Holding Out for a Hero
Also see Song Re-use.
Holding Out for a Hero is a song originally sung by Bonnie Tyler. It was released in 1984 and instantly became a vidding favorite. In 2004, a cover of the song by the band Frou Frou was featured in the closing credits for Shrek 2. This version of the song is also popular with vidders.
At some point in virtually every fandom's history, someone has made a vid to some version of this song—even in fandoms that didn't exist when it was originally released. Fandoms where one or more of the characters is a "larger than life" heroic figure are particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon.
Other early songs that were vidded to death were "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Desperado", but unlike "Holding Out for a Hero," those songs didn't lend themselves to ironic recasting, and after they were identified as horribly over-used, they gradually stopped being vidded.
In 2020, a parody of the song called "I need a himbo" was made by Chi-chi with lyrics by ajlenoire and Kiwi. The music video showed a sequence of himbo examples from a multitude of animated shows. [1][2]
Examples by Fandom
- Lord of the Rings
- Hercules: Mary Crawford's version (using Jennifer Saunders' cover of the song) DW announcement post
- Star Wars: azonia's version (using Frou Frou's cover of the song) [4]
- multifandom: Katheryn/tallulah71's version (female heroes)[5]
- multifandom: Holding Out for a Hero
- Stargate SG-1: version by Vid Weasels
- Starsky & Hutch: version by LoriG
- Babylon 5 version?
- Star Trek YouTube by Mary Van Deusen
- Blakes 7 YouTube by Mary Van Deusen
- Indiana Jones YouTube by Paul Kosinski
Examples on Youtube
- CSI: Holding Out For A Hero by AlysonKaitlyn
- King Arthur: King Arthur- Holding out for a hero by nefariousinfallible
- Kingdom Hearts: Kingdom Hearts AMV-Holding Out For A Hero (Frou Frou version) by xXInoxShikaXx
- Lord of the Rings: Legolas- I Need A Hero by EvenstarEllessar
- Multifandom, superheroes: Holding Out For A Hero : A Superheroes Music Video by spaceghost777
- Numb3rs: Holding Out for a Hero: Don Eppes by sparrowssavvygirl
- Robin of Sherwood: Holding Out For A Hero by Swannie71
- Supernatural/Veronica Mars crossover: holding out for a hero(dean/veronica), (Frou Frou version) a constructed reality vid by fadingspark/electricxtears [6]
- Star Trek: Holding Out for a Hero by Mary Van Deusen
- Blakes 7: Holding Out for a Hero by Mary Van Deusen
- Indiana Jones: Holding Out for a Hero by Paul Kosinski
References
- ^ Tweet by ChichiAi, posted June 22, 2020.
- ^ I NEED A HIMBO, Tumblr, posted December 27, 2019.
- ^ MediaWest*25 Playlist email to vidder Yahoo!Groups list dated June 4, 2005. Accessed November 19, 2008.
- ^ Wayback Machine, Star Wars Music Videos Accessed November 25, 2008
- ^ Katheryn, Fascination Street. Last accessed November 25, 2008
- ^ electricxtears, A Year Of Videos Posted December 31, 2007. Accessed November 25, 2008.