O Superman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| ""O Superman"" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Laurie Anderson | ||
| from the album Big Science | ||
| Released | 1981 | |
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |
| Recorded | 1981 | |
| Genre | Avant garde | |
| Length | 8:21 | |
| Label | Warner Bros. Records | |
| Writer(s) | Laurie Anderson | |
| Producer(s) | Laurie Anderson | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Laurie Anderson singles chronology | ||
| "O Superman" (1981) |
"Sharkey's Day" (1984) |
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"O Superman (For Massenet)" is a 1981 song by experimental performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Part of the larger work United States, "O Superman," a half-sung, half-spoken, almost minimalist piece unexpectedly rose to #2 on UK music charts in 1981. Much of Anderson's fame can be traced, directly or indirectly, to this song. The song itself was first brought to the attention of the British public by the DJ John Peel.
Anderson constructed the song as a cover of the aria "O Souverain" from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera Le Cid. She got the idea after listening to a recording of the aria made by African-American tenor Charles Holland, whose career was hampered for decades by racism in the classical music world. The first lines ("O Superman / O Judge / O Mom and Dad") especially echo the original aria. (Susan McClary suggests in her book Feminine Endings that Anderson is also recalling another opera by Massenet; his 1902 opera, Le Jongleur de Notre Dame. The opera is one in which the arms of the mother—the Virgin Mary—embrace/bless the dying Rodrigo. In this way, it may not have been simply a "cover" of the Le Cid aria.)
Overlaid on a sparse background of two alternating chords formed by the repeated spoken syllable "Ha," the text of "O Superman" is spoken through a vocoder. There is the use of a saxophone as the song fades out, and the sample of almost utopian tweeting birds is subtly overlaid at various points within the track.
As part of the larger work United States, the text addresses issues of technology and communication, quoting at various points answering machine messages and (what is falsely perceived to be) the United States Postal Service creed.
All of this is in the context of an attack by American planes and arms. Several times, including in an interview with the Australian magazine Bulletin (22 January 2003), Anderson has claimed that the song is connected to Iran-Contra affair occurring when she wrote it. [1]. However, because the song was released in 1981 and the first public reporting of the weapons-for-hostages deal happened on November 3, 1986, this could not be true. It is also possible that Anderson simply used the wrong term for the original Iran hostage crisis which took place in 1979-1980, a time frame which does more closely fit Anderson's description.
"O Superman" did not appeal to all listeners. According to the 1982 book The Rock Lists Album, compiled by John Tobler and Alan Jones, polls conducted by several unidentified British newspapers saw "O Superman" voted readers' least favorite hit single of 1981.
First released as a single by B. George's One Ten Records, the song's popularity led to Anderson signing a distribution contract with Warner Brothers, who went on to release Anderson's album Big Science in 1982; the album included "O Superman" and Warner also reissued the single. A live version of the song also appears in Anderson's 4-disc box set United States Live (1984). The song was also covered by David Bowie during his 1997 tour for the album Earthling and is featured in a sketch on the Swedish TV show NileCity 105,6 first aired in 1995, then mimed by a stuffed Garfield toy animal.
Although Anderson had, almost two decades before, dropped the song from her performance repertoire, she revived the piece in 2001 during a concert tour that included a retrospective look at some of her older pieces, an idea conceived by her companion, Lou Reed. A live performance of "O Superman" was recorded in New York City the week following the 9/11 attacks. In this context, certain lyrics appeared to many to take on a more topical significance: "This is the hand, the hand that takes / Here come the planes / They're American planes. Made in America / Smoking or non-smoking?" The 2001 live performance appears on Anderson's 2002 album Live in New York.
The B-side of the original single was an eccentric spoken word piece called "Walk the Dog", which would also be performed in a live version on the United States Live album. Unlike "O Superman", this studio version of the track has never been issued on any album.
The Canadian hip hop group Brassmunk sampled "O Superman" in their 2002 single "O Supaman".
The German progressive trance group M.A.N.D.Y created a mix in 2005 of Anderson's piece, entitled "Oh Superman" (note spelling), in two versions.[2]
