Holding Out For This Blog at the End of the Night
Background: A while back, I was home over the summer and found an underground music festival in my hometown, which included an appearance from local singer and rapper, Nur-D. One of the standout songs in his set was a song called “Gwen Stacy,” who was Peter Parker’s first girlfriend in the Spider-Man comics. Although she was not a superhero herself, it got me thinking of songs about superheroes. So in this blog, we will focus on those songs, and we will close with “Gwen Stacy” because what’s a Minnesota Mike blog without a side tangent? I had one rule when I wrote this blog, and that was that it couldn’t be a song that came from something directly related to the comic book franchise, so, for example, as amazing as Prince’s Batman soundtrack is, that will not be featured.
“Superman (It’s Not Easy)” by Five For Fighting
Lyrically: When people ask me what my favorite superhero is, I always point to either Iron Man or Spider-Man, because they seem to be the most vulnerable, whereas someone like Superman never really seems to be behind the eightball in any real danger throughout all his adventures. So my attraction to “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” by Five For Fighting is that it paints Superman as a regular guy with regular feelings. The first verse shows Superman talking about how he doesn’t fly to show off and save people. If he learns to fly, it’s because it’s something he wasn’t able to do before, and he’s “Out to find the better part of (him).” In the second verse, he opens by saying, “Wish that I could cry, fall upon my knees, find a way to lie ‘bout a home I’ll never see.” He echoes this sentiment in the chorus by saying, “Even heroes have the right to bleed," but recognizes that people don’t want to see him that way because they need him too much.
This song came out in the year 2000 and I enjoyed it, knowing what it meant, even at the age of 8. However, this description of Superman has fascinated me ever since I learned about the Harlem Children’s Zone, which Geoffrey Canada founded after he realized Superman wasn’t real. And sometimes as an educator, the question of who helps the helpers is a heartbreaking one, a conversation a lot of people aren’t ready for, but that’s why this song holds up so well.
Melodically: The song uses the chords C, G, Am, and F, which gets played twice. The song is written in C major, and therefore this is a I, V, vi, IV pattern. This pattern gets followed in the verses and chorus, but the chorus ends on C, G, F, and C (a I, V, IV, I pattern). The “Inside of me” line after the second to last chorus swaps out a G/B for the G major. The middle 8 uses Am, G/B, C, Dm, and Am, a vi, V, I, ii, vi pattern, followed by C, D, F, and G, a I, II, IV, V pattern. This is another one of those “goal” songs that lacks resolution with that particular goal. This is why the verses and choruses all end with the IV chord, the middle 8 ends on the V chord, both of which build tension, before starting over on the I chord. The only true resolution is the resignation that “It’s not easy to be me.” Instrumentally, the song uses piano, bass, cello, viola, and violin, as well as other strings, with piano being the main instrument.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, verse, chorus, middle 8, verse, chorus, chorus format. As any good middle 8 does, it takes the song to a different place, after a song filled with lamentation, he reassures the public that he’s “Not crazy or anything” and will continue to do his job saving the world, despite his own troubles, which is ironically very important for advancing the song, despite the fact that you’re rooting for him to have a break.
You can listen to “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” below.
2. “The Ballad of Barry Allen” by Big Jim’s Ego
Lyrically: “The Ballad of Barry Allen” is about the real-life identity of who the public knows better as The Flash. He’s so fast, he has time to think about “the beauty of a thousand variations, of the beating wing, of a humming bird, moving slower than molasses.” Similar to the Superman of the previous song, Barry is somewhat of a tortured soul, but it’s less because’s tired of helping people, it’s more that he sees the world so differently that it’s kind of boring for him. He doesn’t get to enjoy what everyone else enjoys, including romance, because as he says in the chorus, even when he saves a beautiful woman, “By the time she knows what happened, there’ll be someone else who needs me.” In the third verse, he begins to express his regret for ever going into the lab and messing with things to give himself these super powers, because of how time runs so slowly.
Melodically: The song is played (when played on guitar) with a capo on the 5th fret, and uses Am, C, G, and F, relative to the capo. The song is written in F major, so this is a vi, I, V, IV pattern. This pattern gets played twice in the verses, before going to the chorus, which uses the chords F, G, Am, C, a IV, V, vi, I pattern, played twice, before ending on F, E, Am, C, G, F, Am, C, G, and F, which is a IV, III, vi, I, V, IV, vi, I, V, IV pattern. Instrumentally, the song uses piano, organ, and other programming, as well as bass and drums.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, verse, chorus, middle 8, outro pattern. The repetition of this song works tremendously well, because to the narrator, everything just seems to happen in a vacuum, rather than all of these amazing things that the people see. Every day is the same thing, so naturally, there doesn’t need to be a whole lot of new information presented throughout the song.
