The first time I heard this song was in a show in honor of Jay Ilagan who had died in motorcycle accident. Going Bananas members Christopher De Leon, Edgar Mortiz, and Johnny Delgado were singing it; and what made it more touching was that they cried while.

But is this song really meant for the dead? If it were, it seems that the person who died is the one who is singing it. Doesn’t make sense does it.

It makes more sense that the song was meant for a love triangle. Certainly not the easiest and simplest of situations, the person who does the singing has decided to call it quits. He or she has been a dear friend, and yet as the story goes, they will only be just friends. The object of affection apparently has apparently made a choice that will make rain, leaving no choice for the friend but to follow the sun.

That's life.

I love this soundtrack of Spider-man I. It has a nice tune, and at least from the title it was a perfect fit to one of the best big screen adaptations of a comic book hero.

Reading the lyrics however is confusing. There is this line “Watch as we all fly away”. At first glance it sounded like a man on a retreat; it reminds you of cowardice and fear, something that is never the trait of heroes.

I was reading it over and over and I thought this can’t be right.

But then I remembered one interview of Stan Lee I saw in the Discovery channel. He was one of many speakers in a feature about popular comic book heroes. Stan Lee was one of the speakers (the main one I think) in Spider-man.

The webslinger, Stan Lee said, is different from the rest because he never wanted the responsibility. Superman was born super, and Batman trained his life for revenge. Peter Parker is just struggling to pass school and get the eye of Mary Jane.

Remember the famous line, “with great power comes great responsibility”? To us it sounds like an advice or a sermon, that if we may find ourselves with power or in the advantage, we have the responsibility to share and care for others. For Spiderman, however, it is a [painful] reminder not to be irresponsible so that no one may experience what he had gone through with Uncle Ben.

So if we go by Stan Lee’s rationale of the Spider-man, the theme song Hero works in a way like reverse psychology. People crave for heroes, people pray for heroes, but no one wants to step forward. The song does not advocate heroism but points out the lack of volunteers. Spider-man does not want to step forward either, in fact he called his powers “a curse”... yet he tries. That’s all we can hope for I think, someone who will step forward.

Why wait for a hero when it is us?

Life is about change.

Friends and loved ones come and go. . . . and they may come back again. Same is true with places, events, things; they come and go and come back again. But even if fate pushes you back within the eyesight of an old friend, or gives you a plane ticket to the happiest place you have ever been on earth; sometimes there is that feeling that nothing is the same. Everything has changed.

It is always sad to see the good times go by, and heaven knows how much my heart broke after a loved one has passed on. In these situations the advice often repeated to me is, ‘that is life’. Win or lose, nothing ever remains the same.

In My Life is the perfect song in honor of past friends, love ones, and events. Hearing it always places my mind on instant rewind. I begin to see my parents, my highschool barkada and what the lyrics imply as the special someone. “In my life I love you more”.

The song’s message is a tribute to every loved one and every friend, however long we may be together, what matters most is that we came to be friends. Life’s color comes from loving friends.

So here’s to old friends and new – plus those I have not met – the Beatles hit, In My Life.

The biggest irony of this song is that it became a perfect fit for a story about immortals in the movie Highlander.

Immortality. The impossible dream. From sorcerers to modern doctors, everyone has aimed for a longer life. But who would really want such a thing, as the song says. Who would want forever?

In Highlander, the song "Who wants to live forever" was played in a scene where Connor MacLeod had – perhaps – his longest period of peace; living with Heather in the Scottish Highlands. My favorite part was the shot of Heather old and gray, with Connor smiling and still looking like the day they first met.

The background music went on:

"Who dares to love forever?
When love must die"

Who indeed would want forever; when all you need is to have meaning; to feel love; and have a legacy.

"Forever is our today
Who waits forever anyway?"