Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:07AM25 comments ›
Sat Oct 13, 2007 — by Martha Thomases
(We Could Be) Heroes: Top Ten Rock Songs About Superman, by Martha Thomases
Brilliant Disguise #26
What does one hum on the way to the comic book store? If you’re a person of a certain age, with a certain history with certain illegal substances, you probably have a few songs about the original super-hero stuck in the part of your brain that should be storing French vocabulary words.
Even if you aren’t old, you probably listen to a few songs about super-heroes. The Marvel superhero movies have had fantastic soundtracks, even if most of the songs weren’t written specifically for the movies. The Prince Batman soundtrack is a winner (Vicki Vale!), and the Ramones did a fabulous cover of the cartoon Spider-Man theme.
And yet, the Man of Tomorrow is still the foremost inspiration for popular songs. From the alt-folkie to Eminem, there are Superman songs. Alas, some of the more hard-core take a rather literal approach to the term, “super-man” and imagine all kinds of sexual possibilities that seem to have nothing to do with Truth, Justice and the American Way (nor Kryptonian physiology, nor anything human – entertaining, though).
Here is my choice for the Top Ten songs about Superman:
10. Superman – RuPaul
This is one of those songs that’s not really about Kal-El, the Last Son of Krypton. It’s a dance anthem. However, RuPaul looks like a superhuman, and she’s fierce!
9. Superman – Gaunt
The band, from Columbus, Ohio, is not named for our own John Gaunt of GrimJack fame, alas, but they do rock out. And the song is on an album titled “Kryptonite,” so they’ve got that going for them.
8. Superman – Five for Fighting
If you like your Superman emo, this is the song for you. You can buy it on several albums, including the soundtrack for Dawson’s Creek. That’s from the same network that gives us Smallville. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
7. O Superman – Laurie Anderson
Almost nothing to do with the comic book hero, but completely awesome. Also, this song was really popular in the late 1970s, when I was cool, and it makes me feel like I’m still cutting edge.
6. Superman’s Dead – Our Lady Peace
I may like this more than your average person, since I feel such a personal connection to the whole Death of Superman saga, and I’m tickled that someone wrote a song about it. This song captures an appropriate feeling of abandonment and rage.
5. Superman – Bush
Oh, Gavin Rossdale, cute guy! You won my heart long before Gwen Stefani looked at you. And you wrote angsty songs about the Man of Steel, back when you had a band. The song is nothing special, but I ranked it high because I totally heart him.
4. Superman Song – Crash Test Dummies
This was a hit around the time of Death of Superman, and I even persuaded Brad Roberts, the lead singer of Crash Test Dummies, to write something for the memorial issue of NewsTime.
3. Superman – REM
With a chorus, “I am Superman/And I can do anything,” this song has the exultant tone one would expect Superman to bring to any musical performance.
2. (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman – The Kinks
Don’t we all.
1. Sunshine Superman – Donovan
I love the percussive, syncopated beat. I love the trippy vocals. And most of all, I love that it mentions Green Lantern, too.
Martha Thomases, ComicMix’s Media Goddess, wishes Janet Richman the best of luck today when she takes her nursing exam.
Jump to comments (25) 
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Comments (25)
Rick Taylor (8:40 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
As usual, a great article. There were a few there I didn't even know about. RuPaul. Gotta love it!
Rick Taylor (9:06 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
BTW - There was also that Babs Streisand album 'Superman' with the same titile track. Like buttuh!
Martha Thomases (9:18 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
There are lots of other songs about Superman, but, like Barbra, they aren't rock'n'roll. Hence, they were omitted.
John Tebbel (9:21 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
Yeah, written by Paul Williams and bearing the notation that it was to be the theme or love theme from the motion picture "Superman." I guess that part of the deal fell through. Nice song though, much better than the "Can you read my mind" flapdoodle that ended up in the movie, though that was a good melody. Babs song was at least from the pov of the title character; everyone knows why Lois would love Superman, what we want to know is what he sees in mortals.
Howard Cruse (9:25 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
Well, it ain't a whole song on the supersubject, but don't forgot Jim Croce's warning ("You don't tug on Superman's cape...") in You Don't Mess Around With Jim.
Glenn Hauman (11:08 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
Which never really made sense to me. I agree with Peter David: if you tug on Superman's cape, it's disrespectful, but the worst that 's probably going to happen is he'll turn around and say "Don't do that, please." Now, if you tugged on Batman's cape, you'd get hurt.
Brian Alvey (9:42 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
Wild. I didn't know the REM song was a cover of a 1969 song by The Clique until today. I agree with the "don't tug on Superman's cape" comment.
