O Superman | Paris, Jan. 31, 2005 .

I was playing the song 'O Superman' today and thought I would share this with you. It's by a performance artist named Laurie Anderson, who you may have seen mentioned on Planet Waves before. This was written and first performed in the 1970s. It appeared on her first album, United States Live I-IV, a four CD set recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, then on her first studio CD, Big Science. She then did something unusual for her and brought the song out -- along with much other earlier material -- in a concert done on Sept 19-20, 2001 at Town Hall in Manhattan (released as a two CD set, which she described as the most intense concert of her life).

This is the song that many have people have said contains a prophesy about Sept. 11. As I listen, I see that it contains quite a bit more.

If you want to get into Laurie's work, I suggest that Big Science or Strange Angels are the places to begin. Like Brian Eno (musician, composer, collaborator, early producer of U2 and Talking Heads at the point where both bands made pivotal transitions in their sound), she has been more influential behind the scenes than out front, but her influence has been profound, reaching deep into the lives of many people who are already quite creatively tuned in.

I consider her to be one of the most influential streams coming into my own life, both for her approach to life and politics, as well as for her way of turning anything to art. For someone whose recordings have absolutely no value in the pop world -- they stand more as classical art (technically, performance art) -- she has done quite well for herself. I've had the pleasure of meeting her twice, and doing her chart as well. She is a Gemini with a Capricorn Moon. Listen for five minutes and you'll see.

Here is Laurie's homepage. http://www.laurieanderson.com/

I got the idea to post these lyrics after taking a look at this article on CNN:

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/01/28/auschwitz.cheney.reut/index.html

You'll have to fill in the haunting, minimalist music, and the soft background sound of ha - ha - ha - ha - ha - ha repeated on a tape loop.

O Superman by Laurie Anderson


 O Superman. O judge. O Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad. 
 O Superman. O judge. O Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad.

Hi. I'm not home right now. But if you want to leave a
 message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.

Hello? This is your Mother. Are you there? Are you
 coming home?

Hello? Is anybody home? Well, you don't know me,
 but I know you.

And I've got a message to give to you.
 Here come the planes.

So you better get ready. Ready to go. You can come
 as you are, but pay as you go. Pay as you go.

And I said: OK. Who is this really? And the voice said:
This is the hand, the hand that takes. This is the
 hand, the hand that takes.

This is the hand, the hand that takes.
 Here come the planes.

They're American planes. Made in America.

Smoking or non-smoking?

And the voice said: Neither snow nor rain nor gloom
 of night shall stay these couriers from the swift
 completion of their appointed rounds.

'Cause 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. Hi Mom!

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.