He dedicated this song to the first responders on 9/11. I lost count of how many times I saw him live. He’s been my Hero since I discovered him in 1972
When he performed this for the first responders for the 9/11 concert it gave me chills! Peter Gabriel does a cover of this for the movie “Lone Survivor” about the SEAL team led by LT Michael Murphy. It’s slower and more melancholic. Played during the credits showing all the fallen heroes on that fateful day. God bless 🇺🇸
Me too...1st saw him in London when I was 15, three little Welsh girls ( A friend of my brother who was 18 agreed to escort us) blew my mind...Bowie was & still is my " hero". Love your reactions & your own material too. Your support of other artists 💜 Ren being a fave of mine too. Keep them coming. Love & light from South Wales UK 💜🏴🏴🏴🌻
David Bowie on Heroes, “I always said it was a couple of lovers by the Wall that prompted the idea for Heroes,” Bowie told Classic Rock in 2015, explaining its meaning. “Actually, it was [Bowie producer] Tony Visconti and his girlfriend. Tony was married at the time, so I couldn’t talk about it. But I can now say that the lovers were Tony and a German girl [Antonia Maass] that he’d met while we were in Berlin. I think possibly his marriage was in the last few months. And it was very touching because I could see that Tony was very much in love with this girl, and it was that relationship which sort of motivated the song.” “I’ll never forget that,” he recalled. “It was one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever done. I was in tears. They’d backed up the stage to the Wall itself so that it was acting as our backdrop. We kind of heard that a few of the East Berliners might actually get the chance to hear the thing, but we didn’t realise in what numbers they would. "And there were thousands on the other side that had come close to the wall. So it was like a double concert, where the Wall was the division. And we would hear them cheering and singing along from the other side. God, even now I get choked up. It was breaking my heart. I’d never done anything like that in my life. And I guess I never will again. www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-heroes-by-david-bowie
Bowie was not just a musical genius, but a good man too. When his friend Marc Bolan was killed in a car crash, there were issues with his Estate. His young baby son Roland was prevented from getting his inheritance. So, Bowie stepped up, and ensured Roland (and his mum Gloria) had enough money. He paid for Roland's education too, as the issues with his inheritance went on until Roland was late teens. Bowie had a conscience and a good heart.
Bowie was a musical chameleon. His first few albums were on the folk music side, but after that, virtually every album was different and his singing range and style just got better and better, while always remaining a storyteller. I fell in love with his music when I was 16. I’m now 67 and my eyebrows still haven’t grown back!
@@MiniBoogerx "chameleon" is the word I use about Chinese singer Hua Chenyu. Like Bowie he does multiple genres.. Rock, Rap, Reggae, Pop, SynthPop, Electronic, Ballads, Traditional (with a twist). But, like Bowie, his look changes completely (even from week to week, or even in same Concert). Lucky most performances come with English Subs. Another genius at work. My 70 year old heart belonged to Deep Purple. Currently into Mongolian Metal band The HU. 😂
@@MiniBoogerx here's Chinese singer Hua Chenyu doing multiple genres in one song. (English Subs, but... it's about... "Nunchucks" 😂, so subtitles are superfluous on this one) Most fans wouldn't have this anywhere near top of their favourites ruclips.net/video/lLs-0A0yEuA/видео.htmlsi=IjkYJGVaHp1i6lkj
BOWIE LIVED IN WEST GERMANY FROM 1975 - 1978.. HE WROTE THIS THERE.. THE KING OF COOL.... THE WALL IS THE BERLIN WALL .. HE WITNESSED A YOUNG COUPLE KISS BY THE WALL BEFORE IT CAME DOWN....
@@leighmedley The Berlin wall came down in November of 1989. SM-ri2df is correct he wrote Heroes in 1977 when the wall was still there and he witnessed a couple kissing and got the idea to write this song. He spoke all about it in an interview. Years later in 1987 he performed near the wall in Reichstag and could hear the people on the other side of the wall singing along, he was quite moved by this. He was amazing, I'm happy I got to see him perform when I was in high school in the late 1978.
You have heard Bowie another time. He was singing with Queen (Freddie Mercury) on UNDER PRESSURE. He co-wrote it, and sang. You noted how different it sounded. This is why.
After Queen's epic set at Live Aid 85 the next act to follow was none other than the great David Bowie who opened with Heroes. The word is that Bowie said Fuck you to Freddie as they passed one another backstage, Queen having just stolen the show 😂 Love this story. No doubt Bowie killed it also. Cheers
I saw him live in 1983 on an open-air stage in northern Germany on a beautiful summer night. Unforgettable! The song was released in 1977. He also recorded the song with a German passage. Bowie lived in West Berlin from 1976 to 1978 and went cold turkey there. Iggy Pop also lived in Berlin at the time.
