Hero of the Day

I think this song is far more personal to James than being about soldiers off to war but everyone is entitled to their interpretation. It has a great dream like quality, rich in symbolism. Ultimately it is about James' feelings toward his mother. Remember that he starts the song addressing his mother.

There is a tradition where a lighted candle is lit and left in the window to help travellers find their way back home. In this song it sets a metaphor of the home being the family and the love that holds the family together. That love keeps a person returning to their family, their mother, throughout the journey of life. The travelers represent the author who like all children sets out on the journey of life looking to be cared for. A hero is someone who saves you, protects you and cares for you. This also the role of a mother. The Hero of the Day that he seeks is his mother.

But in this case something is wrong because the window itself is lit on fire suggesting that the person at home is over zealous in their desire for the travellers to return. Their love could actually destroy the home. The idea of being overwhelmed by his mother's love is common in James lyrics, like the Apron strings around his neck in Mama Said or the fury he feels in Dyer's Eve. And just as in Dyer's Eve he feels unprepared to face the world due to being sheltered from it by his mother, James expresses that same fear and anger toward his mother because now that he is on this journey and she is gone he feels vulnerable to the world and worries that he may fall by someone's wicked ways. He wonders if his mother can hear her baby crying, does she know the pain he feels? All he can hear is her sighing. Now that she is dead all that remains is the whispers of her voice in her mind.

As the song progresses you feel that transition from the soothing mellow intro that is like being cradled by his mother's love to that furious anger expressed as the music breaks into the verse about the dreams and the waking screams which is him living through the pain and anger he feels toward a mother he can no longer reconcile with. And then of course the song ends with the repetition of the whole point of the song, that the world is trying to break him and his need to feel her love again. Always James wants love but is afraid of it because love is control to him.

great song by a great band. METALLICA FUCKING ROCKS

Yeah I agree that it's definitely about war...

'These things return to me that still seem real Now, deservingly, this easy chair But the rocking stopped by wheels of despair'

Maybe talking about flashbacks but now he's safe..

'Don't want your aid But the fist I make For years can't hold or feel'

He doesn't want anyone's help..

But now the dreams and waking screams That ever last the night

Again,flashbacks..

'So can you hear your babies crying now?'

In agreence that this could be vietnam reference as when the war was on Johnson was preoccupied with it and ignored problems at home in America...

meh

First, this is a fantastic song because it can mean so many different things to so many different people. That said, let me give what it means to me.

The first part of the song is a reference to soldiers going off to war and how there thoughts are always on home. The line "if they should fall by someone's wicked way" is about falling in battle.

The second part is about how so many soldiers continue to fight the war after they come home. "no, I'm not all me" is about how a soldier is forever changed into a different person by war, while "things return to me that still seem real" is a clear reference to PTSD, along with "but now the dreams and waking screams that ever last the night".

I think the song refers to how a soldier going off to war is "the hero of the day" and then how different it is when they come home. Even things like "don't want your aid", clearly about how a lot of soldiers try to deal with PTSD themselves instead of seeking help. Just my 2 cents worth.

Hero of the Day Interpretation: Personal victory is within our reach. Each person in this war is fighting not to win, but to find their honor.
What if someone fighting, dies in vein? The fight is so long and hard, it's easy to become discouraged. Keepers of these inner flames that thirst for honor, can you acknowledge the ones who care about you, praying for your safe return from your journey? Your loved ones want you with them, not your dream of personal conquest. Will the enemy break my will? They haven't relented. Now this fight seems so vein, remembering the reason I was brought here. It seems I can relax now, I've remembered the reason for the fight, I shall deservingly sit on the chair of righteousness. But it's too late, I can't return back to the way things were because I now live in shame for my vanity. I've made these mistakes, and now I have to reconcile them without confiding in the ones I've loved, I have to do it myself(or with God). I've become a hardened person fighting this war. I've lost the ability to feel. Please excuse me while I fight my inner demons so that I can save myself from making anyone else a hardened person. So I seek emotional shelter while I recover from the trauma of fighting, until I've cleansed myself of the demons(little metal things coming out of the kid's ear, unconsciousness is the wall in this case). The war in my mind continues, I have to fight these demons before it's too late and I can never feel emotion again. Mama, they try and break me while I cleanse myself of these inner demons. They try, but I will put up my best fight. Even if I fail, at least I've tried. The metal demons are expunged from the kid's mind, the inner battle will eventually die down and peace will be restored.

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.

This song is about love, a broken heart, returning home with battle scars of a woman who is now looking for a new hero of the day.

They’re off to find the hero of the day But what if they should fall by someone’s wicked way?

Mama, can't you hear your baby crying?

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.

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.

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.