"Hero" is the second single by Mariah Carey from her third album, "Music Box." The song was released on October 18, 1993 through Columbia Records and was written & produced by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff.
Song Background[]
While writing "Hero," Mariah didn't connect to the style or sound of the song. During production of her third album, Mariah was approached by Epic Reocrds to write and record a song & release it on the soundtrack for the film, "Hero" starring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis.
While Mariah was interested in the project, Tommy Mottola was adamant over allowing Mariah to take part in anything involving movies, fearing that it would hurt her career. Columbia Records felt uneasy about allowing Mariah contribute to another record label even though they are a branch of the same parent company, Sony.
Still interested in working for the movie, Mariah agreed to write the feature song for it, intended for singer Gloria Estefan. Mariah and Walter sat together in a New York studio and composed the song's melody, lyrics, and concept in 2 hours.
As the song's demo was completed, Tommy walked into the studio and after hearing the rough version of it, he became interested in the song and asked what project it belonged to. When Mariah said the song would be used for the film, Tommy convinced her the song was too good to be in a film and should keep the song for herself.
After making the decision to keep "Hero," Walter Afanasieff went back to the staff at Epic Records, letting them know that they failed to come up with a song for the soundtrack. Gloria Estefan never heard the song that was originally meant for her. The song that eventually ended up on the "Hero" movie soundtrack was "Heart of a Hero" which was written, produced, and recorded by late R&B singer, Luther Vandross.
Song Reception[]
"Hero" garnered generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Nathan Brackett from Rolling Stone called Carey's vocal tone "golden" and regarded the song as a standard for weddings, funerals and singing auditions.
The Baltimore Sun critic J.D. Considine praised "Hero", writing "[Hero] is a lavish, soul-stirring ballad, the sort of thing other singers would pay Diane Warren to write." Additionally, she called its chorus "uplifting" and "soaring," following praise towards Carey's vocal performance.
The song received a mixed review from The Washington Post editor Mike Joyce, who while impressed, claimed it was not as good as competing ballads of the time. Paul Gettelmen of the Orlando Sentinel criticized the song, calling it a "rip-off" of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All."
Stephen Holden, another editor from Rolling Stone also noted an inspiration and similarity to "Greatest Love of All" and calling its lyrics "made up entirely of pop and soul clichés."
Awards[]
"Hero" was awarded and nominated for awards throughout the music industry. At the 12th ASCAP Awards, Carey took home the award for "Rhythm & Soul Songwriter."
The following year, at the 13th annual ceremony, "Hero" won Carey awards for "Rhythm & Soul Songwriter" and "Pop Songwriter." The song was awarded a BMI Pop Award at the ceremony in 1995.
Additionally, it was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 37th annual Grammy Awards, losing to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do."
Copyright Lawsuit[]
"Hero" was the subject of two copyright plagiarism cases; one by Christopher Selletti and the other by Rhonda Dimmer, filed in 1993 and 1996. Selletti claimed he had written the song's lyrics in the form of a poem.
One day, as he drove Sly Stone in a limousine to Long Island, he claimed to have shown him the poem. Selletti claimed Stone complimented the poem, taking it and promising to patent it and earn him royalties. After many months, the pair fell out of contact, leading Selletti to mail himself the envelope and poem, performing a "poor man's copyright."
Three years later in 1996, he claimed to have listened to Carey's album, "Music Box" and was shocked when he noted the song's similar lyrics. He filed a lawsuit against Carey, Stone, Sony and Stone's manager Jerry Goldstein. Selletti claimed that Stone must have sold or contributed the lyrics to Carey during the recording of the album in late 1992.
However, since Stone did not receive songwriting credits on "Hero", Selletti then dropped the suit against Stone, leaving him against Carey and Sony. Prior to their court room meeting, Carey told New York Daily News "I feel totally victimized. "Hero" is my creation and it holds a very special meaning to me. I have every intention of fighting this all the way."
In court, Carey provided evidence to her innocence, in the form of a dated lyrical and music notebook, with conceptual info on the song dated back to November 20, 1992, prior to Selletti's meeting with Stone. Additionally, Carey stated the fact that she had originally written it for the film, "Hero" alongside Afanasieff, making their connection or the involvement of his material impossible. Judge Denny Chin found Carey innocent, and ordered Selletti to pay her a fine.
Years later, after consulting with another lawyer, Selletti made another attempt at suing Carey and Sony. His lawyer, Jeffrey Levitt, who uncovered the fact that the film was released in October 1992, a full six weeks prior to the November 22 dating in Carey's notebook. Additionally, "Heart of a Hero" which was written by Luther Vandross for the film, was submitted in January 1992, making it impossible for "Hero" to have been the original choice of song for the soundtrack.
After uncovering further tapes from the studio dating to the summer of 1992, recordings provided evidence that Carey and Afansieff had indeed discussed and had parts of the song completed well before the film's October release.
Following the evidence from both parties, the judge dismissed the case, ruling in Carey's favor for the second time. Following the dismissal of the case, Rhonda Dimmie, another songwriter and an independent singer, filed a lawsuit against Carey, this time claiming the song to have borrowed heavily from her song, "Be Your Own Hero." During the short deposition made by Carey, Afanasieff revealed that they had written the song in two days during the summer of 1992, "within a matter of hours."
Soon after, the case was dismissed, with the judge claiming there to not be sufficient evidence on Dimmie's behalf. Following the lawsuits, in 2001, Selletti made further hints to plan another lawsuit, as well as a forensic team of specialists to conduct research on the incident.
