Why The Libertines' Time For Heroes is a protest song...

13 January 2026, 17:12 | Updated: 13 January 2026, 17:33

Radio X delves into the story behind the band's iconic single as it turns 23 years old.

The Libertines' Time For Heroes is 23 years old today.

Following What a Waster, the second cut to be taken from the band's debut album Up The Bracket has long been considered one of The Libs' most-loved singles, both on the airwaves and live on the stage.

Remind yourself of the single here:

The Libertines - Time For Heroes (Official Video)

Unlike its profanity-ridden predecessor, Time For Heroes was a much better candidate for radio play, but that doesn't mean the song was any less gritty or hard-hitting, with its inspiration coming from a well-known riot attended by Pete Doherty himself.

We delve into the story behind Time For Heroes and why it's considered a protest song below...

Read more:

• What are The Libertines' biggest songs?
• The story of The Libertines' What a Waster

Is The Libertines' Time For Heroes a protest song?

Time For Heroes was released on 13th January 2003 and reached number 20 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single to come from the band's debut album is based on Pete Doherty's experiences of the London Mayday Riots of 2000, where he describes the chaos and police response.

Despite the four days of protest starting peacefully with acts of guerilla gardening, by 1st May, 2000 the anti-capitalist demonstrations had bubbled over into violence, which saw police clash with protesters with restaurants ransacked and reports of The Cenotaph and a statue of Winston Churchill being defaced. At the time, it was reported that about 95 people were arrested and nine police officers were injured. Then Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the protesters as an "absolute disgrace" and dismissed the protests as a "spurious cause," but Doherty had his own versions of events, which involved police retaliation as well as riotous behaviour from the public.

When put into context, the opening lyrics of the song are pretty self-explanatory, with Doherty conjuring up scenes of young hipsters being "shoveled up" by the police while others "set the night on fire," but what do bleeding Wombles have to do with anything?

According to Doherty, who communicated on a Libertines web forum at the time: "The ‘Wombles’ were a revolutionary sect from the era of the Mayday riots in the year 2000. They were rioters who all dressed up like Wombles from the TV series, including tinfoil shields and wobbly truncheons, mimicking the riot police. There were about 12 of them, but they had many enthusiastic disciples."

While the song's lyrics - which are also credited to Carl Barât - could appear more of an observational springboard for a catchy indie song, by Time For Heroes final verse it seems to make its message clear.

The duos imagery of an "Englishman in a baseball cap" could well be seen as a comment on the rise of capitalism, while the lyric "we'll die in the class we were born" is no doubt a statement on social mobility or lack thereof.

Knowing a 23-year-old Pete Doherty and his penchant for being at important cultural events (see teenage Pete queuing outside HMV for the release of Oasis album Be Here Now), it isn't really surprising to think he was in amongst the crowd when things kicked off on 1st May 2000.

Over two decades later and the May Day riots seem almost tame in comparison to some of our recent history, but thanks to Doherty and Barât among others, its story lives on...

With its visceral scenes of violence set against class commentary, Time For Heroes captured a pivotal moment in the country... and indeed in the story of the band.

The Libertines on nearly joining the Army!

Read more:

• The best Libertines lyrics
• How did The Libertines come up with their name?
• REVIEW: The Libertines bring On The Beach Brighton to a triumphant close