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?

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?"