You can hear the German version in the closing scene of New Zealand director/actor Taika Waititi's "JoJo Rabbit" (which also opens with the Beatles "Komm, gib mir deine Hand") ruclips.net/video/BfL5V3WHhqM/видео.html
This was in Berlin. Hence the response. This was written in the period he lived in Berlin. It's theme is love against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. If you listen again, it will all make sense. He played a concert, right against the Wall and a crowd gathered on the East Berlin side. When he performed this song, both crowds joined in loudly. An incredible moment. Not long before the fall of the Wall. He was given official thanks by the German government, for his role in it's downfall and when he died there were tributes to him in the German Parliament. Then again, when he died there were tributes from all the great and the good of the music industry and by governments and World leaders worldwide. Including both the Pope and then President Obama, as well as the British Prime Minister, government and parliament, of course! Held in incredibly high esteem by the entire music industry, whatever the genre, whether rock, rap, pop, metal, punk, folk, classical, edm. The respect and love he garnered was unprecedented and he's widely seen as being, after the Beatles, as the most influential act in the historyof popular music! He influenced almost everybody it seems! His wider cultural influence was huge too! "Legend" is a much overused word nowadays but the word fits Bowie like a glove! An icon. A musical genius. A chameleon. The epitome of cool and to millions worldwide a bona fide hero! :)
ohhhhhhhhhh I am so excited to see this ! I love this song and David Bowie and this live version !!!!! I believe this was live in Berlin and if I am wrong someone please correct me. "" 'Heroes ' " concerns two lovers, one from East Berlin and the other from the West. Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins. "
He plays live and sound track to really powerful effect in the classic teen movie Christaine F Germany 1981. School girl Heroin addict. The super alienation of West Berlin cut off from West Germany by the Berlin Wall 80 miles inside Communist East Germany adds atmosphere to the darkness in Bowie's lyrics. Include Heroes.
I freaking love Bowie.. I wanted to be Sarah and Dance with the GoblinKing so bad when I was like 6... Lol... Also... The Big Push did this song & used homemade for the video cause... (Planned C Word) Awesome video...
There is no one like Bowie. One of the few true musical geniuses. He influenced almost 60 years of music. Then you look at the people he wrote songs for and the people he jamned with, iggy pop, queen, trent reznor, the rolling stones, david gilmor, john lennon, bing crosby, cher, annie lennox the list goes on and on and on and on. A true undeniable legend, even those who dont like bowie will whole heartedly agree.
Ziggy Stardust introduced me to Bowie in 1973. I was just finishing 5th grade. In my late 50's, he released Lazarus just before his death - amazing video. I followed his changes from my childhood and was never truly disappointed.
Love Bowie and this song !❤ The beautiful bass guitarist is Gail Ann Dorsey was with David Bowie for nine years. She was his lead vocalist and dueted on some of his songs.
In my city we had an electricity blackout lasted weeks. In the late 70s. When the workers went back and switched it on again every radio station snd TV channel here were playing this song for them. I hope Bowie heard about this. He must of known this song would be used for heroes. What a sensation he is. RIP.
Generally it's about two lovers beating the adversary surroundings (here the divided Berlin in 1977). Love is bigger than politics, basically. This was the anthem of all Berliners back in the early 1980s, east and west. The swimming dolphins refer to a folk song where two children of two Kings (a princess and prince) have to swim through a river to get to each other (and they die).
I once had quite a long conversation with him and he was the nicest and most polite guy... humble, witty and real. I really miss him and listen to his music on the daily.
david came out with just a small portable keyboard , sat on the floor cross legged and began to play for the first responders at the 9/11 concert- he then went into Heroes. The crowd went wild. What other artist would ever have the GUTS to start off a concert in this way. Bowie, you were a legend.
@lynnhamps7052 Apart from being the biggest star in the universe..and musical genius...he was a huge advocate for human rights, there is a great interview he did with MTV where he turns the tables on the interviewer and wanted to know why there weren't more black artists being represented..he also employed a lot of black musicians well before it was the norm for white artists to do so. The song is about the Berlin Wall. I feel honoured to have walked on the earth at the same time as this wonderful man..let alone been in the same room twice when I saw him live! 😁✌🇬🇧💖💖💖
Hands down, Bowie is a LEGEND.. Lucky enough to see him live 4 times over the years.. you should check out The Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp) version.. they cover songs by their Dead Drunk Friends . Johnny Depps vocals are amazing!
I appreciated all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changes, but really enjoy his soul / punk forays: Try cuts from Bowie's Young Americans album with Luther Vandross back-up singers and David Sanborn on killer alto saxophone, like Somebody Up There Likes Me, Win, Fascination, Right and Can You Hear Me. Also Carlos Alomar funk on Secret Life of Arabia (Heroes album). His Let’s Dance album produced by Chic’s Nile Rogers (and it’s all good!). From Station to Station album: Stay. Also Black Tie, White Noise with Al B. Sure.…Tonight with Tina Turner... Knock on Wood (David Live, 1975) A friend of the the Black community - complained to MTV about Black videos being relegated to early morning. Married to Somali super-model Iman.
'Heroes'” was written and recorded in the summer of 1977 in West Berlin's Hansa Studios, which overlooked the Berlin Wall and its watchtowers. Bowie had decamped to the city from LA after cocaine addiction and a failing marriage had nearly destroyed him.
David Bowie is my musical hero. He opened his 1983 serious moonlight tour in Milton Keynes with this song. I still get goosebumps and a lump in my throat whenever I hear this. The man was epic.
Thank you ❤ Now you really really should react to The Big Push - Heroes. It's such a great cover version - and a great video!! Much love from Berlin - without a wall by now 😊
Thank goodness I got to see Bowie in my lifetime. My Dad took me to see him when I was in high school, the '90-'91 Sound and Vision tour. I will always treasure that!
