Superman - Five For Fighting (Boyce Avenue cover)

"Superman (it's not easy)" is a song by Five for Fighting, released somewhere in the early 2000's. You may recognise it from season one of Smallville, season four of Dawson's Creek and I think Scrubs may have used it but not too sure.

The lyrics are from the perspective of the character Superman, a superhero who is seen as a God by humans but he doesn't see himself the same way.

What's interesting is that the song gives us a truer sense of what goes in Superman's head: despite having great powers he actually feels ordinary and struggles with similar problems as the rest of us: fullfilling expectations, taking on responbilities, digging deep to find something special inside of himself. I think that's the Superman most of us fans know and relate to - it's his heart, his lack of confidence, his fear/doubt that we can all relate to. Anyway, before I go into an essay on the depth of Superman's character, let me get to the point of this post...

There have been many attempts to cover this song but in my opinion no one has done a better job than my favourite YouTube band: Boyce Avenue. I came across them a long time ago and now when I hear somthing I like, I'm quick to see if Boyce Avenue have covered it because (sorry music artisits) it's usually better than the original!

Below are the lyrics, music video and a link to the song on iTunes.

Lyrics

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me

I'm more than a bird,
I'm more than a plane
I'm more than some pretty face
beside a train
And it's not easy to be me

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'll never see

It may sound absurd,
but don't be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed,
but won't you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me

Up, up and away, away from me
It's all right, you can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy, or anything

I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me Inside me Yeah, inside me
Inside of me

I'm only a man
In a funny red sheet
I'm only a man
Looking for a dream
I'm only a man In a funny red sheet
And it's not easy Its not easy to be me