Funny Red Sheet

A few months ago I was siting in traffic when a tear started welling up in my eye as my heart swelled with sympathy for Superman. Yes, Superman. The song playing on the radio was “Superman (It's Not Easy)” by Five For Fighting, and while I was in an emotionally precarious position that afternoon, I give full credit to songwriter John Ondrasik for the tear. 

Somehow this harmless, slightly flavorless, and contrived adult-contemporary pop tune had me feeling compassion...for a superhero. I speak of the song with slight disdain only because it is not in the typical vein of music that I like to think moves me. I would feel much more cultured, tasteful, and poetic if the song behind my tears was by Leonard Cohen or Bjork. I also like to think I am immune to the plethora of unrequited love songs and personal growth ballads that flood today's homogenized commercial radio.

But that is obviously not always true. This one hit wonder's falsetto and sappy piano were making me genuinely emotional, and he was singing about a comic book character. “This has got to be one of the greatest feats of emotional manipulation for a pop song – ever!” I thought to myself. Somehow I had become convinced that the 'man of steel,' the naturally airborne hero who is impervious to bullets, was actually just a regular guy who didn't like to fly. And evidently the only difference between him and me was that he wore “a funny red sheet.”