Hero

"Hero"
Single by Weezer
Album	Van Weezer
Released	May 6, 2020
Recorded	2019
Length	3:56
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo, Daniel Bedingfield, Dave Basset, David Charles Marshall Biral, Denzel Michael-Akil Baptiste, Daniel Omelio
Producer(s)	Suzy Shinn (Van Weezer) Jake Sinclair (Piano version)
Status	officially released
Live debut	May 2, 2020 (Rivers on piano)
Stream	Spotify
Weezer singles chronology
"The End of the Game" (2019) "Hero" (2020) "Beginning of the End (Wyld Stallyns Edit)" (2020)
Van Weezer track listing
"Hero" (1) "All the Good Ones" (2)
Hero (Piano)
Cover for piano version
Promotional cover art

"Hero" is the first track and second single from Van Weezer. It was released May 6, 2020.

Overview

"Hero" was first hinted at in the promotional game "The End of the Game" Game, released on March 26, 2020. Upon clicking the text "Contest Rules", players were linked to an online dictionary entry for "Hero". On April 15, the song was listed as the third track on the Google Play listing for Van Weezer. When asked about the song during a Zoom webinar with fans, Rivers Cuomo confirmed that "Hero" was the next single after "The End of the Game" and stated it was coming "very soon". Cuomo publicly debuted the song by performing it on piano during another webinar on May 2. On May 4, Weezer's official social media accounts confirmed that the date of May 6 previously teased on May 1 was indeed for the release of "Hero."

Weezer performed "Hero" on the June 17 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. On July 30, a piano version of the song, produced by Jake Sinclair and based on the prior Zoom and Tonight Show performances, was officially released on digital music storefronts and streaming platforms.

"Hero" was listed as the third track on the album prior to the formal announcement of the track list for Van Weezer on April 20, 2021.

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo — guitar, lead vocals
• Brian Bell — rhythm guitar
• Scott Shriner — bass
• Pat Wilson — drums
• Suzy Shinn — producer
• Jake Sinclair — producer (Piano version)

Video/Audio

The music video for "Hero" was directed by Brendan Walter and Jasper Graham and released alongside the single on May 6. On April 9, Karl Koch put out a request on the Weezer Fan Club Facebook group for video footage from hospital workers. Said Koch, "We are looking to create a video as tribute to the doctors and nurses on the front lines of COVID-19. If you or a family member or anyone you know has footage of them that could be useful as a tribute we would love to use it. Anything works, them getting ready, with their families, at work, wearing their PPE, etc. Anything will help. Thanks!" On April 24, however, Koch created a new post, clarifying that the plans for the video had changed, and requested that fans simply submit a video of themselves passing a piece of folded paper from the left side of the video to the right.

Lyrics

When I was a kid I thought I'd save the world
Runnin' 'round and chasin' all the criminals
Swingin' on a web, flyin' in the sky
Shootin' lasers from my eyes
But now I know it never was my destiny
It's not my place in life, not who I'm meant to be
And I don't need the glory, I don't need the fame
And I don't wanna wear this cape

'Cause on the inside
I know it won't last
On the inside
I'm an outcast

Well, everybody needs a hero
But I'm not everybody else
I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone, yeah

Y'know I tried to be your hero
But I was lying to myself
I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone, yeah

They build you up and then they gonna tear you down
They love you then they hate you if you wear a crown
It's not that I don't love to solve a mystery,
But life is hard enough with one identity

If silence is the voice of the new generation
Then I could live up to all of your expectations
I'd hammer down hard like I'm Iron Fist
Then disappear like I don't exist

And on the inside
I know it won't last
On the inside
I'm an outcast

Well, everybody needs a hero
But I'm not everybody else
I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone, yeah

Y'know I tried to be your hero
But I was lying to myself
I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone
Yeah, I walk alone, yeah

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Hero	Hero             19.m4a
Weezer(?)	Hero	Hero Matty Ref 1 LIM.mp3
Weezer	Hero		2019	4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, CA United Recordings, Los Angeles, CA Redstar Recording, Los Angeles, CA The Lair, Los Angeles, CA Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA	3:56	Van Weezer
Weezer	Hero	01. Hero (Instrumental).flac	2019	4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, CA United Recordings, Los Angeles, CA Redstar Recording, Los Angeles, CA The Lair, Los Angeles, CA Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA	3:56	Leaked online	Instrumental version of final mix. Leaked online in 2021.
Weezer	Hero		?		3:38	"Hero - Piano" (digital single)	Piano version
Weezer	Hero		?		3:21	Van Weezer (deluxe box set vinyl)	Mike Mago mix

See more

• Van Weezer
• List of Weezer songs