It’s strange that back in 1991, the Crash Test Dummies predicted in their lyrics something that arguably could have taken place immediately following the September 11th attacks in 2001. What happened following the attacks was a feeling of nationalism; the sense and idea that we as Americans, should help our fellow Americans. At the time it wasn’t about getting paid or expecting a favor in return, it was about helping your fellow American as a way to show the enemy that we will stand by one another in hard times and do whatever it takes to rebuild America. At the time, nobody was seeking fame, money, or anything else; folks just felt the urgency and came out of the woodwork nationwide to stand up and help.
The song in question is Superman’s Song, and you can watch the music video by going over to this blog post. I’ve got the CD somewhere, but in all of these years, have never seen the video until now. It’s a sad video in which Superman dies and all of his middle-aged superhero friends attend his funeral. It’s so sad that it actually brought tears to my eyes.
The lyrics to the song show Superman (a fictional character, of course) to be a do-gooder who goes out and makes the world a better place by stopping crimes and rescuing strangers without the expectation of payment or return. I think that there’s a lesson in this for everyone that if we all were just a little nicer and more compassionate towards one another, this world would be a better place. Although in the song, they mention that Superman had a straight job, it goes to show you that he would even go to great lengths to keep his personal life out of the public eye by changing into his superhero outfit in public phone booths.
I think that 9/11 brought out the Superman in all of us for a short time, but the failing economy in this country has had the opposite effect on us. I think that now, instead of helping one another through these difficult times, we are all out for ourselves. Something has got to be done about this, because unless we start banding together and helping each another through these hard times, we will all soon be destined for failure.
