Nobody's Hero

One of Peart's most compassionate and progressive lyrics. The first verse is about a gay friend who died of AIDS — inspired by a real person named Ellis whom Peart befriended while working as a young man. The second verse describes a young woman murdered in a random act of violence. Both were ordinary people whose quiet dignity made them heroes in the narrator's eyes.

The orchestration by Michael Kamen (who scored films like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon) adds a cinematic gravity to the arrangement. It's a rare moment of orchestral grandeur on an otherwise raw, guitar-heavy album, and the contrast makes the emotional impact even stronger.

"Nobody's Hero" was released as a single and was notable for being one of the first major rock songs to address the AIDS crisis and gay identity with empathy and respect. Peart later wrote that Ellis helped set a lifelong pattern of appreciation rather than mere tolerance.