O Superman by Laurie Anderson

This jam was posted by 64 people

but hughmcguire was first  

Just because...   61

Bukowski 15 Apr 2015

1982: vocoder and the return to the electronic womb.     she was 'always already' from the future.   2

neb 21 Feb 2012

I was fortunate enough to hear this in 1981 and have probably listened to my copy every year since, just to remind me of its message. In writing the song, Anderson drew from the aria "Ô Souverain, ô juge, ô père" (O Sovereign, O Judge, O Father) from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera Le Cid. She got the idea after listening to a recording of the aria made by African-American tenor Charles Holland, whose career was hampered for decades by racism in the classical music world. A live performance of "O Superman" was recorded in New York City the week following the 9/11 attacks. In this context, certain lyrics appeared to many to take on a more topical significance: "This is the hand, the hand that takes / Here come the planes / They're American planes. Made in America / Smoking or non-smoking?" To learn more about the piece you can follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Superman #ThoughtfulClassics   9

jovisgoesnuts 18 May 2014

I love this song deeply, and if I don't manage to change it out before the site goes away, that is okay with me.

zusty 19 Aug 2015

American experimental performance artist, she's worked with David Bowie, Peter Gabriel...etc.. #80sWeek   4

DavidAnderson 7 Sep 2014

An old favorite...part of the collection at MoMA.

geemarcus 20 May 2015