other side") may think that the song is precisely about them. A married man or woman having an affair may imagine themselves the topic of such a song ("And we kissed as though nothing could fall"). An alcoholic whose habits are ruining his marriage may see himself in the role of the hero and think that he can hang on to his wife despite the odds ("And I, I'll drink all the time."). People striving against great odds may feel that the song inspires them on ("And the guns shot above our heads). It's a deceptively profound song.
By the way, I liked the comment concerning the possibility that this song may have been based on a couple escaping Communist East Germany. It does make sense.