You can listen to “The Ballad of Barry Allen” below.
3. “Captain America” by Styx
Lyrically: I had a little help from the Internet suggesting songs about Superheroes, as a 4th song was surprisingly hard to come by, but when someone on Reddit suggested a Styx song called “Captain America,” I assumed they meant “Miss America.” Luckily I looked it up before I roasted them, because the former is a song off their 2003 album, Cyclorama. Here, we see the exact opposite perspective than what we saw in the first two songs, with this narrator being the regular civilian with high expectations for the titular hero, as the narrator is longing for an easier time: “You remind me of the days in that infinite war when we weren’t quite sure what we were fighting for.” He then questions himself as a leader, as well as questioning Captain America, wanting someone “who knows the plan” and for him to be able to “have faith in the human race.” It serves as a plea to the supposed hero as well to save everything.
Interestingly, this vision feels similar to something that was played out in Styx’s earlier hit, “Come Sail Away,” but was written by the other band members after Dennis DeYoung left the band. I bring this up not to dunk on Dennis, but rather to point out that it’s a whole different skill to write in a band’s voice, which stayed pretty much the same, even after the departure of its longtime lead singer.
Melodically: The song is written in the key of E major. Chord-wise, the main riff uses C#5, the VI chord, and is played as the main chord throughout the verses. The pre-chorus uses C#5, B5, and A5, a VI, V, IV progression, played twice, and the chorus uses E5, C5, A5, and D5, a I, VI, IV, VII pattern. Instrumentally, the song uses electric guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, solo, chorus, chorus format. This is a tune that could have fit very well in a Styx album like The Grand Illusion, as it deals with cynicism about the world around the band. And for all intents and purposes, this is a pretty standard structure for a Styx song, with the cynical lyrics and seering guitar. However, there are not a whole lot of Styx songs, at least from their classic period, that utilize pre-choruses, so that choice stood out to me. They do work incredibly well, as they are another chance to drive the point home that they’re directionless without their hero. I have also mentioned in previous blogs that typically a song with a pre-chorus does not have a bridge, because they can just go back to the pre-chorus where they would put a bridge. But in this song, there are both, and both work to great effect, again, not to take the song to a different place per se, like a bridge would, but to have another section of sneering cynicism, which we could all use more of in our lives.
You can listen to “Captain America” below.
4. “Gwen Stacy” by Nur-D
Lyrically: “Gwen Stacy,” as told by Nur-D when I saw him live, came to the rapper as he was reflecting on the forgotten hero of the Spiderverse, Peter Parker’s first girlfriend. Just like he talks about in the song, Mary Jane tends to get all the credit, but Gwen Stacy fascinated him. The song uses Gwen’s death to reflect on the fact that if he (Peter) had been anyone else, and therefore not had to put her through what she went through, eventually leading to her death, then they might still be together. I find this topic very relatable. Whether it’s a bad breakup or a good one, the next one always gets compared to the last one or what you think was your best one. There’s always that one who got away who you’ll always love, even though it didn’t work out, and there are always thoughts you’ll have about that person, no matter how happy you are in the present moment. (I’m sure we’ll probably cover something like this in a future blog, but there’s a great Josh Ritter song called “I Still Love You (Now and Then)” that gets at this exact topic, just not under the superhero theme).
Melodically: The song’s Intro uses B, D#7, Emaj7, Dmaj7. With the song written in B major, this is a I, III, IV, IIIb pattern. This pattern gets repeated throughout the entire song, but in the verses, he also throws in an Amaj7 before the last III chord every once in a while. That Amaj7 is the VIIb chord. When thinking about what could have been, the decision to end on the III chord is the perfect complement to that uncertainty, as is the random VIIb chord. The VIIb chord not only provides that uncertainty, but it comes out so sporadically that you’re kind of on edge, wondering when you’ll hear it again. The song’s only instrument is an electric guitar.
Structurally: The song uses a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus format. One of the biggest things writers struggle with is getting into what is known as “Second Verse Hell”, where you have a great first verse and chorus and then you either don’t know where to go from there or you struggle coming up with something as good. This song is perfectly divided, with the first verse focusing on the intrusive thoughts Spider-Man has while he’s saving the world, thinking about Gwen Stacy, and then the second verse focuses not on the person, but where things might have gone wrong. There’s just enough information, so the song doesn’t drag, so just this simple format is perfect. Additionally, this kind of gets at the theme of “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” in a different way–you can have it all and still feel like you’ve made some bad decisions along the way–and it’s completely fine to feel like that.