I'd love to see your reaction to the album version, it's a GOAT-level classic! Another great live performance of Bowie's is with Tina Turner on his song "Tonight" during her 80's UK tour! As for your Bonnie and Clyde interpretation, that's the same vibe I've been getting in the past 30-odd years of this being my favorite song of all time. Literally, this one is my top fave, and I love LOTS of music!
The great Bowie! I was first introduced to him in the late 80s, when he acted as the Gobblin King in the movie "Labyrinth" - beside puppets of Jim Henson. Watch the "Magic Dance" movie sequence of him perfoming the song. Very well done, but scared me as a kid! :)
'thrown off or thrown back by these lyrics' ha! - that's what EVERY Bowie fan experienced multiple times even after multiple listenings... well done! keep going...
This was Bowie at his very best, in front of a live audience. The word 'genius' is often bandied about for some artists but never was a more appropriate word used to describe anyone. We all miss him so much and his incredible catalogue of iconic music, which so many other artists made their names on. Bowies wrote the singbook to many generations of people's lives, and may God rest his dear sweet soul. 🙋♂ 💔
I highly recommend you check out his song "Young Americans" It's my favorite Bowie song and has a reference to the Beatles' "A Day in a Life" because the he collaborated with Lennon on other song off the "Young Americans" album
I was at the last concert he ever did in Toronto, and this was the concluding song. He knew how to make his audience feel important. Told us it was our song as much as it was sing song. There are quite a years between this performance and the video, so there are some differences in energy and voice quality. He was a much happier guy in the 90s than the 70s. And Bowie's lyrics are notorious for being esoteric. He actually saw a couple kiss at the Berlin wall while he was writing it.
Bowie was such a badass he literally launched the career of Luther Vandross (Luther was one of his background singers & eventually his arranger before going solo).
DECADES LATER,it became the Official Anthem of Great Britain when we hosted The 20112 Summer Olympics and we got our largest-ever Medals Standing by finishing 3rd in the World:) David Bowie: Absolute legend. Born in Brixton, London just 2 miles from me, and both our families moved 10 miles out to the edge of South East London and Kent. He went to Art School with Peter Frampton and Peter's Father taught them:)
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 They did hold it in 2012 'tis true but I am a Time Traveller and can, exclusively, inform you that in 20112, we will hold it again.......
Bowie’s career goes back to the 60’s. In the 60’s he performed under the alter ego Ziggy Stardust. You should watch his film Moonlight Daydream to get a taste of his career
For what it's worth, my take on this song. As others have said, the song relates to an incident along the Berlin Wall. Bowie observed a couple apparently meeting in secret and sharing a kiss. Perhaps innocent enough today but back in 1970's Berlin, fratenising between East and West was a dangerous thing to do. The East German Stasi operated a enormous system of informants. Encouraging them to inform on friends, family and colleagues. Thus the kiss was an act of defiance against an evil totalitarian regime. This is not hyperboley. This theme was revisited by Bowie in his later album The Next Day in the song 'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die' in which a man realises his partner is an informant and has destroyed others lives. Bowie often wrote his songs in metaphor, leaving the listener to interpret the song. Always innovative and always pushing the boundaries. One of the greatest artists ever. I must admit, Ren reminds me of Bowie. A different artist for sure, but innovative, talented and unafraid to explore many genres. The Bowie rabbit hole is far deeper than Ren's but this is to be expected given the decades of music he produced. I hope Ren is equally profligate.
You have spoken the truth! Bowie was there, he lived there, in the middle of the Cold War with all those informers and spies swirling arond him. The story might have been fictional, but the world he is talking about was not fictional. People died trying to cross the border just a stone's throw away from him. He crossed that border many times as well, legally, but still it was a risk to go literally into ennemy teritory.
January 10, 2016 was a day we lost a treasure..... Such a genius and yet stayed so humble. I don't know if you noticed when he sings he sometimes doesn't move his mouth very much, yet his powerful voice still belts it out!!! God bless Mr. Jones.
Perfect summary when you said of "we can be heroes...yeah we can set the example and we can be great" regardless of the specific circumstances. Bravo!!
Great reactions! Standing by "the wall" is the Berlin wall, where he lived at the time. In interviews he's said he saw a couple kissing beneath the wall, with the guards with their machine guns in the watch towers above. Check out 'Station to Station' which is a monster. Also check "Boys keep swinging", where they are slamming away like kids. Carlos Alomar (the guitarist) said Bowie presented the song and he and the 'dam trio' came up with a bunch of ideas, different arrangements etc.., enthusiastic with the the muscal talent assembled in that group. Then Bowie said No no and made them switch instruments. He asked if Carlos could play drums, which he couldn't. So Bowie put him on drums. The idea was that the sound should be like young teenage boys just trying to get by on their instruments in a garage.
I saw Bowie on his "Glass Spider" Tour . The show was choreographed by Toni Basil (of "Oh Mickey your so fine" fame) and featured Peter Frampton . The show was beautiful and fun and a little strange , just the way you would want a David Bowie concert to be. Years later I heard David say it was probably his least favorite tour. There is a Live video of the tour concert floating around YT.
