The Best Songs About Superman to Prepare for the New Movie

Yes, Superman is a fictional character who exists in thousands of comics, movies, and cartoons. You can follow his exploits as you would any other fictional character. However, perhaps more importantly, Superman is also an idea that transcends his humble beginnings as a comic book character to a degree that is rarely achieved in popular culture. Much like if someone excels at something (especially athletically), they are referred to the “Michael Jordan of *insert activity,*” if someone is called “Superman,” you know exactly what that means, even if you’ve never read a single Superman comic in your life. It’s an impressive feat, and a reminder of how enduring, salient, and adaptable the seemingly simple character of Superman has been over the better part of a century. With the new Superman film on the horizon, it’s kind of amazing to see that the character can still excite fans in 2025.  

As an icon that’s become so embedded in our collective consciousness, Superman has predictably seeped his way into nearly every aspect of pop culture, and music is no exception. Some of the songs below invoke the specific character himself—the alien from a dying world who was sent to Earth, where he found countless allies and enemies during his 87-year quest to bring about truth and justice. Other songs take on Superman more as that transcendent ideal, the symbol of perfection and purity that we often aspire to but can never achieve. Either way, each is an interesting little insight into how culture has processed the ever-evolving legend that is Superman.  

For more great music, make sure to check out the offerings of your local branch and Freegal. 

Song: “Superman,” from the album, Hang Ups

Artist: Goldfinger

Listen if you like… the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack, relentlessly upbeat songs, or if you’ve been looking for a reason to get into ska

Best Superman-related lyric: “Holding on to what I am/ Pretending I’m a Superman”

Song: “Waitin’ for a Superman,” from the album, The Soft Bulletin

Artist: The Flaming Lips

Listen if you like… bands that play live in giant bubbles, melodic basslines, and fandoms characterized by the seemingly contradictory pairing of chillness and obsession that you get with Deadheads and Phishheads

Best Superman-related lyric: “It’s a good time for Superman/ To lift the sun into the sky”

Song: “Award Tour,” from the album, Midnight Marauders

Artist: A Tribe Called Quest

Listen if you like… conscientious, jazz-influenced hip hop, Gang Starr, The Roots, Eric B. & Rakim

Best Superman-related lyric: “I have a quest to have the mic in my hand/ Without that, it’s like Kryptonite and Superman”

Song: “The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts,” from the album, Come Feel the Illinoise

Artist: Sufjan Stevens

Listen if you… went through an early ‘00s indie hipster phase, are still chasing a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and/or watched a lot of Garden State, Little Miss Sunshine, and Juno

Best Superman-related lyric: “Man of steel, man of heart/Turn your ear to my part/There are things you have said/Raise the boat, and raise the dead”

Song: “Collect from Clark Kent,” from the album Frame & Canvas

Artist: Braid

Listen if you like… “I’m-sadder-and-cooler-than-you” white guy ‘90s emo, Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity, The Get Up Kids’ Something to Write Home About

Best Superman-related lyric: “Please save me/ From the superpowers that I don’t believe in/ Save me please/ I’m lost and alone/ I can’t come home/ I’m stuck in a phone booth again”

Song: “Run and Run,” from the album, Forever Now

Artist: The Psychedelic Furs

Listen if you like… dark ‘80s pop, the general vibe of Donnie Darko

Best Superman-related lyric: “Go on, get Tarzan/ Go on, get Jane/ Go on, get Superman/ Go on, get Lois Lane”

Song: “Kids Don’t Like to Share,” from the album, Hoss

Artist: Lagwagon

Listen if you like… skate videos, the fast chugga-chugga palm muted guitar sound of early ‘90s Fat Wreck Chords bands

Best Superman-related lyric: “The wait is short, the search is brief/ You find another faith/ Another Clark Kent/ Another Superman/ Flashing in the pan”

Song: “Superman,” from the album, A Decade in the Sun: The Best of Stereophonics

Artist: Stereophonics

Listen if you like… that early ‘00s sweet spot when you could still feel the influence of Brit Pop, Blog Bands were just emerging, and Indie Rock was a site of legit cultural capital

Best Superman-related lyric: “Superman on an aeroplane/ Sitting next to Lois Lane”

Song: “Jimmy Olsen’s Blues,” from the album, Pocket Full of Kryptonite

Artist: The Spin Doctors

Listen if you like… that weird period in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s when a band could inexplicably get a pop radio hit by combining some not-so-pop genres

Best Superman-related lyric: “Yeah, Lois Lane you don’t need no Superman/ Come on downtown and stay with me tonight/ I, I got a pocket full of Kryptonite”

Song: “Sunshine Superman,” from the album, Sunshine Superman

Artist: Donovan

Listen if you like… early psychedelia, hippie anthems about unrequited love, surface Green Lantern references

Best Superman-related lyric: “Superman or Green Lantern ain’t got a-nothin’ on me/ I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah”