She walks in beauty like the night
Discarding her clothes in the plastic flowers
Pornographic and tragic in black and white
My Marilyn come to my slum for an hour
I'm aching to see my heroine
I'm aching been dying for hours and hours

She walks in the beauty of a magazine
Complicating the boys in the office towers
Rafaella or Della the silent dream
My Marilyn come to my slum for an hour

I'm aching to see my heroine
I'm aching been dying for hours and hours,
Been dying for hours and hours

She walks in beauty like the night

Hypnotizing the silence with her powers
Armageddon is bedding this picture alright
My Marilyn come to slum for an hour

I'm aching to see my heroine
Aching, been dying for hours and hours
I'm 18, I need my heroines
Aching, been dying for hours
Oh and I'm never alone now
Now I'm with her


Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

Heroine Lyrics as written by Bernard Butler Brett Anderson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Heroine song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    Umm... you are all totally off.

    The song is based from the Lord Byron poem which begins with the same line, "she walks in beauty, like the night".

    This song really doesn't have anything to do with a prostitute. It's more about a boy who is becoming a man (I'm eighteen and I need my heroines) identifying his notions of women with his female idols - who are actresses and pin-up girls pinned to his wall. These women are traditional femmes fatale, as shown by the reference to Raphaella, the pre-Raphaelite princess. Femmes fatale have traditionally shown up in art as symbols of the downfall of men, which is evident by his "dying." Yes, Anderson and Butler are quite arty in their references.

    palegreenon June 09, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think that as the band liked to give out a sort of slummy, low-rent glamour type of image, it's no coincidence that the song is called Heroine. I presume they wanted to have this kind of thing associated with them, and have an obvious link, whether or not the song is actually about the drug or not.

    Strangleron April 08, 2009   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion

    well.. you know the dudes in the band were junkies for quite a bit, so i wouldn't be surprised if it was one of those "songs about drugs that sound like they're about women"..

    but whatever, i say interpret it however you want. music is personal like that.

    tecatoslamfon June 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    At a guess... heroin?

    Axaxaxas_mloon November 19, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    doubt that

    bibaon December 11, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hmmm heroin yes i think so , with maybe some prostitute references

    Riot Grrrlon January 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Just because the song uses a line from a poem doesn't mean it's based on it. It could simply be influenced by it, or neither of these. Morrissey used a lot of references and quotes without basing the song using the quotes on the source.

    Zealon October 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow, this actually has several meanings!

    shaymanrockon December 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    What is 'Rafaella or Della' a reference to?

    Luke10on July 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Nothing at all to do with the drug Heroin....! The album this comes from (Dog Man Star) heavily features references to Hollywood's more tragic figures - Marilyn Monroe in this one - and is a simple homage to the sexualisation of her. Monroe was the ultimate fantasy woman for many men and was rarely seen as more than that, sadly.

    lateleighon December 15, 2010   Link

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