O Superman, Laurie Anderson
O Superman by artist Laurie Anderson from 1981. Some of the lyrics:
‘Cause when love is gone
There’s always justice
And when justice is gone
There’s always force
And when force is gone
There’s always Mom
Hi, MomSo hold me, Mom
In your long arms
So hold me, Mom
In your long arms
In your automatic arms
Your electronic arms
In your arms
So hold me, Mom
In your long arms
Your petrochemical arms
Your military arms
In your electronic arms
Ah, ah, ah, ah
60 Minutes did a profile of Anderson a few years ago and she explained the meaning of the song (to her):
This is a song about how basically technology cannot save you. It’s about a lot of things: justice, safety, power.
As a kid growing up in rural Wisconsin, this kind of music wasn’t available to me, so I only actually heard this for the first time fairly recently. So I thought I’d post it in case you hadn’t really heard it either — that and the message & meaning it carries is relevant these days.
I also liked this rendition of it, slowed down and reverbed. There are also several O Superman remixes on Soundcloud of varying quality.
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If you ever get the chance to see her perform live, take it.
I think she's number one on my live wish list right now. She has some live shows on Youtube that are outstanding, particularly Waiting for the Barbarians. I also love her live album that came out earlier this year.
Oh, Superman and the Big Science album were on repeat play at home when I was a teenager. My dad first heard it while driving to his father's funeral in Cornwall, England and immediately bought the CD when he got back to Oregon. The whole album is so profound yet playful and clever at the same time. Laurie Anderson is a treasure.
I didn't listen to this as a kid, but jumping in to say the whole album is great. We have been big lately on listening to albums instead of just songs, and it really sets a vibe.
Still has the same effect on me it did back then... weird and uncomfortable but also kind of a bop and funny and truthful too.
I find that it's excellent music for airports.
I think there's better music for airports, if you want it.
There are places in Cornwall where you wouldn't want to say 'Cornwall, England'...
"If you think technology is going to solve your problems, you don't understand technology and you don’t understand your problems."
You need to see Home of the Brave: one of the two greatest concert movies ever made.
Agreed, and I'm going to guess that the other one is Stop Making Sense...?
Inevitably yes.
Home of the Brave seems to be almost entirely unavailable, which is a travesty.
Tim speaks the truth, "Home of the Brave" is worth a look. How to even describe it, it's an oddball and witty not-concert about language and, radar?
Here's my favorite minute from the movie: White Lily.
As an Australian kid growing up in the 80s and 90s, I spent many Friday and Saturday nights watching Rage on our national broadcaster, ABC TV: an all-night block of non-stop music videos which finished in the morning with the current top 50 pop chart. Late at night however, guest programmers would make more esoteric choices. I first encountered ‘O Superman’ on one of those nights, and I’ll always associate the song and the video with watching a CRT screen in a darkened room, alone, at 3am.
I was lucky and heard this when I was a kid, maybe a year or two after it was released. Instant and eternal love for Laurie!
A boy brought his parents’ copy to school the year it came out, played it for me and a couple other friends, and declared that he had the stupidest parents of all time. I secretly loved it, and saved my own money to buy a copy.
I'm trying to listen to more music, so this spring I took Music 100 at the local university. That class is no longer "introduction to Western Music" but it still kind of is. Anyway, this was the biggest revelation on the syllabus (besides this, which might be the greatest love song of all time) and I'm becoming a Laurie Anderson superman.
this remix album has an interesting variety
https://ersrecords.bandcamp.com/album/laurie-anderson-remixed-by-various-o-superman
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