Hero (Skillet song)
| "Hero" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Hero" is the first single of the 2009 album Awake by the Christian rock band Skillet and is the first track on the album[2]. The song talks about mankind's need for a Hero with the hero being Jesus Christ. It's the fourth single by Skillet to be released to physical media[3]. The single sold 12,000 copies in its first week.
Meaning and Concept
John Cooper explained to Stereotruth.net the meaning of the song; "this song is the platform over which the whole record was written. Basically every day seems to get weirder, darker and scarier with thousands of people losing their homes and hurting over a wide variety of reasons. You see so much negativity on the news, especially this sense of violence that’s getting really crazy. With all this going on, it’s easy to feel on the edge, but no matter how dark it gets, there’s always hope in a new day and staying positive is the first step. And when you boil it all down, Christ is the one who gives us a reason to live and He’s our "Hero" who’s fighting for all of this oppression and injustice."[4]
John Cooper told The Positive Alternative station that he came up with the concept of the song in the mall one day when he saw on one of the TV's in the store the first reports about a major money scandal involving government officials and then right after that a story about a Catholic priest turned pedophile. He commented that, "When I was growing up there were people that I respected and looked up to who seemed above reproach; I think that todays youth have far fewer people like that."[5]
Promotion
It was used in a promo on NBC for the 2009 NFL Kickoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans, as well as the Week 17 Sunday Night Football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets and the NFL Wild Card Saturday games, featuring the rematch between the Bengals and the Jets, as well as the rematch from Week 17 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys."Hero" is also used for one of the 2 official theme songs for the WWE Royal Rumble 2010, as well as being featured on their videogame, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010[6], "Hero" was also used in WWE Tribute to the Troops 2009. The song is also being used for the trailers of the upcoming 20th century Fox Film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.[7]
Track listing
- "Hero" – 3:08
Credits
- John Cooper - lead vocals, bass
- Korey Cooper - guitar, keyboard, vocals
- Ben Kasica - guitar
- Jen Ledger - drums, vocals
Charts
Hero has peaked at #12 on the iTunes rock chart,[8] has reached the number one position on the ChristianRock.Net Weekly Top 30, #1 for 13 Consecutive weeks on Christian Rock Radio, and #1 on Christian CHR Radio.
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Christian CHR | 1 |
| Christian Rock Radio | 1[9] |
| U.S. Active Rock | 13[10] |
| U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks | 18[11] |
| U.S. Rock Songs | 35[12] |
| U.S. Hot Christian Songs | 29[13] |
| Japan Hot 100 | 77 |
Music video
The music video for "Hero" was directed by the Erwin Brothers. Coming out shortly after the "Monster" video, which was shot by the Erwins at roughly the same time, "Hero" is the album's second music video. Although the site is for fan club members only, pictures of the video shoot can be viewed on panheads.com[14]. The video premiered on Yahoo.com on September 10, 2009. The video appears to be shot in an abandoned car park with the band performing in front of pyrotechnics and being doused in rain, with cuts of real-life heroes, such as a fireman, a US Marine, and a nurse.
Awards
The song was nominated for both "Rock Recorded Song Of The Year" and "Short Form Video Of The Year" at the 41st Dove Awards. [15]
References
- ^ BMI songwriter credits for song
- ^ http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/Awake.asp
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3nJwSdeDsY&feature=channel_page
- ^ http://www.stereotruth.net/2009/06/skillet-awake-song-by-song-breakdown/
- ^ http://www.air1.com/broadcast/playnow.aspx?href=%2fbroadcast%2fstream.aspx%3fhref%3d%2fAudio%2fPodcasts%2fair1msint_podcast4383_20090828.wma&author=Air+1+Morning+Show&title=John+Cooper+From+Skillet+With+The+Inspiration+Behind+Their+Song+%22Hero.%22&onespeed=true&media=listen&bt=3&
- ^ http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/sdvsraw2010/exclusives/music
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=247611843540
- ^ http://www.thepanheads.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=145
- ^ http://www.christianrock.net/charts.asp
- ^ http://www.mediabase.com/mmrweb/insideradio/charts.asp?format=6&showyear=y&dpt=n
- ^ http://www.radiowavemonitor.com/rock.asp
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/skillet/166990
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/artist/skillet/chart-history/166990?f=355&g=Singles
- ^ http://www.thepanheads.com/site/media.php
- ^ http://ardentrecords.com/520/