the fuse is ready to blow
you shoot to kill on sight
they call you g i joe
you never wanted to stop
the smell of burning flesh
the hero marches alone
across the highway of death
it's just a matter of war
don't have a reason to fight
they never had one before
you're just a killing machine
he's come to take you down
we take the gas that we need
and pump the blood on the ground
so they can take you down
they're gonna suck you dry
they've left the blood to be found
they're gonna rip you apart
you're gonna burn at the stake
cos when it's time to collect
it's only heroes who pay
With most forms of protest music being to my taste, I've heard a lot of anti-war songs... "Hero" takes the cake as being the most cynical, though. What's the line about old men starting wars and young men dying in them?
This song is about how intense war seems to take the populace at first. We forget that the people we're killing are humans, and those that go over and slaughter our opponents are at first hailed as heroes... Then, all those people that stood beside you suddenly see what you have done, and turn around, calling you a monster. Note when he's talking about the "hero" doing his job, the chorus is accompanied by people cheering. But when he gets to "it's only heroes who pay", the cheers are gone.
@Reaverbot Yes. War in general is a bad thing. A bad state for a human to be in. Up is down, morality and immorality mean nothing. To survive you must kill. So whenever people try to break down whether this thing could've been handled better or this other thing is a war crime, it's very difficult for me. I've never been in war. But you're overlooking a million first degree murders just to get there. And there are exceptions. Killing civilians for example. Torture. I can condemn them. But many things, I just don't know. Yeah they're bad. War is...
@Reaverbot Yes. War in general is a bad thing. A bad state for a human to be in. Up is down, morality and immorality mean nothing. To survive you must kill. So whenever people try to break down whether this thing could've been handled better or this other thing is a war crime, it's very difficult for me. I've never been in war. But you're overlooking a million first degree murders just to get there. And there are exceptions. Killing civilians for example. Torture. I can condemn them. But many things, I just don't know. Yeah they're bad. War is badness. But sometimes it needs to be done. Other times it's based on WMDs that never existed but nevermind that now. Lol
I think it's about how Americans tend to hate the Middle East so much and you're considered a hero if you go over and kill a bunch of them - "We take the gas that we need and pump the blood on the ground" which is actually really true, people shouldn't be so surprised when we get attacked. After all, it's basically our fault for provoking it.
That second verse is so brutal. As Nathan Explosion would say, it's totally metal. But it's the third verse that has scratching my head. Taking you down, rip you apart, you'll burn at the stake, so, that all means kill you right? In any context I can imagine that has anything to do with the military, they'd simply ice you, forget you and move on. But I admit I'm not a military expert. Or a military novice.
Excellent song, especially the version on the "SphincTour" live CD. In that version, instead of "rip you apart" Al says "fuck you up". Funny how he changes the lyrics after a song has been out a while.