Kelly's Heroes

Album: It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (1995)
Charted: 17
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Black Grape were an English rock band formed in 1993 by vocalist Shaun Ryder and dancer Bez, formerly of Happy Mondays. They recruited rapper Kermit and drummer Ged Lynch of the Manchester-based group The Ruthless Rap Assassins, plus guitarist Wags from The Paris Angels and American producer/multi-instrumentalist Danny Saber. This was the third single from their debut album, It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah, which was a critical and commercial success, topping the UK album chart in August 1995. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich listed it as his favorite CD of 1996.
  • This song lampoons society's obsession with celebrities. Ironically, Shaun Ryder became a national celebrity in 2010 after becoming the runner-up in the British TV Show, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He told Q magazine in a 2011 interview: "With Kelly's Heroes I was writing about the worship of celebrities and what a dangerous and disappointing thing hero worship can be. That makes me laugh now. Fifteen years later and look at the culture we've got. Celebrities on every street corner and in every f--kin' jungle."
  • Ryder's lyrics were derived mainly from nonsense rhymes and humorous catch phrases. This song title was borrowed from 1970 war film, Kelly's Heroes about a group of World War II soldiers who go AWOL to rob a bank behind enemy lines.
  • Ryder changed the opening lyric from, "Don't talk to me about heroes - Most of these guys snort cocaine," to the less controversial, "Don't talk to me about heroes - most of these men sing like serfs," shortly before recording the song.
  • Black Grape's Shaun Ryder and Kermit revealed to NME that this was originally a rap track, inspired by Wu-Tang Clan, full of "hip-hop grooves." However, once they delivered the demo to their label it was decided the vibe needed to be changed. The management felt the band needed more of a "domestic rock" sound so they could break America.

Comments: 2

  • Brian Foley from TasmaniaHe does not sing 'Most of these men sing like surfs', Its 'Most of these men sink like subs'.
  • Brian Foley from Auckland, New ZealandHe does not sing 'Most of these men sing like surfs', Its 'Most of these men sink like subs'.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.

Female Singers Of The 90s

Female Singers Of The 90sMusic Quiz

The ladies who ruled the '90s in this quiz.