Songs About Super-Heroes!

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

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As people have often noted, discussion on this site frequently drifts away from comics and into the realm of music.

This is understandable, as, like comics, music is a thing which often appeals most strongly to us in our youth.

However, there is a way to marry the two topics.

And that's to contemplate songs that are actually about comics. Especially comics that involve super-heroes.

Super-heroes. They're so great, who wouldn't want to sing about them?

Based on experience, 99% of artists, ever.

However, there are, thank God, exceptions.

Though, granted, I'm struggling to think of them.

The Beatles' Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill does, of course, mention Captain Marvel, while Mansun's 1997 LP Attack of the Grey Lantern is clearly inspired by the Green Lantern but doesn't feature any songs on it that are actually called Attack of the Grey Lantern. XTC had a hit, in 1981, with Sgt Rock (Is Going to Help Me) but, the last I heard, Sgt Rock isn't a super-hero.

However, of the few super-hero based songs I can actually think of, three stand out as my favourites.

They are:

O Superman by Laurie Anderson.

If 1981 made us despair at the tastes of the UK record-buying public, thanks to Joe Dolce beating Ultravox to the Number One spot, the year made amends, big-style, when O Superman also nearly hit Number One. Although finally stalling at Number Two, that was a near miracle, seeing as it's eight-and-a-half minutes long and is a big wodge of cryptic Vocoderiness over heavy breathing.

It's also great; completely hypnotic, hinting at a near-future that is cold, sterile and devoid of human contact and emotions. Not only did it seem extraordinary back then but has come to seem even more so with the passage of time, especially with claims, from some quarters, that its lyrics somehow predicted the events of 911.

Superman by the Stereophonics.

This stands out because I hate the Stereophonics and their brand of "Rock" that rarely seems to involve raising the tempo above dawdling pace.

However, this one's more than acceptable to me because, taut, lean, scathing and contemptuous, it sounds nothing like the Stereophonics, to such a degree that it's hard to imagine how it ever came to exist.

Magneto and Titanium Man by Paul McCartney and Wings.

It's a track which has had more than one mention on this blog, over the years, mostly thanks to its big fat bouncy bassline and razor-sharp guitar work. I still don't quite understand what the story it's telling is actually trying to say to me but who cares? It's a song about three Marvel master criminals, and that's good enough for me.

So, those are my nominations for great songs inspired by super-heroes. If you have any, make sure to mention them below.

Then again, you can also mention ones that aren't great or that you hate or that you've forgotten about or that you've never even heard of. You might want to tell me my selections are total cobblers. It's all entirely up to you.