Out of curiosity, is there anyone apart from me who isn't particularly keen on the song Heroes? People are always going on about how amazing it is, and I'm just like... huh? It's never sounded that impressive to me - not sure what I'm missing.
Nope! You might be alone in this.
Agreed, I love that song so much.
Why, though? What is it that everyone loves about it?
Well, I don't want to speak for anyone else, but, in no particular order:
1. The romantic symbolism of the song is about as direct a love song as Bowie has in his canon.
2. It's a song in his "Berlin Trilogy" that is directly about Berlin, and the wall.
3. The gradual build, starting with the conversational, detached delivery of the first verse, and ending with the operatic wail at the end.
4. Learning more about the recording of the track, how there were three microphones, set to increasing distance and gate threshold from Bowie, who then needed to sing more powerfully in order to trigger each subsequent one.
5. The production (for me, especially)--Eno's phasing swooshes really creating a new sound, on that would almost single-handedly be responsible for the new romantic movement a few years later. It was a perfect combination of Eno's experimentalism, and Bowie's songcraft. U2 themselves are indebted to the song's sonics as well. The lead guitar line basically creates the whole idea of an E-Bow, which Edge would go on to use, along with the "Infinite Guitar".
6. For me, also--the full version of the song ends, not triumphantly, but explodes, burned out, collapsing on itself, with the line, "We're NOTHING!!! And nothing can help us!!! Maybe we're lying!!! Then you better not stay..." It's like a star going supernova--increasing, building, and then exploding, collapsing, dying. And even despite that, it's just an amazing arc to a song, all goosebumps and hairs on end.
7. Eno's deadpan backing vocals. "I reme..ember.............by, the wall!"
8. The video of it's cool, too.
9. And it's amazingly easy (and fun) to play along with.
That's what I can come up with off the top of my head.