Classic Or Dud: Laurie Anderson's "O Superman"

On the odd occasion that "Big Science" makes it onto the turntable thesedays, "O Superman" generally gets the full airing. It can be blamed for me floundering around buying Reich, Glass and Tangerine Sodding Dream records in my late teens, trying to find more of the same thing, and mainfestly failing.

Anyone remember what keep it off #1?

I only recently discovered that it wasn't *that* Dave Stewart. Does this make me stupid? Or stoopid?

But to O Superman. Even if I take away the fact that Laurie has commited sythn sins since which should have relegated her to Fairlight Hell, and wipe out the Lou Reed connection, i cannot bring myself to not loathe O Superman. "They're American planes. Made in" - wait for it - its a massive revalatiuon here "America". Perhaps its metronomic looped breathy vocal percussion track is haunting, but then ghosts are haunting and my life does pretty well without them.

O Superman. A duddy dud dudster.

I too only recently discovered that it wasn't *that* Dave Stewart. I don't care either way :).

Yes, it was a cover version (perhaps an implicit criticism of the quality of songwriting in the charts in 1980/81; is that what you mean by revivalist?), but done in an emphatically (even self-consciously over-the-top) modern way. That can't be 'retro', surely?

I think 'novelty hit' might be the best tag. They did, after all, go on to produce flashy studio confections around "Busy Doing Nothing" and "The Locomotion".

You can tell I'll do anything to avoid work at the moment, can't you?

My dislike of "It's My Party" and the whole early 80s revivalist thing is mainly down to my loathing of what it *stood* for (the belief that everything had been lovely and simple back in those last few pre-Beatles years, populist nostalgia applied to pop, Happy Days, ad nauseam) rather than what it actually sonically is. On the other hand, now Michael mentions it, the actual *arrangement* of that version wasn't an obvious pastiche of the original; it was actually reshaped and reformed considerably and presumably got a few superannuated Kennedy-pop bores up in arms. Maybe I should seek out an MP3 ...

Blimey! *Even* Momus?

Being called 'musically poor' by Momus is like being called loud by Lemmy, or being called a ridiculous hippy by John Lennon, or being called irritating by a barber shop quartet featuring Damon Albarn, Brett Anderson, Liam Gallagher and Robbie Williams.

The mind boggles, primarily at the news that Momus recognises that it is possible to be something other than 'musically poor'. I wonder why he doesn't try it sometime.

But on to Dave Stewart.

1. Could the moniker coincidence be why the Eurythmics one started calling himself 'David A. Stewart'?

2. I heard that version of 'It's My Party' just the other day, having found it on a big Stiff records compilation, for the first time in years and years. It's a marvellous coincidence that it should come up here at the same time. I rather like it, and think I kind of liked it at the time too.

3. I agree with SM that it's not retro at all, for the reasons he gives, and

4. I'm afraid I can't see why Robin particularly sees the early 80s as a retro era. Mightn't we just as well say that 1985 (Back To The Future), 1987 (Stand By Me), 1990 (The Wonder Years - I know these aren't pop things, but they tie in with pop and the surrounding culture of their years), 1995 (Oasis) were more retro than 1981 - which I tend to see, in an admittedly very shaky and hazy retrospect, as a time of some kind of relative futurism and adventure, or at least a load of naff (and not very retro) funk?

And Pinefox, there was indeed far more modernist and futurist pop in the charts in 1981 than there was in 1995. Nevertheless, it's easy to forget how big the 1958-63 (or thereabouts) revival was ...

I just put on a bunch of mp3's from the 80's. Among others Take Me To The River by The Talking Heads and O Superman. I remember Take Me To The River as being HUGE and was surprised by how tinny and hollow it sounds now. O Superman, on the other hand, seemed mildly interesting at the time but was just captivating now. Enough to go look up what other people had to say about it. It's a thing of its particular moment. I wouldn't put it on for anyone who hadn't heard it in 1982 except as a lesson in musicology. But a very special thing of its moment. For those who heard it then, a classic. For everyone else, the answer to the question who was number 2 when Dave Stewart was number 1.

Sitting in the bath at the time, as a boy, listening to the UK top 10.

