
"Holding Out for a Hero" is a song by Bonnie Tyler that was originally released in 1984 and appears on her Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire album. Written by Jim Steinman and Dean Pitchford, it hit #2 on the UK charts in 1985 (and #69 in 1991) and #34 on the US charts on initial release.
The song originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film Footloose and was the theme to the CBS show Cover Up. The song has continued to appear in films such as Short Circuit 2, Who's Harry Crumb?, Bandits (along with Total Eclipse of the Heart), and Shrek 2, where it was performed separately by both Frou Frou and Jennifer Saunders. It was also used in the background of a famous scene in the 1984 episode of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, where anti-hero Bo Brady races to stop the love of his life, Hope Williams, from marrying the despicable Larry Welch.
It has been covered by a number of artists, including Emery, Graveworm and, as mentioned, Frou Frou and Jennifer Saunders on the Shrek 2 soundtrack. It was also featured on the pilot episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in the famous "costume making marathon" scene.
More recently, the song featured as the 2007 Surf Life Saving Australia Mardi Gras float's theme song in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.
Where have all good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where’s the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There’s someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It’s gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
Up Where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there’s someone somewhere
Watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like a fire in my blood
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night
He’s gotta be strong
And he’s gotta be fast
And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light
He’s gotta be sure
And it’s gotta be soon
And he’s gotta be larger than life
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