We Can Be Heroes

The second season of Heroes starts up today. I was a latecomer to the series, having just watched the entire first season on DVD this past week. The reason I ignored it the first time 'round was that I was under the mistaken assumption it was some wacky riff on X-Men, however it's a serial drama more along the lines of Lost. Somewhat ironically, I find the unconvincing special effects to be one of the show's weaker points, but it's the interesting characters and compelling storyline that pulls it along... though the first season had a plotline that seemed to blatantly rip-off Alan Moore's Watchmen. But that's a whole other matter not worth griping about. To kick off this new season of Heroes, I've got a couple "Heroes" songs plus a batch of covers of David Bowie's Heroes.

But first, I have to tell you about a crossover event that befits a new season of television upon us. Not since the Ninja turtles teamed up with Winnie the Pooh to fight the war on drugs has there been a such a collaboration. Well, I'm exaggerating slightly, but this week I got to be a guest blogger over on Covering the Mouse! Head over there right now to hear Heroes star Hayden Pannettiere (Claire Bennet) croon about a classic Disney villain. And with the new NHL season nearly upon us too, here's an awesome picture of Hayden and the Stanley Cup.


Not sure what the occasion was, but there's a bunch of photos of her and Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) goofing around with the cup over here. Yep, in Canada the new hockey season is more anticipated than any other TV show. This season's looking sketchy at best for the ol' home team, but Go Oilers!

The Beach Boys - Heroes & Villains
This is as good an excuse as any to pull out my favourite Beach Boys song.

Ben Folds - Hiro's Song
No, this is not about the lovable time-travellin' Hiro Nakamura. It's about an older Japanese businessman who "leaves his family for the secretary" who happens to be his daughter's best friend from high school. Happy times. In a way, it's fun to imagine it is about future Hiro or an alternate reality Hiro.

A smattering of Covers of David Bowie's Heroes:
Flight - Heroes
The Magnetic Fields - Heroes
The Wallflowers - Heroes
Meg Lee Chin - Heroes
Oasis - Heroes
Wil Seabrook - Heroes
Zkippy Stardust - Heroes (live)
Nico - Heroes

Philip Glass - Heroes
Philip Glass - Heroes (Aphex Twin remix)
In 1996, composer Philip Glass wrote a symphony based on David Bowie's album 1977 Heroes. It's based on Heroes rather than an outright cover, since you'd be hard-pressed to recognize many similarities to the original. Interestingly though, electronic artist Aphex Twin did a remix of the song, inserting Bowie's original vocals.