Prophetic voices from unexpected sources: Nobody's Hero ~ Rush

This song is amazing to me on many levels. First the idea that heroes are often not the ones that win, but that struggle and lose, yet what they bring to our lives is something triumphant. It is almost unexplainable in a sense, yet in it is death and resurrection. The death of the one that struggled bring a sense and renewal of those around them.

The second thing is the humanizing of AIDS and victims of violent crimes. The first stanza is about a gay man who died of AIDS. According to Wikipedia:

"Nobody's Hero" is a song by Canadian prog-rock band Rush from their album Counterparts. The first stanza deals with the AIDS-related death of a homosexual man named Ellis, a friend of Neil Peart when Peart lived in London. After the chorus, the third stanza speaks of a girl who was murdered in Peart's hometown, Port Dalhousie. The girl is rumored to have been Kristen French, one of Paul Bernardo's victims. The song charted #3 on the U.S. mainstream rock charts.

This made begin to think about who the "heroes" in my life really were and are. Of course Jesus was the greatest Hero to me, that he willingly gave His life for me, to give His life to me, so He can Live His Life through me. How can one not be amazed at this. I am literally resurrected spiritually (and later physically in the New Creation's fulfillment).

Of course Rush is not a "Christian" band, yet, God spoke through a donkey in the OT. God can speak  through me (at times I am not much different than that donkey), so I believe at times God can speak through the poets and musicians at times. As you listen ask yourself, "Who are my heroes?" Ask yourself, "How have I dehumanized others?" Then ask yourself, "How can God change this in me?" Then pray and be open to what God has in store. I am not guaranteeing this will be an easy road, but then without some pain, their is no real growth. Without some sacrifice, there is no real gain.

As I listened to this song today, this verse came to my mind:

2 Corinthians 5: 14. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.15. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.16. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!18. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:19. that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvw1BGXmDZM


"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

He 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 the crippled airplane

Solves great mysteries

Hero...not the handsome actor

Who plays a 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 a nightmare of brutality

They try to carry on, try to bear the agony

Try 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 loves to sell his name

Everybody'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 the crippled airplane

Solves great mysteries

Hero...not the handsome actor

Who plays a hero's role

Hero...not the glamour girl

Who'd love to sell her soul

If anybody's buying

Nobody's hero



Hero