Songs about Superman; or Why America is on the right track.

[~]

[Fontinau]

[Fontinau]

[Tinker]

[Hans Bulvai]

I have a very old edition of a Superman series (in Arabic from the sixties) where he and Lewis Lane are going through a bit of turbulent times in their relationship.
Part of the story takes place in the Middle East where there are two sides about to go to war (imagine that!).

Anyways, as she is meeting with both sides to get their story, she realizes that war is inevitable. As she is sitting in her hotel room, in comes Superman and decides to carry her to a place he says helps calm him. He wraps her in his cape and takes her to the North Pole where they watch the Polar bears. As they settle down, she asks him to stop the war even if it meant he uses force. He explains to her that his powers have limits put on him by him being a man first and foremost and that he cannot therefore impose his will on anyone, "like forcing people to vote for a particular candidate". She tells him that stopping a war that could cost the life of thousands is much more important than chasing criminals like Luther. He replies "maybe" but that humanity will have to make its own decisions regarding its survival otherwise, they are not worthy of it!

She did not like that answer and asked him to fly her back.

Superman is the man (but Flash remains my favorite).

[Fontinau]

[Fontinau]

[Tinker]

[Fontinau]

[Tinker]

[Sennacherib]

Not from the last two decades, but still....

The Kinks, (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman (1979)



The impetus for the song is only too obvious to anyone who remembers those years of stagflation, unemployment, and spinelessness, with a mentally defective moral degenerate in the White House. Draw parallels with today, if you must.

[Demon of Undoing]

Okay , so I won't send that " re-elect Obama " literature to Sennacherib.


Superman comes from a time when people wanted to be saved from evil men and disasters. They actually had those back then , as opposed to manufactured misery which is what has to suffice for most comic book fans today . People don't want to be saved now. They want to determine their own directions within the context of their emotional landscape or whatever. The best illustration of this is in "The Incredibles" , where the hero is sued for rescuing from death a man that had jumped off a building in an attempted suicide. That's us today- so wrapped in our own crap we don't even want to be rescued from it , as having that happen might crimp the Facebook whine post.

It was rather depressing to me to find out that on the whole , the world doesn't want to be saved. I say take off the cape , Supe, and just do what they let you. Watch out that the chick with the eyes nearly swollen shut don't hit you with no table legs what got screws in them because you stopped her boyfriend from choking her to death.

[Atmosphere]

Sensational characters - those with either extra-human abilities, or elite talents - have always served as tools to express people's understanding of how to effect change in the world. Stories from antiquity often involved the gods either intervening, or granting some weapon to human heroes. Perhaps the god of the seas would create a storm, or the god of flora would grow some medicine. In the middle centuries, a hero like King Arthur might find a special new weapon, such as a blade made from steel or something similarly "magical."

Victorian characters that came after the industrial revolution specifically used science to change themselves, just as they used science to change the world (and, in their view, bring it under greater civilization or empire). Sherlock Holmes used scientific instruments, as well as a vast amount of accumulated knowledge, to rationally solve problems that to others would seem almost mystical in origin.

American pulp characters after the turn of the 20th century also used new science, but like Americans themselves, used it to start taking things into their own hands. Doc Savage, the Shadow, the Avenger and others did things that ranged from vigilantism against organized crime, to the exploration of the world for sake of pure adventure. America as a power in the world was developing, and in their eyes, out to make it a better place.

But perhaps it was the cataclysm of the Great War, where the notion of superpower revealed itself to individual men. People fighting in the trenches could suddenly blow away entire waves of soldiers with a flame sputtering machine gun in their hands. Spraying gas could decimate entire fields. Nations - superpowered states - clashed against each other and left phenomenal damage in their wake.

Although the character of Superman might not be intended as a fascistic icon, the idea of fascism - which is the accumulation of all powers into a single entity – was spreading through the West. Germany and Italy were showcasing the ability of a state to accumulate the means from all aspects of society to become a stronger whole. Superman was a bundle of abilities, with physical strength and toughness, special vision like only the latest scientific instruments could produce, and the capacity to bound or fly as fast and high as the most recent airplanes. People were shocked to see what a superman could do, even if it was lifting a car over his head.

When the atomic bomb was detonated, humans learned the true meaning of wielding the power of gods in their hands. The fifties and sixties saw new waves of monsters and superheroes that commanded great powers. Often they would clash over cities or other environments, pounding on each other and leaving vast craters in their wake. Their battles reflected how people imagined the real superpowers - the US and USSR - would clash with their missiles, planes, ships, and atomic-wielding armies. It was basically superpeople beating on each other until the superior one remained standing.

Many characters from recent years also use technology, but often it seems to be used to take down corrupt corporations or governments. The Matrix movies gave us hacker-heroes who were so gifted at manipulating code that they could literally re-shape their world. The TV series Dollhouse was another example of a corporation using a new technology to oppress and use people for profit, but the hacker-heroes were cleverer and faster than the big corporation, and were able to give themselves abilities to turn the technology back around on them. Whatever you think of Wikileaks, or Anonymous, or people flashmobbing with Twitter throughout various oppressed countries, individuals are figuring out ways to use technology faster than the big businesses or big governments that might facilitate their usage.

[Demon of Undoing]

This song is something about kryptonite , from a genre of music to which I have little exposure. Can't make out the words , but they are talking about kryptonite like that Three Days Grace song , so it probably fits.

[Demon of Undoing]

Waitaminure here. That's not right.

[Hans Bulvai]

deleted

[Hans Bulvai]

Deleted

[Hans Bulvai]

[Hans Bulvai]

And this...

Image002.jpg (57.37 KiB) Viewed 1094 times

[Fontinau]

Thank you!

.

[Tinker]

[Tor]

I agree w/ Tinker. The Taylor Swift song sounds like it was written by someone who has milking money out of the masses on his mind. Also, I think it is a hair incorrect to say that music of a time reflects the atmosphere of the time, unless it becomes popular.

That said, very interesting topic. All the great American superheroes are hold things together types, not active in and of their own right. However virtually all of them need a foreign menace to achieve any sort of real greatness. This is part of the reason why the Batmen comics have been better, their evil figures have grown out of the human heart and are truly demonic. Too bad Batarang turned into a douche.

As for Superman, I think there is a nostalgia but I don't think he touches people today the same way he used to.

[~]

[Tor]

What about this one? Don't miss the rapper superman around 1:00 (not to mention the fuzzied out superman logo on Soulja boys shirt).

[Tor]