When Heroes Go Down

This song doesn't need much interpretation. It's about what happens to those we put on pedestals. The higher we set them above us, the harder and faster they seem to fall. And since all heroes are ultimately human (the "super" kind of heroes are all fictional), they all ultimately fail and fall.

Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., even Gandhi... no matter how lauded and adulated, their biographers always seem to find the embarrassing skeletons behind the iconic facades. And when these skeletons (in the above examples, involving their relationships with women) come to light, well, as Vega says: "When heroes go down/ They go down fast."

The fall so quickly, there is no "time to/ Equivocate the past." That twenty five-cent word means "to cloud or obscure." A classic equivocation is: "Mistakes were made."

Like plummeting airplanes, falling heroes "land in flame." They are always, to others, at fault for their own downfall-- but to themselves, they are the victims of circumstance or conspiracy. Snap judgments are made, by the media and public, and "don't expect any slow and careful/ Settling of blame." They fell? Their fault.

So hold something back, Vegas advises, when you admire someone: "look out for the feet of clay." An interesting expression, from the Biblical Book of Daniel, this refers to a vision this prophet had of a particular king's society. He dreamed of a statue with a gold head, silver chest, bronze stomach, iron legs (note the decreasing worth of the metals on down)... and clay feet. This heavy statue (the kingdom) was built on a soft, unstable foundation (a rebellious peasant class) that would easily falter and bring his kingdom down.

Therefore, someone having "feet of clay" is fallible and will ultimately disappoint you, like the heroes Vega speaks of.

And what happens after they fall? There will be "no chance for last respects." No time to bury the reputationally dead with a proper funeral and last rites... before the public is on to the next hero on the next pedestal. "You feel the disappointment," but no one else is there to mourn your fallen hero.

Lastly, the "fall" coming with their being "revealed," then "you can't expect any kind of mercy/ On the battlefield." If someone's protective armor is compromised, their enemies will have at them relentlessly and remorselessly.

Vega herself is a celebrity. She has some experience being recognized while walking down the street and eating in cafes. And while she never has been the subject of tabloid scandal-mongering, she has had her most popular period, and now is-- and there is no shame in this-- less so. Perhaps another such period is in her future-- a song of hers could get recycled as a TV theme, or be sampled by Beyonce or something. There is no way to tell.

And Vega herself has, as have we all, admired others... and come to see their flaws. Perhaps seeing how celebrities fall-- or are torn down-- she is happier now that she has her family, her work, and her loyal following (ahem)... and that's all.

But maybe that's enough, or even better. After all, there isn't as much room to relax on a pedestal as there is on a porch swing.


Next Song: As Girls Go