And I would have put 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite on the list:
If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?
If I'm alive and well, will you be there holding my hand.
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might.
Kryptonite.
Glenn Hauman (11:02 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
What? No "Land of Confusion" by Genesis?
Oh Superman, where are you now; when everything's gone wrong somehow; The man of steel, man of power; and losing control by the hour...
Adriane Nash (2:12 PM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
How about "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" from The Spin Doctors Album 'Pocketful of Kryptonite"?
Eric Newsom (1:30 PM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
What about the Spin Doctor's "Jimmy Olsen's Blues"? Surely this one deserves credit for addressing more aspects of Superman's world than the other songs on the list?
Rick Taylor (4:15 PM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
...AND it's a rock song! (tee-hee)
Alex Jay Berman (12:27 AM on Sun Oct 14, 2007)
Lessee ...
There's "Superman" by Monte Montgomery, off his album Architect. Montgomery's well worth checking out; he's one of the best acoustic-electric guitarists out there, an a hell of a rock/blues/jazz/folk/etc. songwriter, as well. And the song rocks. RAWKS!
Also, Joe Giacoio--an acoustic singer-songwriter with a comedic bent whom you'll sometimes see at science fiction conventions--has a very good album called "Superman's Midlife Crisis" whose title track suggests a very different take on the question of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?"
On the rap side, I know both Eminem and Public Enemy recorded Supes-specific songs, with Eminem's just being called "Superman" while PE's is "Superman's Black in the Building".
It's not restricted to rock and rap, though--Benny Goodman had a hit with his "Superman", believe it or not.
Clapton has a song called "Superman Inside", while Johnny Guitar Watson has a song called "Superman Lover". Seems those two may be related ...?
... and I seem to remember hearing of a particularly filthy Latin rap ditty with the catchy title "The Lex Luthor of Sex" ...
(The thing is, we may be talking about the most well-known English speaker on the planet, so there's bound to be hundreds of songs about the guy.)
Rick Taylor (7:34 PM on Sun Oct 14, 2007)
There's a Herbie Mann album titled Superman, too
Joe in Philly (9:36 PM on Mon Oct 15, 2007)
Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on you, Martha! ;-) I've got to check out that Our Lady Peace track since it was the Death of Superman story that eventually got me into the comic book stores on a weekly basis. And the RuPaul track, well, because it's RuPaul.
Bob Kahan (7:31 AM on Thu Oct 18, 2007)
How about coming into the 21st Century with Flaming Lips "Waitin' for a Superman"?
Martha Thomases (9:02 AM on Thu Oct 18, 2007)
I hear you, Bob, but 1) I didn't like it that much and 2) I'm old.
Neil (11:58 AM on Fri Oct 19, 2007)
(If I remember correctly) Jim Valentino had loads of letters pages filled with super-hero songs in the original run of normalman. By the way, Ray Davies, the lead singer of the Kinks, has a new album. Working Man's Café, due out at the end of the month in Europe. I don't know when it will be coming out in the US. Check out http://kinks.it.rit.edu/ for loads of Kinks information.
Neil (11:59 AM on Fri Oct 19, 2007)
(If I remember correctly) Jim Valentino had loads of letters pages filled with super-hero songs in the original run of normalman. By the way, Ray Davies, the lead singer of the Kinks, has a new album. Working Man's Café, due out at the end of the month in Europe. I don't know when it will be coming out in the US. Check out Dave Emlen's site, http://kinks.it.rit.edu/, for loads of Kinks information.
Neil (12:00 PM on Fri Oct 19, 2007)
(If I remember correctly) Jim Valentino had loads of letters pages filled with super-hero songs in the original run of normalman. By the way, Ray Davies, the lead singer of the Kinks, has a new album. Working Man's Café, due out at the end of the month in Europe. I don't know when it will be coming out in the US. Check out Dave Emlen's site for loads of Kinks information. [Don't know why the whole thing doesn't post, but I'll remove the URL.]
Mike Gold (12:08 PM on Fri Oct 19, 2007)
Thanks, Neil. I'm a big Davies fan, and I'll be picking up his new record.
Neil (1:21 PM on Fri Oct 19, 2007)
At the moment it appears that cd-wow might be least expensive place from which to import the CD to the US.
Jess Nevins (8:37 AM on Sat Oct 13, 2007)
What, no "Waitin' for a Superman" by the Flaming Lips?
Rick Taylor (9:01 AM on Mon Oct 15, 2007)
Actually, the album was titled SuperMANN and there was a Superman track on it. :)