We had in the top 3:- Its my party Oh Superman Under your thumb

This was a defining moment in my life- I have just realised, 20 years later

And WHAT a defining moment. No wonder my taste is fucked up.

Great hair, too.

I tend to pair "O Superman" with that other great New York Female Artist 80s Pop Hit: "Kissing With Confidence" by Will Powers. Photographer Lynn Goldsmith + vocoder to make her sound male + quotes from selp-help books + Carly Simon + Todd Rundgren + Steve Winwood = pop genius.

Altogether now: "Will I spoil it / with my overbite..."

hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu hu...

Cos I just found the 7" in a pile of old, er, 7"s and slapped it on, nonchalantly, only to have my brain accidentally realligned by its planet-conquering GREATNESS. God, it's like drugs, *proper* drugs, disorienting and euphoric and scary and wide-eyed and legless and...fucking hell.

So 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 arms.

they was she refers to the military industrial complex while superficilly also talking about physical intimacy and more specifically finding safety in your mothers arms in very moving i think.

But then i always cry at songs featuring robots.

Line of the day, young Tom...line of the day.

And in answer to your query, yes you are! But trust me, it'd be awful.

How is the comp?

The first time I saw Laurie Anderson was when she had six clips on a CD-ROM for Macintosh Quicktime, when she goes off on weird tangents about the national debt and televised school lunch menus. I fell in love right then and there.

it shocking to me that suck a strange tune would be such a pop hit. it just goes to show you that your average radio listener could like songs that escape the usual formulas.

if only the industry at large would be as bold today. (and it tries and succeeds sometimes, i know, i know. but but but...)

m.

And then this last verse:

"So 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."

It just chilled me to the bone. Still does.

O souverain, o juge, o père

("O sovereign, o judge, o father")

O Superman though, outstanding.

Her boyfriend, Lou Reed.

'mister heartbreak' is a wonderful album. 'big science' and her tracks on 'you're the guy I want to spend my money with' as well.

Could Schneider TM & Kpt.Michigan - "The Light 3000" get to number 2? In the City of Sound perhaps.

I think this is the saddest song.

I saw Laurie Anderson live about 1 or 2 days after 9/11/2001 and When she sang this song just listening to the lyrics was so overwelming. "Here comes the planes, They're American Planes, Made in America"

Also, this is one of my alltime favorite songs.

That just gave me the chills.

(new zealand doesn't have that problem, well not since the french tried to blow up a Greenpeace protest boat, the bomb designed to explode when the boat would have had everybody aboard it, the Greenpeace people very luckily somewhere else by coincidence)

And there I was thinking New Zealand was the land of Hobbits, not patronizing smartasses. Silly me.

Ha, totally agree. Still classic of course.

classic.

You need a mouth diaper, `cos you talk an awful lot of shit.

Brilliant.

And with one simple comment, Comstock was freed from the tiresome burden of ever having to be taken seriously.

The REO Speedwagon props above were a joke, right? Please tell me that they were a joke...

But that aside...the concluding part just makes me think ultimately of giant robots, anime gone hyperreal/hypersorrowful. And why not?

Anyone ever taken on the entire United States Live box? I own it but have never been quite willing to set aside the, what, four hours it calls for...

This is a heartbreaking commentary on sadness -pity some peopl
e miss this.

I wrote elsewhere here about how i thought the "b-side" was so cool, with no indication of speed on the label, so "walk the dog" was too fast at 45 and too slow at 33. Such a playful song.

as though the a-side is the "serious art", respectful of minimalist tastes and suitably poised, a bit like a requiem or hymn, at home in the concert hall

and the other side, "walk the dog", is the playful, rock'n'roll, extended mix of that unique sound, musings on culture, what's accepted as "music" these days, etc. etc..

So that little 45 provided multiple contexts, a mini anderson show across two sided, a work-out for the new musical ideas...

So i have to take "o'Superman" as a modern double a-side, an art event on 45 that includes _both_ songs as balanced parts, ..

ie "Walk the Dog" should always be considered included in discussions of "O Superman", Laurie Anderson's extraordinary first single.

