"Hero" | ||||
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Single by Weezer | ||||
from the album Van Weezer | ||||
Released | May 6, 2020 | |||
Recorded | 2020 | |||
Genre | Power pop | |||
Length | 3:57 | |||
Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Suzy Shinn | |||
Weezer singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Hero" on YouTube |
"Hero" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released on May 6, 2020, as the second single from the band's fifteenth studio album, Van Weezer .
Rolling Stone described "Hero" as an outcast anthem, which focuses on frontman Rivers Cuomo's feelings of inadequacy. [1] The band described the song as for "the stay at home dreamers, the zoom graduators, the sourdough bakers, and the essential workers". [2] Following the style of Van Weezer's return to the band's roots in hard rock, "Hero" has been described musically as an upbeat Weezer song with heavy guitar usage. [3] Spin described it as "a dose of power pop". [4]
On July 30, the band released an alternate version of the song titled "Hero (Piano)", arranged as a piano ballad. [5]
The music video for the song was directed by Brendan Walter and Jasper Graham. It begins with a scene of Cuomo writing a letter, which is then seen passed along Weezer fans, accompanied with footage of the band performing the song. At the end of the video, the letter is opened to reveal a tribute to essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. [1] The video includes a cameo from the band Real Estate. [6]
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