Lyrics for Hero of the Day as interpreted by elmoz

Hero of the Day Lyrics
(Mama, they try and break me)

The window burns to light the way back home
A light that warms no matter where they've gone
They're off to find the hero of the day
But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way?

Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
Someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames
Do you feel your name?
Did you hear your babies crying?

(Mama, they try and break me)
(Still, they try and break me)

Excuse me while I tend to how I feel
These things return to me that still seem real
Now, deservingly, this easy chair
But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair

Don't want your aid
But the fist I make
For years can't hold or feel
No, I'm not all me
So please excuse me while I tend to how I feel

But now the dreams and waking screams
That ever last the night
So build the wall, behind it crawl
And hide until it's light
So can you hear your babies crying now?

Still the window burns
Time so slowly turns
And someone there is sighing
Keepers of the flames
Did you hear your names?
Did you hear your babies crying?

But now the dreams and waking screams
That ever last the night
So build a wall, behind it crawl
And hide until it's light
So can't you hear your babies crying now?

Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try
Mama, they try
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try and break me
Mama, they try
Mama, they try

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joeboxer1299
12-02-2001

Rated -1 
this is a bad ass song!!!


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1 Reply
joeboxer1299
12-02-2001

Rated -1 
this is a bad ass song!!!


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mo0stah
01-14-2002

Rated 0 
Lost in the world with only one person to look to. This sentence basically sums everything up for me. Both released versions of this song are awesome, but I like to think the S&M version is better due to the deeper, melancholy sounds to it. To me, the one person I can look to to understand my feelings and thoughts is myself, so naturally, I find this song to be of great intriguing value to myself.
Listen and Feel.

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DrivenInHiFi
03-11-2002

Rated 0 
it's pretty vague lyrically, as it seems to almost be talking about different things. what i feel he is saying is similar to mo0stah, but it involves looking up to someone who is not quite the hero of the day you thought they were.

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shoelessz
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
could this be a reference to the vietnam war? i recall, vaguely, reading that Hetfeild's brother was a protester back in the day. one might certainly read that way, and it just seems there's that consistent theme there, of someone gone that's not coming home.

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King Nothing
05-03-2002

Rated 0 
It's about people who like to worship the people in the media and all, when the people you really should be is who you meet in everyday life.

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1 Reply
Sephiroth
05-22-2002

Rated 0 
I agree King Nothing

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larsdrummerboy
06-01-2002

Rated 0 
I agree with shoelessz because if you think about it, it does sound like somebody thats gone off to war.

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getek20
06-03-2002

Rated 0 
"Hero of the day" I thought was referring to the passing trends in society. How often is someone a hero one minute then their 15 minutes of fame is up and they swiftly leave the spotlight. People are looking for different heroes to fit differing occasions. Once we are done with our heroes we toss them aside and let the next hero take center stage. Like King Nothing said, it could be applied to people in the media spotlight. One minute they're on top, and the next everybody forgot about them.

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punkrockr
06-05-2002

Rated 0 
i think the song is about people not knowing who to look up to so they find somebody to look up to from day to day


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skater
06-06-2002

Rated +1 
the song is fuckin awsome

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laquisha
06-16-2002

Rated 0 
great song by a great band. METALLICA FUCKING ROCKS


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Farrantionion
06-18-2002

Rated 0 
I really am not sure bout the meanin but wen he sings it, it coms from the heart this is a gr8 song I love it. I must admit it was quite awful on the load album but on the S&M album it's sounds sooooooooo good. Metallica RULEZ

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LJ
07-06-2002

Rated 0 
I definately agree that the S&M version of this song was the best.. It was very deep. I think that Hetfeild wrote this song knowing that it could mean something different for everyone. For me, this song is about people looking for hero's in society, like finding that one person to look up to, but this song depicts the way a person would feel when they find out their hero is a fake.. I think it is a very meaningful song..

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metallica5699
07-21-2002

Rated 0 
ive mostly read that the song is about people lookin to tv stars as heros, but i think of the song as a tribute to war veterans who risk their lives for other people but wind up in the hands of the enemy and nobody else will do the same for them" But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way"



