I was watching an episode of Chuck in which he was going off to a "suicide mission", and his girlfriend Sarah told him, "Don't be a hero." What she meant was she loved him and wanted him back alive. She did not want him to act so brave that ended up getting himself killed. That reminded me of an old question: were people who ended their own lives courageous or simply cowards? Wikipedia said it took guts (and means) for them to kill themselves, so who is to say they are cowards? If only they can channel their courage to something not as tragic ...
It happened to be that I was experimenting with "E Minor - C Major - D Minor" chord progression that night, with a melody that together sounded dark. I needed a chorus, and discovered it by accident when playing mindlessly. I realized it fitted perfectly with the question:
"If you have courage to die
Why don't you fight
To live?"
Hence the dark song "John Doe". John Doe is a nickname assigned to people with unknown identity, often deceased. The idea is that when we read about someone we do not know committing suicide, we want to ask that stranger, John Doe, the question above.
Back to Chuck, I like the idea that we do not have to be a hero to everyone, just to the ones we love. The rest of the time, it is okay to simply survive because there are folks who love us. Hence my favorite part of the lyrics:
“Be, be a coward
For the ones who love you
Be, be hero for
The one you love”
Oh, if you have not watched Chuck, you should! : )