My Hero, Zero

Zero?
Yeah, zero is a wonderful thing. In fact, Zero is my hero!
How can zero be a hero?
Well, there are all kinds of heroes, you know
A man can get to be a hero for a famous battle he fought
Or by studying very hard and becoming a weightless astronaut
And then there are heroes of other sorts
Like the heroes we know from watching sports
But a hero doesn't have to be a grown up person, you know
A hero can be a very big dog who comes to your rescue
Or a very little boy who's smart enough to know what to do
But let me tell you about my favorite hero

My hero, Zero, such a funny little hero
But 'til you came along, we counted on our fingers and toes

Now, you're here to stay, and nobody really knows
How wonderful you are, why we could never reach a star
Without you, Zero, my hero, how wonderful you are

What's so wonderful about a zero? It's nothing, isn't it?
Sure, it represents nothing alone

But place a zero after one, and you've got yourself a ten
See how important that is?
When you run out of digits, you can start all over again
See how convenient that is?
That's why with only ten digits including zero
You can count as high as you could ever go
Forever, towards infinity
No one ever gets there, but you could try

With ten billion zeros, from the cavemen until the heroes
Who invented you, they counted on their fingers and toes
And maybe some sticks and stones (or rocks and bones)
And their neighbors' toes

You're here, and nobody really knows
How wonderful you are, why we could never reach the star
Without you, Zero, my hero, Zero, how wonderful you are

Place one zero after any number
And you've multiplied that number by ten
See how easy that is?
Place two zeros after any number
And you've multiplied that number by one hundred
See how simple that is?
Place three zeros after any number
And you've multiplied that number by one thousand

Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad astra, forever and ever
With Zero, my hero, how wonderful you are