My Hero

I Combo, You Combo, He/She/Me Combo

"I love the Foo Fighters and I love Paramore and I love both versions of this song, although I prefer the original."

My Hero by the Foo Fighters

This song came out on the 1997 album "The Colour and the Shape," but the Foo Fighters had been playing it in live shows for two years before it was released in the album.

Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Grohl says "the song is dedicated to ordinary, everyday heroes" (x). Grohl also says he has "little use for hero worship," but he thinks the song still makes sense from the perspective of a kid  (x).

The music video, directed by Grohl himself, depicts this exact message through the eyes of a man running into a burning building to rescue a baby and a dog and, finally, a photograph. To drive home the point that anyone can be a hero, the face of the man in the video is never revealed (x).

It's a solid alternative song, grasping at the edge of early 2000s punk rock in style with its powerful guitar line and vocals that don't stand out but rather have equal importance as the instrumentation.

My Hero by Paramore

This cover was released almost a decade after the original, on the 2006 album Sound of Superman, which accompanied the soundtrack of the film "Superman Returns" (x).

Hayley Williams pronounces the words more clearly than the Foo Fighters, which helps get the story across. That said, her version is slower than the original and has a melancholy tone that kind of changes the message.

I mean, if he's your hero, it seems like you would be happy to see him flying around fixing the ills of the world. The slow, sad approach in this cover seems almost sarcastic at times, like she's not sure this guy deserves to be called a hero. Or maybe she's just disappointed that no one else is recognizing his efforts, and he's underappreciated.

It's an new take on the song, which is nice because why cover it if you're not going to do anything different?

This cover still features a guitar-led accompaniment, but it's the mellow strumming of an acoustic guitar, and the vocals are much more definitively brought to the forefront.

Both versions are good, but I also like the Foo Fighters' just a bit more.

Overview:

Genre:
Alt rock

Favorite Lyrics:
There goes my hero;
he's ordinary.

Verdict:
I can't believe the Foo Fighters started playing this song at live shows on my birthday then released it in an album on my brother's birthday.