Let's Kill Our Heroes

Well I met an old man
dying on a train.
No more destination
no more pain.
Well he said
"one thing, before I graduate...
never let your fear decide your fate."

I say ya kill your heroes and
fly, fly, baby don't cry.
No need to worry cuz
everybody will die.
Every day we just
go, go, baby don't go.
Don't you worry we
love you more than you know. 
Well the sun one day will
leave us all behind.
Unexplainable sightings
in the sky.
Well I hate to be
the one to ruin the night.
Right before your, right before your eyes.

It was a little difficult to sit through that English class and not think about how crazy Mr. Heidkamp sounded. But what I realized after thinking over the class discussion a little more and listening to music is that existentialism is everywhere.

In the song Kill Your Heroes by Awolnation some existentialistic views can be found under the powerful drums and Aaron Bruno's screamy voice. Bruno starts the song like a story talking about an old man on a train. The lines "No more destination/ no more pain." highlight the fact that death is inevitable and ever present.

Bruno continues to tell his listeners to "kill their heroes." I do not think he means literally go and kill the person you want to emulate or look up to, but I think that the line is a metaphor and he is saying we should not waste time falling prey to social constructions like heroes. Believing in heroes is not going to get you anywhere in life.

"Every day we just/ go, go, baby don't go." This line was tougher to decipher. If we are analyzing this line with an eye for the existentialist then he is saying society just goes and if you want to get happiness from life then you cannot just go you have to be an individual. 

Bruno is getting at the core of existentialism. He is saying that life is best experienced when you are just living. In order to get the most out of our lives we need to ignore our "heroes" avoid social constructs and be as individualistic before our rapidly approaching demise.