In the mornings, I often have my radio tuned to a local Christian radio station. One of the downsides of this particular station is that they overplay their music. As a result, I have become familiar with a song by the new group Abandon called “Hero.” It’s a powerful song. Every time I hear it, Jesus-film-like images fill my head as I picture how Jesus was so ordinary in many ways, while also being the hope of the world.
I also couldn’t help but think of the 1998 Foo Fighters song of a similar title — “My Hero.” The song was written by the band’s frontman Dave Grohl, who is also the former drummer of Nirvana. While Grohl says the song “is dedicated to ordinary, everyday heroes,” at a recent concert he dedicated it to his friend and Nirvana’s former lead singer Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994. That connection lends poignancy to the song’s lyrics:
Don’t the best of them bleed it out
While the rest of them peter out
Truth or consequence, say it aloud
Use that evidence, race it aroundThere goes my hero
Watch him as he goes
There goes my hero
He’s ordinary
There’s a certain hopelessness in the exalting of human heroes — and I think that’s exactly what Grohl is communicating. The bottom line is they will always fail us to some degree. Now contrast that with the lyrics of “Hero” by Abandon:
He walked the dirty streets. Famous for nothing.
He said “come follow me” and they came.
A face like all the rest.
But something was different.
The Son of God would lead the way.
And soon they all would say.There He goes — a hero. A savior to the world.
Here He stands with scars in His hands.
With love He gave His life so we could be free.
The Savior of the world.
This morning, as I heard this song for the umpteenth time, I praised God that He offered us such a Hero. Someone who would not let us down. A Hero who could actually save us. A Hero among heroes.
Copyright 2010 Suzanne Hadley Gosselin. All rights reserved.