Writing a Song for My Uncle Who Survived Two Exocet Missiles — The Story Behind "Ordinary Hero"
Writing a Song for My Uncle Who Survived Two Exocet Missiles : The Story Behind “Ordinary Hero”
Writing music that carries genuine emotional weight is never a simple task. For independent artists and alternative rock fans who value authentic storytelling over mainstream pop formulas, songs are often born from moments that changed lives forever. When I set out to write “Ordinary Hero,” one of the tracks for The Buey Project, I knew I was stepping into territory that demanded absolute honesty, deep respect, and vulnerability.
This song is about my uncle. In 1982, during the Falklands War, he survived two Exocet missile strikes that hit and sank the Atlantic Conveyor : a massive merchant container ship taken up from trade to carry vital helicopters and supplies to the British Task Force. It is a story of sheer survival, terror, and the uncanny resilience of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary nightmares.
Translating someone else’s trauma into music, especially someone as close as family, brought a heavy sense of responsibility. I needed to do his story absolute justice.
From History Books to Personal Memory
For years, the harrowing events of that day lived as family lore and fragments of spoken memory. But the true scope of what happened was also captured in print. There is a remarkable book titled Ordinary Heroes: Untold Stories of the Falklands Campaign by Christopher Hilton. The book deliberately focuses on lower-rank personnel : sailors, marines, and privates rather than senior officers : capturing what it felt like to experience war from the sharp end. In that book, an entire chapter is dedicated to my uncle, detailing his firsthand account of the attack on the Atlantic Conveyor.
When I decided to write “Ordinary Hero,” I turned back to that chapter, immersing myself once again in his words. I combined those accounts with my own short experience in the Royal Navy. While my own time in service didn’t involve combat, it gave me a foundational understanding of naval life.
The challenge with “Ordinary Hero” was structural as well as emotional. I didn’t want it to follow a standard, predictable songwriting formula with neat verses and a catchy pop chorus. It needed to be theatrical and cinematic, echoing the terrifying escalation of events from an ordinary moment in the galley to complete chaos.
The Reality of the Attack: The Lyrics to “Ordinary Hero”
Writing the lyrics meant stripping away any metaphorical gloss and focusing purely on the sensory details of the disaster. Here is the lyric sheet for “Ordinary Hero”:
From Fort Austin to HMS Hermes
Onto Atlantic Conveyer
Our operation had begunEating scran in the galley
Anti-flash gear beside me
Air raid warning sounds around me
Enormous thud then shook the shipWhat the hell was happening
Gravy ended up in my pudding
I didn’t know then
But an Exocet had hitHit the deck
Hit the deck
They were crying
Bang another Exocet I hope Im dreaming
Containers popping like balloonsThe ship was dead in the water
With Gas masks on we were crawling
Fire-fighting seemed in vainThis is getting hotter faster
Abandon Ship came the order
Let’s get out together we had criedAre we gonna make it through the night
Are we gonna make it through the night
Into the ice cold water
Life-rafts and helicopters all around me
Helped the others that were breathing
while bodies were being pulled from the seaAre we gonna make it through the night
Are we gonna make it through the night
I guess I made it through the night
Capturing the Horror Through Sound and Storytelling
In independent music and alternative rock, honesty is everything. You cannot fake the emotion of a song like this. When you read about the Atlantic Conveyor, you read about strategic losses and supply chain failures for the military. But when you talk to the people who were there : or read their accounts in books like Ordinary Heroes : you realise war is experienced in micro-moments.
It starts with something mundane: eating scran in the galley, gravy spilling where it shouldn’t. Then comes the deafening thud, the realisation that an Exocet missile has torn through the hull, and the surreal nightmare of containers popping like balloons across the deck. As the ship died in the water, thick smoke forced crew members to crawl in gas masks while fire-fighting efforts became futile.
The music for this sequence required building tension through sparse instrumentation before opening up into heavy, atmospheric alternative rock arrangements that mirror the dread of abandoning ship into freezing South Atlantic waters. The transition from the claustrophobic darkness below deck to the terrifying vastness of the open ocean guided every sound.
Why Independent Music Matters
When listeners connect with our music, whether through YouTube or independent music communities, they are connecting with real human stories. “Ordinary Hero” stands as a testament to my uncle’s survival and to the resilience of everyone who lived through that dark chapter in 1982.
If you appreciate honest songwriting, alternative rock with narrative depth, and independent music that tells real stories, I invite you to follow The Buey Project on YouTube.