Nobody's Hero

Those of you who know me (or have listened to my music) know that one of my favorite bands, is the Canadian Power Trio, Rush. They are a band that has withstood the test of time, and they have my utmost respect as people, songwriters, and instrumentalists. On their 1994 album, "Counterparts" (which remains one of my favorite albums to date) they recorded a song called "Nobody's Hero":

Nobody’s Hero

I knew he was different in his sexuality

I went to his parties as a straight minority

It never seemed a threat to my masculinity

It only introduced me to a wider reality

As the years went by we drifted apart

When I heard that he was gone I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he’s nobody’s hero

Saves a drowning child, cures a wasting disease

Hero. . .Lands a crippled airplane, solves great mysteries

Hero. . .Not the handsome actor who plays the hero’s role

Hero. . .Not the glamour girl who’d love to sell her soul

If anybody’s buying—Nobody’s Hero

I didn’t know the girl but I knew her family

All their lives were shattered in the nightmare of brutality

The tried to carry on, tried to bear the agony

Tried to hold some faith in the goodness of humanity

As the years went by we drifted apart

When I heard that she was gone I felt a shadow cross my heart

But she’s nobody’s hero

Is the voice of reason against the howling mob

Hero. . .Is the pride of purpose in the unrewarding job

Hero. . .Not the champion player who plays the perfect game

Hero. . .Not the glamour boy who’d love to sell his name

If anybody’s buying—Nobody’s Hero

As the years went by we drifted apart

When I heard that you were gone I felt a shadow cross my heart

But he’s nobody’s hero

Saves a drowning child, cures a wasting disease

Hero. . .Lands a crippled airplane, solves great mysteries

Hero. . .Not the handsome actor who plays the hero’s role

Hero. . .Not the glamour girl who’d love to sell her soul

If anybody’s buying—Nobody’s Hero

Nobody’s Hero

The song is, to me, profound in that it focuses on all of the things that our contemporary culture does not: The extraordinary nature of ordinary people.

I was impressed with Reese Witherspoon’s quote by June Carter Cash at the Oscars the other night, when she said “I’m just trying to matter.” I believe that. I gave up, long ago, trying to change the world, or save the world, or impress the world, or whatever. I have not, however, given up a desire to matter. My mission as a person.

My late mother used to have this on our refrigerator door when I was a child. It is a from a poem called “Life” by Emily Dickinson:

IF I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

This is the legacy that I have inherited. This is my mission. I can’t help but ask myself every day, am I doing it justice? Am I mattering? Am I being somebody’s unsung hero? I don’t ask this for validation, as much as I want to know that I AM on the right track, that I AM making a difference.