I remember in fourth grade, for P.E. class, we had to make up some sort of dance and perform it in front of the class (no, I don't understand it either -- maybe they were just trying to see if they could somehow make P.E. even more embarrassing?) and I did mine to "Born, Never Asked". I think that officially makes me the dorkiest fourth-grader ever.

I also like what George said upthread about how the song needs to be looked at in the context of "double a-side" single.

So back to the song: This song is such a classic! I wish I could find other songs that compared to it. So haunting, so great.

me too!! but 'o superman' still classic.

Such a Laurie Anderson thing to do.

Having just watched the video again, though, I think the amazing thing about this isn't really in lyrics or meaning or symbols, or anything. We can kind of hint around the "atmosphere" or the "sound" of the thing, bu it's hard to describe exactly what's going on with it: I think its stillness and repetition -- and the odd way it feels soothing where you'd think it'd feel incredibly tense and irritating -- have this strange effect of sensitizing you. You very quickly stop experiencing it with the attention span of a normal pop song, and instead slow things down, focusing on each little gesture in turn, concentrating on a whole different level -- hence, in the video, she can use this language of really minimal gestures, where watching her (say) make a fist seems like all you need for the moment. It's a really enjoyable mindset to get into.

And the voice said:
This is the hand, the hand that takes

I think I need to turn repeat on.

nabisco ridiculously otm.

still one of the best hit songs of all time and yes, nabisco otm.

Laurie Anderson is such a legend.

nabisco deserves a medal or something for that post

dud

^^^ Crazy talk

Quite possibly my #1 track (single or otherwise) from 1981.

Think outside the box, Rev.

Fascinating facts: This track was first aired on UK radio on John Peel producer John Walters' Saturday afternoon arts show Walters' Weekly. Apparently a big favorite with UK serial killer Dennis Nilsen.

Being called 'musically poor' by Momus is like...being called irritating by a barber shop quartet featuring Damon Albarn, Brett Anderson, Liam Gallagher and Robbie Williams.

LOLOLOL

momus is great

i love momus, im mainly loling at the barbershop quartet here

this song's been in my head a lot lately.

I'm surprised at sund4r's skepticism about the lyrics! People here have already rooted out some of the great stuff about them, so I won't go too far into it. But the bit of them that seems to have the most resonance in the current decade isn't the planes, so far as I can tell -- it's that asking to fall into the loving embrace of the big strong American automatic/electronic/petrochemical mom, and of course the stuff that leads up to it: "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."
Having just watched the video again, though, I think the amazing thing about this isn't really in lyrics or meaning or symbols, or anything. We can kind of hint around the "atmosphere" or the "sound" of the thing, bu it's hard to describe exactly what's going on with it: I think its stillness and repetition -- and the odd way it feels soothing where you'd think it'd feel incredibly tense and irritating -- have this strange effect of sensitizing you. You very quickly stop experiencing it with the attention span of a normal pop song, and instead slow things down, focusing on each little gesture in turn, concentrating on a whole different level -- hence, in the video, she can use this language of really minimal gestures, where watching her (say) make a fist seems like all you need for the moment. It's a really enjoyable mindset to get into.

― nabisco (nabisco), Saturday, 23 September 2006 19:26 (6 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Completely OTM. This is one of the first songs I can remember ever hearing, but obviously as a tiny infant I didn't realise how remarkable a record it was until I was much older. The whole piece sounds strangely soothing and womblike to me, but in the same way one might feel if placed inside a hermetically sealed bubble and wrapped in white towels by, well, assembly-line robotic arms. The double-entendres of "military arm/petrochemical arm" only struck me the other day while listening back.

It's strange to return to it with critical adult ears, having grown up listening to it in a totally decontextualised, unprejudiced way. But there are certain images that I'm not sure I imagined as a kid or if they're definitely there. The bit wear she says "Smoking or non-smoking" sounds so perfectly syncopated that it phases in exactly the same way as the effect you hear when on a passenger flight.

this song is so gorgeous. heard it for the first time in like a decade yesterday and was suitably blown away.

I related some years ago how I played it to Amber and Alice on a school run one time, I mention it here because Nabisco's description is exactly how they listened to it.

