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

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