I saw that at Maine Road in Manchester but was more interested in seeing Alison Moyet and Terence Trent d'Arby. Also saw him hiding behind a curtain on stage with Iggy Pop, on keyboard, l think..😅
I see you must like Thin Lizzy ? Have you heard the sweet sound they did called Rosalina. MR David Bowie.. mmmhmmm. We had the pleasure of him at our Isle of Wight Festival..What a show that was.. love how he just writes a line of words through the day and BAM 💥 there’s his next hit..❤❤. Stardust!! Ziggy that is.. Rebal Rebal ..God that man is dearly missed.❤❤
Bowie is a legend, an icon. He was my hero in my late school years. This was one of my favorite songs and it still is. Bowie had some kind of life crises and a serious drug problem when he decided to go to Berlin for a few years. In this divided city, he found new inspiration and spent some creative years. He later wrote a very melancholic song about these years, "Where are we now". I think he knew he was going to die when he wrote this. RIP, Mr David Bowie.. Thank you so much for your reaction ❤
Bowie was also a part of a band called Bauhaus in the early 1980's, check out a song he did with them. Bela Lugosi's Dead. Talk about range, you don't know the half of it. Man was an icon.
Old war era Germany in the 70’s was where and wen this was written. Bowie was a master of interpretation and reimagining of his own music to keep it fresh and timeless
You should watch Bowie put the MTV people on the spot back when it first appeared on TV for not playing enough music by black artists... he ruthlessly eviscerated them without even having to say much.
The song builds up it is brilliant with Bowies voice and the melody. When Berlin Wall came down. Bowie was a poet. Its about Freedom. He was also a gentleman.
Bowie's lyrics often are absolute time capsules with references to major events or cultural developments. If for nothing else than that his songs are amazing
Bowie at the Beeb is a phenomenal concert video! I love Bowie and saw him live 2004 in Calgary. He was so absolutely gifted!! Let's Dance is another phenomenal song and video!
Every time I see or hear Bowie I fall in love all over again! He could sing fast food jingles and I would be hooked. Your reaction was awesome. The song is actually about two people having a clandestine affair that he witnessed out the window of the studio while he was recording one of his albums. Thanks for the reaction. This was awesome!
One of my favorites of his and the list is long from his amazing catalog of pure music goodness. RIP David. We are much richer because of your too brief time with us in this world.
Bowie was a straight up legit musical genius. There is so much music in his catalog it might take years for you to get through it.
His music sounds as fresh and innovative today as the day it was released.
He dedicated this song to the first responders on 9/11. I lost count of how many times I saw him live. He’s been my Hero since I discovered him in 1972
When he performed this for the first responders for the 9/11 concert it gave me chills!
Peter Gabriel does a cover of this for the movie “Lone Survivor” about the SEAL team led by LT Michael Murphy. It’s slower and more melancholic. Played during the credits showing all the fallen heroes on that fateful day. God bless 🇺🇸
Me too...1st saw him in London when I was 15, three little Welsh girls ( A friend of my brother who was 18 agreed to escort us) blew my mind...Bowie was & still is my " hero". Love your reactions & your own material too. Your support of other artists 💜 Ren being a fave of mine too. Keep them coming. Love & light from South Wales UK 💜🏴🏴🏴🌻
David Bowie is one of the coolest men that ever lived and hes such a down to earth dude too .
My favorite Bowie song!❤
David Bowie on Heroes, “I always said it was a couple of lovers by the Wall that prompted the idea for Heroes,” Bowie told Classic Rock in 2015, explaining its meaning. “Actually, it was [Bowie producer] Tony Visconti and his girlfriend. Tony was married at the time, so I couldn’t talk about it. But I can now say that the lovers were Tony and a German girl [Antonia Maass] that he’d met while we were in Berlin. I think possibly his marriage was in the last few months. And it was very touching because I could see that Tony was very much in love with this girl, and it was that relationship which sort of motivated the song.” “I’ll never forget that,” he recalled. “It was one of the most emotional performances I’ve ever done. I was in tears. They’d backed up the stage to the Wall itself so that it was acting as our backdrop. We kind of heard that a few of the East Berliners might actually get the chance to hear the thing, but we didn’t realise in what numbers they would. "And there were thousands on the other side that had come close to the wall. So it was like a double concert, where the Wall was the division. And we would hear them cheering and singing along from the other side. God, even now I get choked up. It was breaking my heart. I’d never done anything like that in my life. And I guess I never will again. www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-the-song-heroes-by-david-bowie
Thank you that's an amazing bit of information. I wish I could see that whole concert.
Bowie on that stage is the ultimate cool a man can achieve!
I was always in awe of this man!! 😮😮
couldn't have put it better.
Love this. My sentaments also.
Nah, Steve McQueen sitting on a motorbike is the ultimate cool 😎
@@Retired1967 Debbie Downer!! 😂😂
Bowie was not just a musical genius, but a good man too. When his friend Marc Bolan was killed in a car crash, there were issues with his Estate. His young baby son Roland was prevented from getting his inheritance. So, Bowie stepped up, and ensured Roland (and his mum Gloria) had enough money. He paid for Roland's education too, as the issues with his inheritance went on until Roland was late teens. Bowie had a conscience and a good heart.
