Heroes and Friends
Encyclopedia
"Heroes and Friends" is the title of a song co-written by recorded by American
country music
artist Randy Travis
. It was written with Don Schlitz
. It was the second and final single released from his album of duets, Heroes & Friends and his only song on the album that was not a duet. The song opens and closes the album. "Heroes and Friends" peaked at #3 on the Billboard
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and reached #1 (his fourteenth #1) on the Canadian RPM
country Tracks chart.
one night and for some reason or other I thought of a way to write the song. I started the first verse and wrote a few lines before I had to quit to do the show. I stuck it in my pocket and actually forgot about it until I got back to Nashville and Don Schlitz and I sat down and finished it."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
artist Randy Travis
Randy Travis
Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...
. It was written with Don Schlitz
Don Schlitz
Donald Alan "Don" Schlitz, Jr. is a country music songwriter. For his songwriting efforts, Schlitz has earned two Grammys, as well as four ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year awards...
. It was the second and final single released from his album of duets, Heroes & Friends and his only song on the album that was not a duet. The song opens and closes the album. "Heroes and Friends" peaked at #3 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and reached #1 (his fourteenth #1) on the Canadian RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
country Tracks chart.
Background and writing
Travis recalled the beginnings of the song on his website: "Lib (Travis' Wife and manager Elizabeth "Lib" Hatcher) came up with that title for the duets album, and I thought it would make a wonderful song title. I was sitting backstage in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
one night and for some reason or other I thought of a way to write the song. I started the first verse and wrote a few lines before I had to quit to do the show. I stuck it in my pocket and actually forgot about it until I got back to Nashville and Don Schlitz and I sat down and finished it."
Content
This song sets the theme for the rest of the album. The narrator tells us that the two things that we can depend on forever are our heroes and our friends. A reprise of the song closes the album with the chorus being sung by everyone who sung on the album with Travis.Chart performance
This song spent two consecutive weeks at #1 on the RPM country Tracks chart beginning April 20, 1991.| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 3 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |