Hero

When the house fell asleep
There was always a light
And it fell from the page
To the eyes of an American boy
In a storybook land
I could dream what I read
When it went to my head, I'd see
I want to be a hero

But the practical side
Said the question was still
When you grow up, what will you be?
I want to be a hero

Hero
It's a nice-boy notion that the real world's gonna destroy
You know
It's a Marvel-comic-book, Saturday-matinee fairy-tale, boy

Growing older you'll find
That illusions are bought
And the hero you thought you'd be
Was just another zero
I want to be a hero

Heroes died
When the squealers bought 'em off
Died
When the dealers got 'em off
Welcome to the 'in-it-for-the-money-as-an-idol' show
When they ain't as big as life
When they ditch their second wife
Where's the boy to go?
Gotta be a hero

When the house fell asleep
From a book I was led
To a light that I never knew
'I want to be your hero'
And He spoke to my heart
From the moment I prayed
'Here's a pattern I made for you
I want to be your hero
I want to be your hero'

Written by Steve Taylor © 1984 Birdwing Music/Cherry Lane Music Publishing Co., Inc./C.A. Music (ASCAP)

Taylor says, "And sometimes, by the grace of God, we get it right. My eyes went bad at an early age from all the books I read late at night using the streetlamp outside my bedroom window (this wouldn't have happened if I'd watched more television...). Biographies were a favorite, but the accounts I'd read at age nine didn't necessarily tell the whole unvarnished story. The more I'd read, the more my heroes (except for maybe Abraham Lincoln) tended to shrink in stature, eventually causing my adolescent psyche no small amount of post-Watergate disillusionment ("Dad, what does 'expletive deleted' mean?").  Role models may vary in quality and consistency, but all are ultimately born to disappoint. Jesus is the only hero worth having."
(Taken from liner notes to "Now The Truth Can Be Told")

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