Shame he treated Mick Ronson so badly when he made Bowies career
Bowie was a musical chameleon. His first few albums were on the folk music side, but after that, virtually every album was different and his singing range and style just got better and better, while always remaining a storyteller. I fell in love with his music when I was 16. I’m now 67 and my eyebrows still haven’t grown back!
@@MiniBoogerx "chameleon" is the word I use about Chinese singer Hua Chenyu. Like Bowie he does multiple genres.. Rock, Rap, Reggae, Pop, SynthPop, Electronic, Ballads, Traditional (with a twist). But, like Bowie, his look changes completely (even from week to week, or even in same Concert). Lucky most performances come with English Subs. Another genius at work.
My 70 year old heart belonged to Deep Purple. Currently into Mongolian Metal band The HU. 😂
@@MiniBoogerx here's Chinese singer Hua Chenyu doing multiple genres in one song. (English Subs, but... it's about... "Nunchucks" 😂, so subtitles are superfluous on this one)
Most fans wouldn't have this anywhere near top of their favourites
ruclips.net/video/lLs-0A0yEuA/видео.htmlsi=IjkYJGVaHp1i6lkj
Yes, it was Jessie J he was competing against. He was robbed. 😂
Bowie is incredible. I miss him so much ❤
Was the coolest man on the planet ❤
BOWIE LIVED IN WEST GERMANY FROM 1975 - 1978.. HE WROTE THIS THERE.. THE KING OF COOL.... THE WALL IS THE BERLIN WALL .. HE WITNESSED A YOUNG COUPLE KISS BY THE WALL BEFORE IT CAME DOWN....
The wall came down in the 90s. I was in high school. This song is from the 70s.
@@leighmedley The Berlin wall came down in November of 1989. SM-ri2df is correct he wrote Heroes in 1977 when the wall was still there and he witnessed a couple kissing and got the idea to write this song. He spoke all about it in an interview. Years later in 1987 he performed near the wall in Reichstag and could hear the people on the other side of the wall singing along, he was quite moved by this. He was amazing, I'm happy I got to see him perform when I was in high school in the late 1978.
You have heard Bowie another time. He was singing with Queen (Freddie Mercury) on UNDER PRESSURE. He co-wrote it, and sang. You noted how different it sounded. This is why.
After Queen's epic set at Live Aid 85 the next act to follow was none other than the great David Bowie who opened with Heroes. The word is that Bowie said Fuck you to Freddie as they passed one another backstage, Queen having just stolen the show 😂 Love this story. No doubt Bowie killed it also. Cheers
Bowie is a musical chameleon, a big rabbit hole of different styles
Can you imagine what this performance must have meant to a Berliner? Bowie much missed ❤🇬🇧
Can you imagine what it would be like to be there and he casually says… we’re gonna do the low album….. ? I’d have wet myself
I saw him live in 1983 on an open-air stage in northern Germany on a beautiful summer night. Unforgettable! The song was released in 1977. He also recorded the song with a German passage. Bowie lived in West Berlin from 1976 to 1978 and went cold turkey there. Iggy Pop also lived in Berlin at the time.
You can hear the German version in the closing scene of New Zealand director/actor Taika Waititi's "JoJo Rabbit" (which also opens with the Beatles "Komm, gib mir deine Hand") ruclips.net/video/BfL5V3WHhqM/видео.html
Bowie is a rabbit hole you'll never get out of 😂❤. Keep up the great work
More of a labyrinth 😊😊😊
Check out Bowie’s CAT PEOPLE theme song, “Putting Out Fires (With Gasoline)”.
One of my favourite songs ever
RIP Mister David Bowie we miss you fort ever 🤔💔🙏
A true legend gone to soon😢
My three fav Bowie songs are Rebel Rebel, Sorrow and The Laughing Gnome. Yes I am just that old. 😂😂😂
Hahaha Hehehe..
I remember The Laughing Gnome. I think I was 9-10 at the time, so I loved it 😂
This was in Berlin. Hence the response. This was written in the period he lived in Berlin. It's theme is love against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall and the Cold War. If you listen again, it will all make sense. He played a concert, right against the Wall and a crowd gathered on the East Berlin side. When he performed this song, both crowds joined in loudly. An incredible moment. Not long before the fall of the Wall. He was given official thanks by the German government, for his role in it's downfall and when he died there were tributes to him in the German Parliament. Then again, when he died there were tributes from all the great and the good of the music industry and by governments and World leaders worldwide. Including both the Pope and then President Obama, as well as the British Prime Minister, government and parliament, of course! Held in incredibly high esteem by the entire music industry, whatever the genre, whether rock, rap, pop, metal, punk, folk, classical, edm. The respect and love he garnered was unprecedented and he's widely seen as being, after the Beatles, as the most influential act in the historyof popular music! He influenced almost everybody it seems! His wider cultural influence was huge too! "Legend" is a much overused word nowadays but the word fits Bowie like a glove! An icon. A musical genius. A chameleon. The epitome of cool and to millions worldwide a bona fide hero! :)
The only musician I truly regret not seeing in concert. RIP dear sir. ❤
Bowie is a legend! Loved your reaction BP!❤️🔥✌🏻🫶🏻
ohhhhhhhhhh I am so excited to see this ! I love this song and David Bowie and this live version !!!!! I believe this was live in Berlin and if I am wrong someone please correct me. "" 'Heroes ' " concerns two lovers, one from East Berlin and the other from the West. Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins. "
Bowie and Mick Jagger doing Dancing in the Street is a fun one to do. Again, Bowie is sooooo cool in that video.
