David Bowie’s “Heroes” Songfacts and Lyrics

The song was recorded between July and august, 1977 at Hansas Studio 2 in West Berlin, located just 500 yards from the Berlin Wall. The song was released on September 23rd, 1977 on RCA Victor.

It was the title track from his 1977 album of the same name, which was released a month later in October, ’77. Heroes was the second album of Bowie’s famed “Berlin Trilogy”.

It was produced by Tony Visconti and Bowie, and featured Brian Eno on synthesizers and King Crimson’s Robert Fripp on that iconic, sustaining lead guitar.

Bowie was intentionally tight-lipped about the song’s meaning and origin to protect Visconti’s marriage, because he was inspired to write it after spotting Visconti cheating on his wife and making out with backup singer Antonia Maass against the Berlin Wall.

The song’s title was a nod to the song “Hero” by the German krautrock band Neu!, whom Bowie and Eno admired.

While the song has endured as one of David Bowie’s greatest, it was only a modest hit when it first charted. But in 2024 Collider labeled it as the #1 best Classic Rock Song of All Time.

In 2026, the song achieved a huge wave of popularity after being featured in the finale of hit TV show Stranger Things.

Heroes has been covered by The Wallflowers, Depeche Mode, Blondie and Peter Gabriel.

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can beat them, just for one day
We can be heroes just for one day

And you, you can be mean
And I, I’ll drink all the time
‘Cause we’re lovers, and that is a fact
Yes, we’re lovers, and that is that

Though nothing will keep us together
We could steal time, just for one day
We can be heroes for ever and ever
What’d you say?

I, I wish you could swim
Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim
Though nothing, nothing will keep us together
We can beat them for ever and ever
Oh, we can be heroes just for one day

I, I will be king
And you, you will be queen
Though nothing will drive them away
We can be heroes just for one day
We can be us just for one day

I, I can remember (I remember)
Standing by the wall (by the wall)
And the guns shot above our heads (over our heads)
And we kissed as though nothing could fall (nothing could fall)

And the shame was on the other side
Oh, we can beat them for ever and ever
Then we could be heroes
Just for one day

We can be heroes
We can be heroes
We can be heroes
Just for one day
We can be heroes

We’re nothing, and nothing will help us
Maybe we’re lying, then you better not stay
But we could be safer, just for one day
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, just for one day

Official David Bowie Heroes Video