My Hero is a song by the Foo Fighters, released in January 19, 1998 as the third single from their second album, The Colour and the Shape (1997). Although the song was first released on The Colour and the Shape album in 1997, it had been played live as early as 1995.
On July 17th, 1995 Grohl demoed the hit song for the first time by himself on an 8-track reel-to-reel in the basement of his Seattle home. The demo features only Grohl playing drums, bass, guitars, and singing, although the lyrics are not complete the vocal melody is the same as the final studio recording.
In the Foo Fighters 2011 documentary, Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, bassist Nate Mendel states he knew the band had a future when he heard Grohl’s demo, “because the song was great”.According to Dave Grohl, the song is dedicated to ordinary, everyday heroes, as he himself never had musical or sports heroes growing up as a child.
During Foo Fighters‘ appearance on VH1 Storytellers in 2009, Grohl explained that the song was written while watching 1980s movies like Valley Girl. Grohl also stated that the band wrote the song about Pete Stahl and Chip Donaldson, without even knowing it.
The recording of the song itself was done using two different drum tracks played back simultaneously for the intro and verses. On one track, Dave Grohl played using the bass drum, hi-hat, snare drum, and crash. On the second track, it is again the bass drum, but plays the rack and floor toms as well as the snare. Because of the drums being recorded as double-tracked, live performances use a more simplified beat.
Tracklist:
- My Hero
- Baker Street
- Dear Lover
The music video for My Hero was directed by Dave Grohl. It features a man running into a burning building to rescue a woman’s baby, another woman’s dog, and finally a framed picture of the first woman. The eyes of both the baby and the dog are blocked out. The camera follows the man throughout the video, with his face never being shown. It is presented in a continuous “long take” format, although actual transitional cuts are disguised by smoke. During shots inside the building, the band is seen performing the song, seemingly unconcerned about the chaos around them.
Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl: vocals, lead guitar, drums
Pat Smear: rhythm guitar
Nate Mendel: bass