Song was inspired by Bowie seeing a couple kiss by the Berlin Wall back in the late 70s when he was working on a trilogy of albums.
I believe it was his producer
Bowie is one of the all time greats !!!!!!!
Bowie just oozes coolness…
He plays live and sound track to really powerful effect in the classic teen movie Christaine F Germany 1981. School girl Heroin addict. The super alienation of West Berlin cut off from West Germany by the Berlin Wall 80 miles inside Communist East Germany adds atmosphere to the darkness in Bowie's lyrics. Include Heroes.
I freaking love Bowie.. I wanted to be Sarah and Dance with the GoblinKing so bad when I was like 6... Lol...
Also... The Big Push did this song & used homemade for the video cause... (Planned C Word) Awesome video...
I also wanted to dance with the GoblinKing when I was a little girl.
David Bowie was bigger than life!! ❤❤❤
I just love how much Bowie looks like a British school boy here. He was always asking us to question his/our identity.
I saw David Bowie live back in the 80s and he sounds just as good live as he does in his recording. And the big push covers it as well.
How amazing is that band 🙌🏻
Bowie, so effortless this is one of my favourite songs by him.
There is no one like Bowie.
One of the few true musical geniuses.
He influenced almost 60 years of music.
Then you look at the people he wrote songs for and the people he jamned with, iggy pop, queen, trent reznor, the rolling stones, david gilmor, john lennon, bing crosby, cher, annie lennox the list goes on and on and on and on.
A true undeniable legend, even those who dont like bowie will whole heartedly agree.
Queen too obviously
Ziggy Stardust introduced me to Bowie in 1973. I was just finishing 5th grade. In my late 50's, he released Lazarus just before his death - amazing video. I followed his changes from my childhood and was never truly disappointed.
Love Bowie and this song !❤ The beautiful bass guitarist is Gail Ann Dorsey was with David Bowie for nine years. She was his lead vocalist and dueted on some of his songs.
I always thought it was Skin from Skunk Anansie 😮
Gail Ann also played one two albums with Tears for Fears. Check them out!
The berlin wall separated lovers, family, friends etc.......
In my city we had an electricity blackout lasted weeks. In the late 70s. When the workers went back and switched it on again every radio station snd TV channel here were playing this song for them.
I hope Bowie heard about this. He must of known this song would be used for heroes.
What a sensation he is. RIP.
Generally it's about two lovers beating the adversary surroundings (here the divided Berlin in 1977). Love is bigger than politics, basically. This was the anthem of all Berliners back in the early 1980s, east and west. The swimming dolphins refer to a folk song where two children of two Kings (a princess and prince) have to swim through a river to get to each other (and they die).
I once had quite a long conversation with him and he was the nicest and most polite guy... humble, witty and real. I really miss him and listen to his music on the daily.
david came out with just a small portable keyboard , sat on the floor cross legged and began to play for the first responders at the 9/11 concert- he then went into Heroes. The crowd went wild. What other artist would ever have the GUTS to start off a concert in this way. Bowie, you were a legend.
@lynnhamps7052
Apart from being the biggest star in the universe..and musical genius...he was a huge advocate for human rights, there is a great interview he did with MTV where he turns the tables on the interviewer and wanted to know why there weren't more black artists being represented..he also employed a lot of black musicians well before it was the norm for white artists to do so.
The song is about the Berlin Wall.
I feel honoured to have walked on the earth at the same time as this wonderful man..let alone been in the same room twice when I saw him live! 😁✌🇬🇧💖💖💖
Saw Bowie live in 86 ....made me cry❤
Used to come home from school lie on my bed listening and chilling to this song. I loved it, at 62 still has the same impact for me.
Hands down, Bowie is a LEGEND.. Lucky enough to see him live 4 times over the years.. you should check out The Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp) version.. they cover songs by their Dead Drunk Friends . Johnny Depps vocals are amazing!
I appreciated all of Bowie's ch-ch-ch-changes, but really enjoy his soul / punk forays: Try cuts from Bowie's Young Americans album with Luther Vandross back-up singers and David Sanborn on killer alto saxophone, like Somebody Up There Likes Me, Win, Fascination, Right and Can You Hear Me. Also Carlos Alomar funk on Secret Life of Arabia (Heroes album). His Let’s Dance album produced by Chic’s Nile Rogers (and it’s all good!). From Station to Station album: Stay. Also Black Tie, White Noise with Al B. Sure.…Tonight with Tina Turner... Knock on Wood (David Live, 1975) A friend of the the Black community - complained to MTV about Black videos being relegated to early morning. Married to Somali super-model Iman.
'Heroes'” was written and recorded in the summer of 1977 in West Berlin's Hansa Studios, which overlooked the Berlin Wall and its watchtowers. Bowie had decamped to the city from LA after cocaine addiction and a failing marriage had nearly destroyed him.