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VVolsy
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
I think that this whole song is written to someone's mother (hence) "Mama they try and break me" I think that the "they" in this instince is people who are the enemy's at war.
"The window burns to light the way back home" I think this means that the this means that the only way out (window) is through flames that light the path home.
"A light that warms no matter where they've gone" I think this means that no matter where people are, these 'flames' that light the path back home, always make u feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"They're off to find the hero of the day" This is obviously the most important part of the song bc of the tittle, which is why i think that this song has everything to do with war. "But what if they should fall by someone's wicked way" meaning (in my opinion) what if these people searching to become a hero were defeated?
"Still the window burns, Time so slowly turns" I think this means that time goes by so slow at war, especially when u think about the way home.
"Someone there is sighing, Keepers of the flames" I think that "there" is refering at home someone is sighing (waiting), the keepers of the flames (the way back home)
"Do ya feel your name? Can't you hear your babies crying?" I think this is directed back at the mother again.. i think its saying that, "do u feel ur name" - the last name is what i assume, meaning, can u feel that u are part of this too, can u feel ur babies crying, - i think this emans can u feel their pain
"Mama they try and break me, Still they try and break me" - i think this is refering to the struggle between the enemy and the writer, jus saying to his mother how much pain it is
"'Scuze me while I tend to how I feel, These things return to me that still seem real" - i think this means that this whole song is a type of flashback to when he(no im not sexist, but it most likely was a he) was at war, and hes tlakin to his mother about the pain and fear
"Now deservingly this easy chair, But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair" - i think "he" is saying that he deserves the chair bc he went through so much, but he stops wiht dispair as he remeneses about something terrible.
"Don't want your aid" - hes trying to say hes doesnt need help now
"But the fist I've made, For years can't hold or feel" - hes trying to tell his mother that hes a harder person (no feelings) bc of his experience
"No, I'm not all me"- hes implying that this has changed him,a dn hes not who he used to be
"So please excuse me, While I tend to how I feel"- its a given
"But now the dreams and waking dreams, That ever last the night"- i think this is saying that there is another war soon, (the dreams are waking), and there will always be war, (everlasting night)
"So build the wall, behind it crawl, And hide until it's light" - i think hes saying to his mother that for her own protection, to not be like him, she should hide form the society and war
"So can you hear your babies cryin' now?"- again the war is going on, can u hear the "children" (what he used to be) being sent to war
"Mama they try and break me"- i think this is the last flashback that says that the enemys always try to break eachother
Well, this is all jus my thoughts, and what i think the song means... its a great song no matter how u interpret it :)

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LithiumGrl
08-21-2002

Rated 0 
damn, that last comment was long. oh well, i think this a really awesome song.

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count_200
08-29-2002

Rated 0 
king nothing is hella right, but to add, i think it also that they worship you, untill you turn bad, then they break you, rip you apart, and leave you for some hungry rabbits, we have all seen it, they love you then they leave you

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Azzathoth
09-05-2002

Rated 0 
Sounds to me like someone's flashbacks about experience in war or other conflict and his musings on the fact that the people who start these fights are always looking for someone to fight for them ("off to find the hero of the day") and how they don't really care what happens to these heroes as long as they "win." It seems to be about the nightmarish nature of war and conflict, contrasted with home and family, and hope kept alive by the latter ("a light that warms no matter where they go"). "Can't you hear your babies crying?" refers to the way soldiers or others off fighting and trying to win various conflicts have left their homes and families, literally or figuratively, behind, and, I think, more broadly, to the way that domestic issues like poverty and homelessness are often ignored in favor of more defense spending. "War sucks. Let's go home" might be a good way to sum it up.

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Rock-dude
04-06-2003

Rated 0 
I agree with an ealier statement - it's just a song that can have so many different meanings. The song itself is so deep and beautiful. The guitar riffs and melodies go straight to the soul, and Hetfield's voice is almost haunting.
But i kinda dissagree about S&M though... I thought every other song from the concert was better than the studio-version, except for this song. It kinda felt out of place. Don't get me wrong, HotD is one of my all time faourite songs, but I don't think the S&M version was as good as the Studio version.
Wasting My Hate would have been a better song to put in S&M, rather than this one, I feel. But please, no arguments. It's just my opinion, please respect it.

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Esenthiel
04-17-2003

Rated 0 
This is the kind of Metallica that I like. The song is good lyrically and instrumentally, nice combination of hard and soft. James' vocals, I think, are excellent at the end. My personal interpretation of it was how we treat actual Heroes, they are just someone to look up to for a day. The people who get spotlight are those that do so little for society.

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fixxxer363
05-09-2003

Rated 0 
i completely agree with wolsey. this song is definately about the narrator reliving something bad that has happened in the past and he is turning to his mother.... if you really wanted to get out there with this whole thing one could say the "hero of the day" is his mother and that this song is and ode to her

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presidentandceo
06-18-2003

Rated 0 
This song evokes for me a strong feeling of being haunted. "The wheels of despair," "time so slowly turns," the obvious pain/emotion/frustration in James's voice; these all along with the music perfectly create the sense of something being unresolved. Whether flashbacks of war, addiction, depression, or memories of the past, this song is trying to exorcise some kind of demon.

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boodus_95
06-23-2003

Rated 0 
Maybe it's just me but I think this song is about someone's search for a hero. I think it's about someone searching for their hero and along the way they're being let down and disappointed because they can't find the hero they are looking for and they never realize the the "heroes" they need are the one's that are around them....not some anonymous strangers. They're friends, family, etc.... I think the keepers of the flames are the one's left behind while this person is searching. But the song goes on the explain that "still the window burns, time so slowly turns...someone there is sighing". I think this pretty much sums the songe up for me in that...your loved one's are the real heroes because they wait on you....they have the light that will lead you back home if you'll only realize it and follow it. In other words instead of searching for heroes take inventory on the heroes around you instead of taking them for granted. That's what I think guys...fell free to tear this one to pieces.....

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Razormasticator
07-05-2003

Rated 0 
I love the bass line that jason keeps going throughout this song...amazing stuff.Absolutley beautiful.

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