# Heroes from rock and roll songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 3, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532 "2025-01-03T18:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/1 "2025-01-03T18:23:28Z")
I’m looking for individuals named in rock and roll songs, not necessarily the title of the song but at least the lyrics, who are called out for individual heroic acts. My example is Funky Claude from Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” ([during the fire] Funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids outa the ground). They should be real people, or at least possibly real people – not mythical or fictional people. Who are some others? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/2 "2025-01-03T18:52:50Z")
Biko by Peter Gabriel, a song about the anti apartheid activist Stephen Biko. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/3 "2025-01-03T19:00:15Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/4 "2025-01-03T19:14:23Z")
A Real Hero Song by College and Electric Youth _"A pilot on a cold, cold morn’_ _One-hundred fifty-five people on board_ _All safe and all rescued_ _From the slowly sinking ship_ _Water warmer than his head so cool_ _In that tight bind knew what to do_ _And you have proved to be"_ ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/5 "2025-01-03T19:19:50Z")
Arlo Guthrie’s “Victor Jara” comes to mind, though I’m not sure if he fits anyone’s definition of rock’n’roll. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/6 "2025-01-03T19:22:03Z")
Billy was urged not to be a hero, but he was anyway. [Billy Don’t Be a Hero - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Don%27t_Be_a_Hero) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/7 "2025-01-03T19:22:24Z")
Slim defeated Jim in _You Don’t Mess Around with Jim_ Jim Croce > [@](#): > > Well, a hush fell over the pool room > Jimmy come boppin’ in off the street > And when the cuttin’ were done > The only part that wasn’t bloody > Was the soles of the big man’s feet > Yeah, he was cut in in 'bout a hundred places > And he was shot in a couple more > And you better believe > They sung a different kind of story > When big Jim hit the floor > Now they say > > You don’t tug on Superman’s cape > You don’t spit into the wind > You don’t pull the mask off that old lone ranger > And you don’t mess around with Slim ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/8 "2025-01-03T19:37:18Z")
Major Tom (Space Oddifty) - David Bowie Mighty Quinn - Bob Dylan The young boy in “Powderfinger” - Neil Young ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/9 "2025-01-03T19:40:30Z")
Massive Wagons " Ballad of Verdun Hayes" ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/10 "2025-01-03T19:42:22Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Mighty Quinn - Bob Dylan What did Quinn do, other than getting all the pigeons to run to him? His title might be “Mighty”, but he ain’t no hero. I guess you could say he just ain’t my cup of meat. (not the best Bob Dylan lyrics). ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/11 "2025-01-03T19:43:24Z")
“Abraham, Martin & John” pays tribute to the deeds of Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. It was recorded by [Dion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxRe6rCdYVA) and by [Marvin Gaye](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1LWVY0wwG4). ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/12 "2025-01-03T19:48:36Z")
Casey Jones shows up in several, most notably the Grateful Dead song of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/13 "2025-01-03T19:48:37Z")
@Procrustus already gave the definitive answer so I’ll contribute XTC’s **The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead** Peter Pumpkinhead came to town Spreading wisdom and cash around Fed the starving and housed the poor Showed the Vatican what gold’s for But he made too many enemies Of the people who would keep us on our knees Hooray for Peter Pumpkin ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/14 "2025-01-03T19:50:45Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > What did Quinn do Yes, racking my brain for great songwriters and heroes. I remember thinking the line was “everybody’s gonna want a dose” (still not a hero) No Quarter - Led Zeppelin. The language makes them appear as Viking-types as they march through the “Winds of Thor”. Presumably Plant was writing about centuries ago, yet “No Quarter” is now a war crime. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/15 "2025-01-03T19:51:31Z")
The protagonist in The Cruxshadows’ “Winter Born.” _And in the fury of this darkest hour_ _I will be your light_ _A lifetime for this destiny_ _For I am Winter born_ _And in this moment…I will not run_ _It is my place to stand_ _We few shall carry hope_ _Within our bloodied hands_ _(bloodied hands)_ _And in our Dying, we’re more alive-than we have ever been_ _I’ve lived for these few seconds_ _For I am Winter born_ ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/16 "2025-01-03T19:59:16Z")
Snoopy! Up in the sky, a man in a plane Baron von Richthofen was his name Eighty men tried and eighty men died Now they’re buried together on the countryside … So pick your hero there. (ETA: The Roysl Guardsmen) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/17 "2025-01-03T20:08:44Z")
Daddy the Cop on the East Side of Chicago - The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace Daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago Back in the USA, back in the bad old days … Then there was no sound at all But the clock up on the wall Then the door burst open wide And my daddy stepped inside And he kissed my mama’s face And he brushed her tears away ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/18 "2025-01-03T20:24:32Z")
> [@batsto](#): > > Casey Jones shows up in several, most notably the Grateful Dead song of the same name. He wasn’t a hero in that song, he was driving the train while high on cocaine. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/19 "2025-01-03T23:09:58Z")
_[“This is a song about a superhero named Tony It’s called Tony’s theme”](https://youtu.be/6m_Rgx-yF2w?si=8-JF9op3GhR-n6ls)_ ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532/20 "2025-01-03T23:12:15Z")
[BIG BAD JOHN ~ Jimmy Dean (1961)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnnHprUGKF0) - with the G-rated lyrics at the end (“a big big man”) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heroes-from-rock-and-roll-songs/1012532.md?page=2)