David Bowie is my musical hero. He opened his 1983 serious moonlight tour in Milton Keynes with this song. I still get goosebumps and a lump in my throat whenever I hear this. The man was epic.
His performance of this in live aid is so great!✌️❤️
Thank you ❤ Now you really really should react to The Big Push - Heroes. It's such a great cover version - and a great video!!
Much love from Berlin - without a wall by now 😊
Thank goodness I got to see Bowie in my lifetime. My Dad took me to see him when I was in high school, the '90-'91 Sound and Vision tour. I will always treasure that!
NOBODY SOUNDS LIKE BOWIE!!! SO miss HIM!! SO MANY great tunes, over the years!! ENJOY, BP!!! RIP, DAVID BOWIE!!
I'd love to see your reaction to the album version, it's a GOAT-level classic! Another great live performance of Bowie's is with Tina Turner on his song "Tonight" during her 80's UK tour! As for your Bonnie and Clyde interpretation, that's the same vibe I've been getting in the past 30-odd years of this being my favorite song of all time. Literally, this one is my top fave, and I love LOTS of music!
David Bowie’s music is awesome 👏🏻.
Bowie was a musical God!
The great Bowie! I was first introduced to him in the late 80s, when he acted as the Gobblin King in the movie "Labyrinth" - beside puppets of Jim Henson. Watch the "Magic Dance" movie sequence of him perfoming the song. Very well done, but scared me as a kid! :)
'thrown off or thrown back by these lyrics' ha! - that's what EVERY Bowie fan experienced multiple times even after multiple listenings... well done! keep going...
This was Bowie at his very best, in front of a live audience. The word 'genius' is often bandied about for some artists but never was a more appropriate word used to describe anyone. We all miss him so much and his incredible catalogue of iconic music, which so many other artists made their names on. Bowies wrote the singbook to many generations of people's lives, and may God rest his dear sweet soul. 🙋♂ 💔
This concert was in [2002] when David Bowie was 55 years old. He was never pompous or a hypocrite, he was a genuinely good and highly talented man.
I highly recommend you check out his song "Young Americans" It's my favorite Bowie song and has a reference to the Beatles' "A Day in a Life" because the he collaborated with Lennon on other song off the "Young Americans" album
I love he had you singing along before it was over. BOWIE ALWAYS touched the listeners soul.
Bowie is one of the greatest of all time!
Thanks for doing this one, I know the song but never seen him perform it ❤
EPIC LIVE PERFORMANCE!
GOD, I love him! ugh....he's so magical, what a beautiful person he was.
Thank you for your lovely reaction, watch him perform this at the Live Aid concert from 1985 at Wembley. It's absolutely stunning.
Cha-cha-cha- cha-changes! Love me some Bowie ❤
Aside from being perhaps the coolest man ever, he’s also always seemed like such a genuinely likable guy.
I was at the last concert he ever did in Toronto, and this was the concluding song. He knew how to make his audience feel important. Told us it was our song as much as it was sing song. There are quite a years between this performance and the video, so there are some differences in energy and voice quality. He was a much happier guy in the 90s than the 70s. And Bowie's lyrics are notorious for being esoteric. He actually saw a couple kiss at the Berlin wall while he was writing it.
Just realised he has a perfect keening voice.
Bowie was such a badass he literally launched the career of Luther Vandross (Luther was one of his background singers & eventually his arranger before going solo).
A little shine went out of the world the day we lost David Bowie.
Side note The Big Push does a kick ass cover of this song !
DECADES LATER,it became the Official Anthem of Great Britain when we hosted The 20112 Summer Olympics and we got our largest-ever Medals Standing by finishing 3rd in the World:)
David Bowie: Absolute legend. Born in Brixton, London just 2 miles from me, and both our families moved 10 miles out to the edge of South East London and Kent.
He went to Art School with Peter Frampton and Peter's Father taught them:)
It was 2012!🏴
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 They did hold it in 2012 'tis true but I am a Time Traveller and can, exclusively, inform you that in 20112, we will hold it again.......
Bowie’s career goes back to the 60’s. In the 60’s he performed under the alter ego Ziggy Stardust. You should watch his film Moonlight Daydream to get a taste of his career
It's about a couple on either side of the Berlin Wall.
Star man is my favorite. Bowie was just an all around amazing being.
That's the thing about Bowie.All his music is interesting and makes u think .You're definitely not tripping
For what it's worth, my take on this song. As others have said, the song relates to an incident along the Berlin Wall. Bowie observed a couple apparently meeting in secret and sharing a kiss. Perhaps innocent enough today but back in 1970's Berlin, fratenising between East and West was a dangerous thing to do. The East German Stasi operated a enormous system of informants. Encouraging them to inform on friends, family and colleagues.
Thus the kiss was an act of defiance against an evil totalitarian regime. This is not hyperboley.
This theme was revisited by Bowie in his later album The Next Day in the song 'You Feel So Lonely You Could Die' in which a man realises his partner is an informant and has destroyed others lives.
Bowie often wrote his songs in metaphor, leaving the listener to interpret the song. Always innovative and always pushing the boundaries. One of the greatest artists ever.
