Yesterday marked 10 years since the death of David Bowie. While his 1977 song “Heroes” recently reached the younger generation through the series finale of Stranger Things, it is perhaps a little less known that the track was part of a unique linguistic experiment.

The British icon recorded the song in English, German (“Helden”), and French (“Héros”), altering the lyrics to reflect the specific political and emotional climates of each culture. Noel Wolf, a linguistic expert from the language platform Babbel, said that Bowie avoided the literal approach to translation. Reflecting on the German version, she told the Express: “Bowie translated the emotions, or localised the emotions, which means he took cultural knowledge of, in this case, Germany, because he wrote the song in Germany. He was living in Germany at the time in divided Berlin and reflected that in the song.” 

Bowie recorded “Heroes” at Hansa Studios in West Berlin, where he was living at the time. The studio was so close to the Berlin Wall that East German guards in watchtowers could see directly into the studio windows.

The song’s theme was inspired by Bowie looking out of those windows and seeing his producer, Tony Visconti, secretly kissing the singer Antonia Maass near the concrete barrier. This moment turned the track into a symbol of human connection against the backdrop of ideological division.

The German rendition is infused with “uncertainty and doubt” typical of 1977 Berlin. In English, Bowie sings the definitive “nothing will drive them (the heroes) away”. In German, he uses the verb scheinen (to seem), singing that the lovers only “seem” undefeatable (obwohl sie unschlagbar scheinen). “The German version contains this doubt because of the uncertainty Germany was living through,” Wolf said.

She also described how, during the Cold War, the word heroes meant something different in each culture. While the English word represented individualism and the early stages of the “American Dream”, the German word “Helden” carried a more difficult meaning.

At the time of the recording, heroism was defined by the opposing ideologies of a divided Germany. In the communist East, being a hero often meant not resisting, following the lead, and not sticking out. The West viewed heroism through the lens of everyday courage and social responsibility, and in the fight for freedom. Wolf thinks that by singing in German, Bowie was navigating these two contradictory definitions of the word.

When asked whether the song was more important to the Germans than to Brits, Wolf agreed, as Bowie was “inspired by this German historical moment in history”. 

She said: “It was inspired by a couple kissing by the Berlin Wall. He wrote in English. It’s his native language. But then maybe he noticed it fits the Germans more.”

The French version of the song has attracted more criticism and, despite the beauty of the language, sounds a bit heavier. “To my knowledge, Bowie didn’t have the same connection to French or to France as a country as to Germany,” Wolf said. 

The French speaker added: “When I look at the lyrics, they are much closer to the English version than the German version is.

“When I listen to the song, I think it sounds very melancholic, romantic almost, which might be due to the nature of the French language. You could also say that the meaning of heroism in France might be more romantic because of the French Revolution.”