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

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.

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