I must admit, Ren reminds me of Bowie. A different artist for sure, but innovative, talented and unafraid to explore many genres. The Bowie rabbit hole is far deeper than Ren's but this is to be expected given the decades of music he produced. I hope Ren is equally profligate.
You have spoken the truth! Bowie was there, he lived there, in the middle of the Cold War with all those informers and spies swirling arond him. The story might have been fictional, but the world he is talking about was not fictional. People died trying to cross the border just a stone's throw away from him. He crossed that border many times as well, legally, but still it was a risk to go literally into ennemy teritory.
January 10, 2016 was a day we lost a treasure..... Such a genius and yet stayed so humble. I don't know if you noticed when he sings he sometimes doesn't move his mouth very much, yet his powerful voice still belts it out!!! God bless Mr. Jones.
Perfect summary when you said of "we can be heroes...yeah we can set the example and we can be great" regardless of the specific circumstances. Bravo!!
Great reactions! Standing by "the wall" is the Berlin wall, where he lived at the time. In interviews he's said he saw a couple kissing beneath the wall, with the guards with their machine guns in the watch towers above. Check out 'Station to Station' which is a monster. Also check "Boys keep swinging", where they are slamming away like kids. Carlos Alomar (the guitarist) said Bowie presented the song and he and the 'dam trio' came up with a bunch of ideas, different arrangements etc.., enthusiastic with the the muscal talent assembled in that group. Then Bowie said No no and made them switch instruments. He asked if Carlos could play drums, which he couldn't. So Bowie put him on drums. The idea was that the sound should be like young teenage boys just trying to get by on their instruments in a garage.
*BP* one short video of Bowie you might enjoy is him saying the Lord's Prayer on stage in honor of his fallen friend, Freddie Mercury. Gave me chills.
I saw Bowie on his "Glass Spider" Tour . The show was choreographed by Toni Basil (of "Oh Mickey your so fine" fame) and featured Peter Frampton . The show was beautiful and fun and a little strange , just the way you would want a David Bowie concert to be. Years later I heard David say it was probably his least favorite tour. There is a Live video of the tour concert floating around YT.
Alison Moye and Terrence Trent D'arby were warm ups. I regret not trying to get closer to the stage. Still...I got to see him live.
Yes I saw him on that tour, loved it! Then again on his last tour to Australia
I saw that at Maine Road in Manchester but was more interested in seeing Alison Moyet and Terence Trent d'Arby. Also saw him hiding behind a curtain on stage with Iggy Pop, on keyboard, l think..😅
@@carolinejohnson22 That was the where I saw it. So far away I couldn't see the curtains never mind Bowie hiding.ha
I see you must like Thin Lizzy ? Have you heard the sweet sound they did called Rosalina.
MR David Bowie.. mmmhmmm. We had the pleasure of him at our Isle of Wight Festival..What a show that was.. love how he just writes a line of words through the day and BAM 💥 there’s his next hit..❤❤. Stardust!! Ziggy that is.. Rebal Rebal ..God that man is dearly missed.❤❤
Bowie is a legend, an icon. He was my hero in my late school years. This was one of my favorite songs and it still is. Bowie had some kind of life crises and a serious drug problem when he decided to go to Berlin for a few years. In this divided city, he found new inspiration and spent some creative years. He later wrote a very melancholic song about these years, "Where are we now". I think he knew he was going to die when he wrote this. RIP, Mr David Bowie.. Thank you so much for your reaction ❤
He's dearly missed by so many; an amazing artist & songwriter.
RIP Bowie where ever You are ✌️💚
Bowie was also a part of a band called Bauhaus in the early 1980's, check out a song he did with them. Bela Lugosi's Dead. Talk about range, you don't know the half of it.
Man was an icon.
Old war era Germany in the 70’s was where and wen this was written. Bowie was a master of interpretation and reimagining of his own music to keep it fresh and timeless
My ultimate favorite music idol. Bowie was a genius. I was lucky enough to have seen him in Denver from 5 feet away. He has so much great music.
You should watch Bowie put the MTV people on the spot back when it first appeared on TV for not playing enough music by black artists... he ruthlessly eviscerated them without even having to say much.
Yes!
David Bowie the totality of real musicians and I ultra down to earth human being.. rip David 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️
The song builds up it is brilliant with Bowies voice and the melody.
When Berlin Wall came down.
Bowie was a poet.
Its about Freedom.
He was also a gentleman.
Bowie's lyrics often are absolute time capsules with references to major events or cultural developments. If for nothing else than that his songs are amazing
Bowie is one of the ultimate superstars. Just extraordinary.
Love Bowie ,last saw him st Milton Keynes bowl goodness knows how long ago 😅 he was my wallpaper in my youth ❤
Growing up he was a hero
Bowie at the Beeb is a phenomenal concert video! I love Bowie and saw him live 2004 in Calgary. He was so absolutely gifted!! Let's Dance is another phenomenal song and video!
Every time I see or hear Bowie I fall in love all over again! He could sing fast food jingles and I would be hooked. Your reaction was awesome. The song is actually about two people having a clandestine affair that he witnessed out the window of the studio while he was recording one of his albums. Thanks for the reaction. This was awesome!
One of my favorites of his and the list is long from his amazing catalog of pure music goodness. RIP David. We are much richer because of your too brief time with us in this world.