Foo Fighters - My Hero (Japan Special Edition)

If you thought Dave Grohl’s post-Nirvana outfit was just a straightforward radio-rock machine, this imports-only beast is here to smash your skull in. Released at the tail end of January 1998, the My Hero (Japan Special Edition) CD isn't just a standard promotional single cash-grab. It’s a beautifully erratic, 7-track Frankenstein’s monster of an EP that takes one of alternative rock’s greatest anthems and surrounds it with a chaotic swarm of obscure covers and intimate, raw acoustic sets.
For the latchkey kids and tape-traders hunting down expensive import discs at the back of local record shops, this specific Japanese press (TOCP-50408) was pure gold. It functions less like a polished major-label product and more like a curated mixtape compiled by Grohl himself. By shoving massive hooks right against the jagged edges of the band's deep-cut obsessions, it provides an unfiltered glimpse into a legendary band firing on absolute all cylinders.

Drop this disc into the tray and the opening downbeat of "My Hero" hits you like a freight train. We all know the track—that thunderous, dual-drum assault and the thick, soaring wall of guitars that redefined modern stadium rock. But hearing it anchor an underground EP gives the song a completely different context. It transitions from a polished MTV staple back into what it truly is at its core: a sweaty, hyper-passionate garage-rock love letter to the ordinary working-class icons of our lives.

The real meat of this package, though, belongs to the shadows. The triple-threat of industrial and new wave covers reveals a dark, mechanical undercurrent that the Foos rarely let dominate their studio LPs. Their rendition of Killing Joke's "Requiem" is an absolute masterclass in tension, while Gary Numan's "Down In The Park" is turned into a brooding, heavy-booted crawl that feels beautifully claustrophobic. Even the bizarre inclusion of Vanity 6’s "Drive Me Wild" gets stripped of its synth-pop sheen and weaponised into a frantic punk-rock rave-up.

Just when you think your ears are going to bleed, the EP flips the script completely for its final act. The inclusion of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" features a roaring guitar solo replacing the iconic saxophone, creating an anthem so infectious it almost steals the spotlight from the title track. Then, the disc gently glides to a halt with a gorgeous acoustic version of "See You" and a rare, intimate live take of "For All The Cows" recorded right there in Tokyo.

Ultimately, the Japan Special Edition is an essential historical document of a transitional era. It captures the exact moment the Foo Fighters were evolving from grunge survivors into global rock royalty, all while refusing to let go of their messy, tape-trading indie roots. It’s loud, eccentric, and wonderfully unpredictable. If you ever happen to spot that iconic artwork paired with a Japanese Obi strip out in the wild, lay down your cash immediately.

 

Ripped from the seven track special Japanese edition to MP3

1 My Hero 4:21
2 Requiem (BBC Session) 3:33
3 Drive Me Wild (BBC Session) 3:25
4 Down In The Park 4:07
5 Baker Street (BBC Session) 5:39
6 See You (Acoustic) 2:28
7 For All The Cows (Acoustic Live) 3:41

The original blurb from the first time I posted this.

There isn’t a song in Foo Fighters’ repertoire which accurately epitomises the band more than ‘My Hero’. It’s an anthem that embodies the group’s spirit and has sound tracked a portion of the most important moments in their history. Initially, when the track was launched by the Foos, fans assumed ‘My Hero’ was written about Kurt Cobain. However, Dave Grohl never wholly confirmed this rumour, despite having ample opportunities to do so. However, one Foo Fighters song which is definitely written about Cobain is ‘Friend of a Friend’, and includes the lyrics: “He plays an old guitar, With a coin found by the phone, It was his friend’s guitar, That he played”.
‘My Hero’ was the third single selected from The Colour and The Shape, and fans of the band immediately gravitated to the song. The ambiguity of the lyrics gives the track a universality that allows people to attribute their own meaning to words, which is the greatest strength of Grohl’s approach. However, the Cobain rumours have always persisted. After performing ‘My Hero’ on the Howard Stern show in 1999, the interviewer asked if the track was “loosely based on Kurt Cobain”. Pausing for a moment, Grohl uncomfortably replied: “Errr, it’s kinda more about heroes that are ordinary,” adding that he has always looked up to “regular people, more than up to… [celebrities]”. Furthermore, in 2008, following Republican nominee John McCain using the track in his presidential campaign without permission, the band once again revealed the true meaning behind ‘My Hero’. In a statement, they said: “The saddest thing about this is that ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential. To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”
According to Radio X, Grohl once said that “there’s definitely an element of Kurt in that song”, but meanings are fluid and change over time. While Cobain may have been one of the people running through Grohl’s mind when he wrote ‘My Hero’, 25 years later, it’s also about another fallen former bandmate. Although he didn’t play on the record, Taylor Hawkins joined Foo Fighters in 1997 and was the beating heart of ‘My Hero’ every time they performed the track live. Following Hawkins’ death, Foo Fighters invited his son, Shane, onto the stage to perform ‘My Hero’ during the tribute concert for his late father at Wembley Stadium, which redefined the meaning of the song. Following the show at Wembley, it’s hard to listen to ‘My Hero’ without the mind wandering to that tear-jerking moment when Shane paid tribute to his father. Like Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, which took on a new life in the face of tragedy following the Manchester Arena bombing, ‘My Hero’ is now a reminder of Taylor Hawkins and the positive energy he constantly radiated.