This is a story
Of love and compassion
Only heroes can tell
Whenever this song is playing, it's the best song in the world. Unfortunately, it can't be playing all the time, and I'm just a little hesitant to press play sometimes--blame the fact that it go so much play from me this year (which should hardly be something a song is penalized for, but I've yet to figure out a way beyond my excitement about a song to measure where it belongs here)--which makes me feel like I can't honestly put it at the top of this list. Almost a year on, though, "Hero" remains exhilarating. It does bear resemblance to "Cara Mia," another Fredrik Kempe-penned Melodifestival song, but there's something even more triumphant about "Hero," something that all these months on gets me all worked up about the middle 8 and the twirling camera, three part point, and key change--oh, that key change, and oh, can Charlotte sing--that accompanied it. Charlotte made being iconic look easy. I'm not sure if I had a better music-related experience this year than being surrounded by a bunch of people jumping around and going crazy while Charlotte performed this song at the Globe during the Melodifestival final. Being surrounded by people whose passion for music you love equals yours, especially when it's a type of pop we never get here in the U.S.: priceless. There may be a Melodifestival song and a Eurovision song ahead of it in this countdown, but "Hero" deserved to win both contests.Find it on: Hero
