"Nobody's Hero" is a song by Canadian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Rush, released as the third single from their 1993 album ''

Counterparts Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to: Entertainment and literature * "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce * Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival * ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama * ''Counterp ...

''. The first verse deals with the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

-related death of a gay man named Ellis Booth, a friend of

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...

when Peart lived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. After the chorus, the second verse speaks of a girl who was murdered in Peart's hometown,

Port Dalhousie Port Dalhousie is a community in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Known for its waterfront appeal, it is home to the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and is historically significant as the terminus for the first three (19th century) routes of the ...

and was the daughter of a family friend, as remembered by Peart in ''Far and Wide: Bring That Horizon to Me!'' The girl is rumoured to have been Kristen French, one of

Paul Bernardo Paul Kenneth Bernardo (born August 27, 1964), also known as The Scarborough Rapist and The Schoolgirl Killer, is a Canadian serial killer and serial rapist. He is known for initially committing a series of rapes in Scarborough, Ontario, a subu ...

's victims. It inspired the title for the paper ''Nobody's Hero: On Equal Protection, Homosexuality, and National Security'' published in The George Washington Law Review.

Track listing

Personnel

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...

– Bass, lead vocals *

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...

– Acoustic & electric guitars *

– Drums, percussion *

John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and car ...

- Keyboards with *

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

– String arrangements & conducting

References

1993 songs 1994 singles 1990s ballads Rush (band) songs Rock ballads LGBT-related songs Commemoration songs Songs written by Neil Peart Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Alex Lifeson Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) {{1990s-rock-song-stub

Track listing

Personnel

See also

References