I'm my hero
Velvet Underground & Nico art rock, drone rock, avant-folk. Slow drag 50-65 BPM, E minor, hypnotic mood. Raw lo-fi 1967 NYC Factory: heavy reverb/echo, slight distortion, roomy. Sparse minimalism, no polish. Opening: Eerie 'someone's there' celesta solo (glockenspiel crystalline pings). 6 foreboding descending notes (A-F♯-D-C-B♭-G♯ high), 3-4s apart, cavernous reverb+delay, distant chimes in void. 15-18s silence fade before band. Band: Primitive floor tom thuds + sparse tambourine heartbeat, no cymbals. Clean guitar repetitive chugs/sustains + feedback. Bowed viola long wavering minor drones for hypnosis. Sparse piano/harmonium wheeze, gothic chill. Vocals: Nico deep husky contralto, German accent, monotone chant. Elongated vowels, detached icy emotion, slight waver. Bridge half-spoken/sung. Low murmured harmonies/echoes on choruses. Upfront dry-ish mix, subtle echocold indifference. Weirdness 60% warped dissonant intervals, dread twist on sparkle; 42% VU minimalism. , female vocals
I'm my hero
Velvet Underground & Nico art rock, drone rock, avant-folk. Slow drag 50-65 BPM, E minor, hypnotic mood. Raw lo-fi 1967 NYC Factory: heavy reverb/echo, slight distortion, roomy. Sparse minimalism, no polish. Opening: Eerie 'someone's there' celesta solo (glockenspiel crystalline pings). 6 foreboding descending notes (A-F♯-D-C-B♭-G♯ high), 3-4s apart, cavernous reverb+delay, distant chimes in void. 15-18s silence fade before band. Band: Primitive floor tom thuds + sparse tambourine heartbeat, no cymbals. Clean guitar repetitive chugs/sustains + feedback. Bowed viola long wavering minor drones for hypnosis. Sparse piano/harmonium wheeze, gothic chill. Vocals: Nico deep husky contralto, German accent, monotone chant. Elongated vowels, detached icy emotion, slight waver. Bridge half-spoken/sung. Low murmured harmonies/echoes on choruses. Upfront dry-ish mix, subtle echocold indifference. Weirdness 60% warped dissonant intervals, dread twist on sparkle; 42% VU minimalism. , female vocals
Lyrics
Verse 1] [Female monotone vocals
When I was fifteen, they asked who's your hero
I said me in ten years, always ten years away
Chasin' that shadow, never catchin' the light
Keep runnin' toward tomorrow, just to make today alright
But time is a flat circle, brother, we been here before
Same dance in the gutter, same locked room door
All your love, all your hate, all your pain in the end
Just one long dream, and the monster's your friend
Chorus][Female monotone vocals
I'm my own hero, ten years out of reach
But the light's gettin' dimmer, the truth's startin' to teach
Consciousness a misstep, tragic accident of flesh
We shouldn't exist, so why we still obsessed?
Walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight sigh
Opt out of the raw deal, let the whole thing die
I'm my own hero... chasin' nobody
Verse 2][Female monotone vocals
Human awareness split us from the natural law
We labor under illusion, think we're somebody at all
But everybody's nobody, just a secretion of feel
Programmed to believe this nightmare's real
Death created time to grow what it would kill
Fourteen hours starin' at bodies, you see the thrill
They welcomed it in the last nanosecond, relief so pure
Let go of the jerry-rig, the presumption, the cure
Bridge][Female monotone vocals
This... this is what I'm talkin' 'bout
Time, death, futility... all one ghetto, man
Giant gutter in outer space
It's all the same dream inside a locked room
And like a lot of dreams... there's a monster at the end of it
But my hero's still me in ten years
Even if ten years is just the same damn circle spinnin'
Chorus][Female monotone vocals
I'm my own hero, ten years out of reach
But the circle keeps turnin', no lessons to teach
Stop reproducing, deny the programming lie
Brothers and sisters, hand in hand say goodbye
I'm my own hero... but the hero's a ghost
Chasin' forever what I needed the most
Outro] [male vocals
Alright, alright, alright...
Just keep living...
Till the stars burn out...
And we all let go