Heroes

Album: Forever (2014)
Charted: 6 31
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The follow-up to Alesso's collaboration with Calvin Harris "Under Control," this single finds the Swedish DJ teaming up with his fellow countrywoman Tove-Lo. "The song gives me the feeling that something might be over, but it's okay, we're still here together after it," Alesso said. "This might be the last time we'll be in that moment, but we can create new ones afterwards."
  • Tove Lo's lyrics were inspired by an episode of the TV series Heroes that she'd randomly watched. "I was thinking of being a kid and wishing I had these powers when I would pretend," the Swedish singer told Artist Direct. "There's nothing extraordinary about me in that way, but you always wish you could have that. Something will set me off, and I'll start writing. Then, I'll circle back to my own experience."
  • Speaking to Billboard magazine about the song's inspirational message, Alesso said: "I'm a pretty emotional person. Sometimes that's what's missing in the electronic landscape: the real emotions. I have a euphoric sound, so when you combine that with an emotional message, it connects with people."
  • Alesso explained how he originally connected with Tove Lo. "My team and I reached out to her to see if she'd be interested in a collaboration, and a couple months later, we began writing the lyrics that would go over these instrumentals," he said. "We discussed what it should be about - we knew it should be an emotional record -- and she came back with this gorgeous topline."
  • This appropriates the chorus lyrics of the famous David Bowie song. However, the words of each of the verses differ entirely from the Thin White Duke's. Bowie's 1977 track told the story of a German couple who are so determined to be together that they meet every day under a gun turret on The Berlin Wall. Alesso and Tove Lo's version is about the street-life interactions of a couple.
  • Alesso used Tove Lo's original demo performance of the song as he didn't want something that was too produced and perfect. He explained to Billboard magazine: "When Tove Lo was doing the demo vocal we were like, 'This is great.' Then she started polishing it and we were like, 'Wait, stop, we need to go back, the demo was the best one.' So we went back to the first demo, just because we didn't want it to be that polished. We wanted to get that feeling back where it started."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")

Holly Knight ("The Best," "Love Is A Battlefield")Songwriter Interviews

Holly Knight talks about some of the hit songs she wrote, including "The Warrior," "Never" and "The Best," and explains some songwriting philosophy, including how to think of a bridge.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Devo

DevoSongwriter Interviews

Devo founders Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale take us into their world of subversive performance art. They may be right about the De-Evoloution thing.