Started crying on the street thinking about this song today

Literally saw her perform this here the night of 9/11/01.

flappy <3

I can't even begin to imagine what that was like xp

yeah Josh that is absolutely nuts, what was that like??

It was mostly weird. I don't know how old/young any of you are, but that was just a weird day all around. I had a friend interview her the day of, and she told him (iirc) that she had just gotten off the phone with Lou, who was watching the towers burn from their roof. That night at the Park West - and it wasn't late yet - no one really had any idea what was going on, and of course no one had any real idea what was to come. But we all seemed to recognize the prescience of this song, and wondered whether she would even play it. Which she did, with no commentary. So: creepy. But it's only gotten more so in the months and years later. And of course it was pretty creepy to begin with.

I want to say that week I also saw PJ Harvey, who was touring "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea," which is also infused with all sorts of eerily coincidental 9/11 stuff.

thanks for sharing that, Josh

^ and yeah stories definitely had that vibe. also mercury rev's all is dream came out on 9/11. lincoln's eyes really creeped me out at that time.

'Stories from the City' won the Mercury Prize which was announced on 9/11. She was in Washington and phoned in to receive the award in a ceremony which was as bizarre and downbeat as you'd expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFGqR4b_YG4

I saw an insane and devastating German Richard III where Richard's descent into madness was soundtracked to O Superman. Here it is below in German with French Subs (I saw it in English). Shamefully, at the most intense moment in the show (you could hear a pin drop) just after the point where O superman starts properly my phone rang! The whole theatre looked in my direction as I fumbled into my pocket. Richard III stopped acting and looked at me and said "did you set your alarm to wake you up after two hours so you could see the end of the show?". As soon as I managed to switch my phone off he continued the show without missing a beat.

The Breaths from the track start around the jumping off point here and the song proper starts just around 2:04:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsOtCIpi-M0&t=113m10s

imago, i suspect you will love that^^^

I'll try again: The breaths start at 1:53:00 The main part of the track starts at around 2:05:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsOtCIpi-M0

i killed the thread with radical german theatre!

I only heard this song for the first time recently. I've had Mister Heartbreak for years and love it so I have no idea why I never looked further. The refrain popped into my head this morning and it just hit me like a sledgehammer. Such an immense, haunting, beautiful piece. The video had me spellbound. Had no idea about the 9/11 connection until I read this thread.

One of those songs I wouldn't normally choose to listen to because so well known (and long) but it came on my spotify discover playlist a few weeks ago and yeah, I had a something in my eye moment.

Lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJBZifZ4TIc

Ah, Zoo-era totp. See also TVC-15.

The whole theatre looked in my direction as I fumbled into my pocket. Richard III stopped acting and looked at me and said "did you set your alarm to wake you up after two hours so you could see the end of the show?".

new ilm posts which will continue to haunt your thoughts.

i really wanted to see that production at the barbican, but I was away

This is kinda amazing, I had no idea -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQBlvyE460A

wow, thanks!

Wow

Oh my!

lots of elements of 'Walk The Dog' in the first bit too

This is really something. Part II in particular. Chills. Wow and flutter adding to the queasiness of the strings.

Also...May 17 1980. I remember that weekend (and not just because England got thrashed by Wales) :/

this is crazy

For dessert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXfMpZeiKtk

this is all great, thanks!

Sooooo good. Damn

yes, incredible. thank you. i'd like to know more about the making of it. the youtube description - "Shortly before beginning work on what would become her magnum opus 'United States Parts I-IV', Laurie Anderson began receiving commissions for new music from several American orchestras. Unfortunately, she had no previous experience writing for orchestras, having preferring to work with small ensembles and electronics in her performance art. The result was an uncomfortable mix of prerecorded tape, electronic instrumentation, and unorthodox orchestral writing" - is kind of pejorative, but the results are stunning. i love work like this that doesn't have an obvious "home" for performance

also the part 7 minutes in is unexpectedly gnarly and heavy

it sounds like work product, which it is - fascinating for fans, by no means something for people who have never heard LA before

AH AH AH AH MA MA MA MA DILL DILL DILL DILL OH OH OH OH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgU5Cztx490