You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 54.174.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪JJMC89‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 05:35, 2 May 2025.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪Jon Kolbert‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 18:27, 12 November 2023
- Expiry of block: 18:27, 12 November 2028
Your current IP address is 54.174.96.79. The blocked range is 54.174.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Infobox song
| name     = Hero of War
| cover    = File:Hero Of War picture.jpeg
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [[Rise Against]]
| album    = [[Appeal to Reason (album)|Appeal to Reason]]
| released = May 20, 2009
| recorded =
| studio   = [[The Blasting Room]], [[Fort Collins, Colorado]]
| venue    =
| genre    = [[Acoustic music|Acoustic]]
| length   = 4:13
| label    = ((Flatlist|
* [[DGC Records|DGC]]
* [[Interscope Records|Interscope]]))
| writer   = Rise Against
| producer = ((Flatlist|
* [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]]
* Jason Livermore))
))

"'''Hero of War'''" is a 2008 song by [[Rise Against]] from the album ''[[Appeal to Reason (album)|Appeal to Reason]]''. The song was mistaken to be the album's third single, after a music video of the song was released on the band's [[Myspace]] on May 20, 2009. However, it was later revealed it was just a promotional video and "[[Savior (Rise Against song)|Savior]]" is in fact, the third single.

==Recording==
Lead vocalist [[Tim McIlrath]] wrote the music and lyrics for "Hero of War" during the recording sessions of Rise Against's fifth album ''[[Appeal to Reason (album)|Appeal to Reason]]''. Toward the completion of ''Appeal to Reason'', McIlrath thought to include an acoustic song he had written earlier in the sessions, but was not sure if it would fit with the rest of the hardcore music on the album. He told producer [[Bill Stevenson (musician)|Bill Stevenson]] about a possible acoustic song he had written from the perspective of a war veteran. By coincidence, Stevenson had just thought about writing an anti-war song, and after listening to the acoustic song, he convinced McIlrath to include it on the album.<ref name="The Red Alert">((cite web|last=McKibbin|first=Adam|url=http://www.theredalert.com/features/riseagainst2.php|title=Rise Against: A Conversation with Tim McIlrath|publisher=The Red Alert|date=October 2008|accessdate=October 19, 2017|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130105030222/http://www.theredalert.com/features/riseagainst2.php|archivedate=January 5, 2013|url-status=dead))</ref>

==Song meaning==
The song starts out with an army recruiter asking the protagonist, a potential recruit, to enlist. With promises of adventure and money, he does indeed sign up. At the end of the song, the protagonist, now a veteran, recalls with bitter irony the army recruiter's promise that signing up would mean he could "see the world".
    
The protagonist sees how destructive wars are, including the destruction of his own moral scruples, as the protagonist is convinced, after initially protesting, to join in and participate in the torture of a prisoner. The soldier repeatedly declares his loyalty and trust in his country's flag, but after killing a woman who he later learns was carrying a [[white flag]], he changes his mind about his former flag-waving patriotism, instead putting his trust now in the white flag. Near the end, the veteran reacts with revulsion to those who see him as "A hero of war, is that what they see? Just medals and scars, so damn proud of me." Tim says he was expressing sarcasm because many people treat soldiers like heroes, even though many don't feel like heroes.

[[Tim McIlrath]] wrote this song due to the violence in the war, but also for the troops that serve overseas protecting their respective countries.

==Music video==
A music video was made for the song, although it wasn't released as a single from the album, and thus the song was mistaken to be the album's third single. The music video was released on May 20, 2009, on the band's [[Myspace]] page.

The video fades between lead singer [[Tim McIlrath]] sitting and singing the song while playing the acoustic guitar, and shots of soldiers in war.  Among these are clips of a visibly distressed soldier. The video ends with the soldier walking down a street, bare-chested, with paint on his face, while sirens go off in the background, implying he had descended into violence due to [[PTSD]] while in normal society.

==Personnel==
* [[Tim McIlrath]] – [[lead vocals]], [[Acoustic guitar]]

==Charts==
((col-start))
((col-2))

===Weekly charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2009–2010)
! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position
|-
((single chart|Sweden|4|artist=Rise Against|song=Hero of War|rowheader=true|accessdate=November 22, 2021))
|}
((col-2))

===Year-end charts===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2010)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>((cite web|url=https://www.sverigetopplistan.se/chart/43?dspy=2010&dspp=1|title=Årslista Singlar – År 2010|publisher=Sverigetopplistan|language=sv|accessdate=November 22, 2021))</ref>
| 45
|}
((col-end))

==Certifications==
((Certification Table Top))
((Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Rise Against|title=Hero of War|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=2008|certyear=2023|accessdate=August 15, 2023))
((Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=yes|noshipments=yes))

==See also==
* [[List of anti-war songs]]

== References ==
((reflist))

((Rise Against))

((authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Hero Of War))
[[Category:Rise Against songs]]
[[Category:2008 songs]]
[[Category:Anti-war songs]]
[[Category:Songs about the military]]
[[Category:Songs about soldiers]]
[[Category:Songs written by Tim McIlrath]]
[[Category:Songs written by Zach Blair]]
[[Category:Songs written by Joe Principe]]
[[Category:Songs written by Brandon Barnes]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Hero of War (edit)
Template:' (view source) (protected)
Template:Apostrophe (view source) (protected)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Both (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Cite/URL (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Cite Ref (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Bottom (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry/Foot (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry/Foot/helper (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry/Region (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry/Sales (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Certification Table Entry/Sales/GermanPeriod (view source) (extended confirmed protected)
Template:Certification Table Top (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite certification (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Col-2 (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-begin (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-begin/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-break (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-end (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Col-start (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Double-dagger (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Flatlist (view source) (protected)
Template:Has short description (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox musical artist/hCard class (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox song (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox song/color (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox song/link (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Navbox musical artist (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox musical artist/color (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Plainlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Rise Against (edit)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Single chart (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Single chart/chartnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:Trim (view source) (protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Duration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:GetParameters (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hms (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Icon/data (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Is infobox in lead (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Plain text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:String2 (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:WLink (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Hero of War.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_of_War"