Following the suits, Cindy Berger, Carey's publicist released the following statement: "This case has been thrown out of court three times. The federal judge after hearing Selletti's story and considering all the evidence ruled the case was a 'complete fabrication' and that it was filed 'to extort a settlement from deep-pocket defendants."
Music Video[]
Prior to the song's release towards the end of 1993, Carey performed an intimate concert at Proctor Theatre, New York on July 15, 1993. Following its taping, the concert was released as the home video titled, "Here Is Mariah Carey" in 1993.
Carey's performance of the song that night was edited and commissioned as the official music video, directed by Larry Jordan. The video was included on Carey's DVD, "#1's" in 1998.The video features her in a long navy-blue dress, sporting long curly hair.
On few international versions of the album, a Spanish version of the song was included, such as on the Mexican and Argentinian versions. It was titled "Héroe", and featured translation by Jorge Luis Piloto, a Spanish musician who had come to briefly work with Carey.
Track listings and formats[]
|
|
Single Artwork[]
Charts[]
| Chart (1993–94) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 7 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 13 |
|
French Singles Chart |
5 |
| German Singles Chart | 41 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 5 |
| Japanese Albums Chart | 42 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 27 |
| UK Singles Chart | 7 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Pop Songs | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 5 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 67 |
Héroe[]
Carey recorded a Spanish version of the song titled "Héroe" and released it as a bonus track on several Latin American editions of Music Box and as a complementary CD single on the special 1995 Spanish reissue of the album.
Chart[]
Héroe peaked at #40 on the Billboard Hot Latin songs on June 3, 1995.[1] The song only spent one week on the charts.[2]
2009 Version[]
A re-recorded version of "Hero," subtitled the "2009 Version," was released as the sixth track of the second disc of Music Box: 30th Anniversary Edition on September 8, 2023.
Background and composition[]
In anticipation of the stateside release of The Ballads, Carey re-recorded the song and filmed a new music video for it sometime in 2008,[3] which was made available exclusively on Amazon on January 5, 2009.[4] However, the audio of this version of the song wasn't officially released by itself until the #MusicBox30 celebrations in 2023.
Carey re-sang the song over the original instrumental, albeit in a lower key, and with the choir background vocals that have been present on most live performances of the song since 1995's Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden. Additionally, Carey incorporates several note changes into this version, most of which have been previously done live.
Music video[]
The video for the new version of the song features behind the scenes footage of the song's recording, as well as Carey writing music in the studio, interspersed with scenes of New York City at night.
Trivia[]
- "Hero" was the first song Carey re-recorded in Spanish.
- For this re-recording, due to Carey not being fluent in Spanish, Piloto wrote out the song's lyrics phonetically so they could be read as if they were in English.[5]
- According to setlist.fm, "Hero" is Carey's most performed song, with 505 known live performances as of September 2023.[6]
Lyrics[]
There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Como un libro
Que no sabes el final
Y te asusta lo que lees
Así la vida es
Cuando naces
Ya te expones al dolor
Y de a poco y con valor
Logras crecer
Y como un libro el corazón
Nos enseña que hay temor
Que hay fracasos y maldad
Que hay batallas que ganar
Y en cada página el amor
Nos convierte en luchador
Y descubres lo común
No hay un héroe como tú
Son muy pocos
Que se arriesgan por amor
Pero tú tienes la fe
Y eso lo es todo
No decaigas
Que vivir es aprender
Y no hay nada que temer
Si crees en ti
Y como un libro el corazón
Nos enseña que hay temor
Que hay fracasos y maldad
Que hay batallas que ganar
Y en cada página el amor
Nos convierte en luchador
Y descubres lo común
No hay un héroe como tú
Sólo Dios
Sabe donde y cuando
La vida nos dirá
Lo has hecho bien
Sólo
Con un sueño sólo
Sabrás
Cómo vencer
Y como un libro el corazón
Nos enseña que hay temor
Que hay fracasos y maldad
Que hay batallas que ganar
Y en cada página el amor
Nos convierte en luchador
Y descubres lo común
No hay un héroe como tú
No hay un héroe como tú
References[]
- ↑ Mariah Carey Chart History - Hot Latin Charts. retrieved June 15, 2020
- ↑ Heroe (Hero) - Mariah Carey Billboard Hot Latin Song Charts - retrieved June 15, 2020
- ↑ Lazerine, Devin (January 5, 2009). "Video: Mariah Carey - 'Hero 2009'". Rap-Up.
- ↑ Carey, Mariah (January 5, 2009). "Amazon's Exclusive Video Release of "Hero"". MariahCarey.com. Archived from the original.
- ↑ Cobo, Leila (2018, January 26). Meet The Spanish-Language Coaches Who Helped Beyonce, Justin Bieber & More Sing Like a Native. Billboard.
- ↑ Mariah Carey Tour Statistics | setlist.fm
| Music Box | |
|---|---|
| August 31, 1993 • 42:01 • Columbia Records | |
| Songs | |
| Released | All I've Ever Wanted • Anytime You Need a Friend • Dreamlover • Hero • I've Been Thinking About You • Just to Hold You Once Again • Music Box • Never Forget You • Without You |
| Bonus | Everything Fades Away • Heroe • Do You Think Of Me |
| Artists | |
| Mariah Carey | |
| Tour | |
| Music Box Tour | |