An occasional feature in which we mark the songs of our relative youth as played over public muzak systems and beyond.
I returned from a trip to a lake in northern Vermont, landed at the Albuquerque Sunport, and before quarantining I took a quick, safe detour on the way home to the local grocery store to pick up a few essentials to get me through the start of my hibernation. As I was eyeing the watermelons, R.E.M. burst forth from the store's sound system with "Superman," that yummy pop song from 1986's "Lifes Rich Pageant."
Even though R.E.M. was still relatively cool in 1986, and that album was pretty much perfect (their best? Or "Reckoning"?) -- "Superman," sung by bassist Mike Mills instead of Michael Stipe, from the start felt like almost a guilty pleasure. It was a cover of an obscure release in the late '60s. Its lyrics are pretty juvenile.
But it's catchy. Maybe irresistible. When R.E.M. recorded that song, it was 17 years old, a co-opting of peak baby-boom culture. Now, twice as much time has passed -- 34 years -- and (*flash*) here we are shopping for produce, wearing a medical mask, already a tad jet-lagged and looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for the first time in over a week.
Superman? Well, I had just flown through the air. And I used to be a newspaper reporter. But the guy who kicked away the folding chair at the UIC Pavilion in October 1986 during the R.E.M. concert and danced (a safe distance from the puke puddle) to those fresh, explosive songs from "Lifes Rich Pageant"? He's lost a step. And it may be too late for him to save the world.
Date: Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Place: Smith's
Song: "Superman"
Artist: R.E.M.
Irony Matrix: 6.2 out of 10
Here is the original, by the Clique, from 1969:
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