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The Kinks — (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
Album: Low Budget
Avg rating:
6.6

Your rating:
Total ratings: 267








Released: 1979
Length: 3:31
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Woke up this morning, started to sneeze
Had a cigarette and a cup of tea
I looked in the mirror, what did I see?
A nine stone weakling with knobbly knees

I did my knees bend, press ups, touch my toes
Had another sneeze and I blew my nose
I looked in the mirror at my pigeon chest
I had to put on my clothes because it made me depressed

Surely there must be a way
For me to change the shape I'm in
Dissatisfied is what I am
I want to be a better man

Superman, Superman
Wish I could fly like Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to be like Superman
Ohh!

I want to be like Superman
Superman, Superman
Wish I could fly like Superman

Woke up this morning, what did I see?
A big black cloud hanging over me
I switched on the radio and nearly dropped dead
The news was so bad that I fell out of bed

There was a gas strike, oil strike, lorry strike, a bread strike
Got to be a Superman to survive
Gas bills, rent bills, tax bills, phone bills
I'm such a wreck but I'm staying alive

I'd really like to change the world
And save it from the mess it's in
I'm too weak, I'm so thin
I'd like to fly, but I can't even swim
Ohh!

Superman, Superman
Wish I could be like Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to fly like Superman

Superman, Superman
Wish I could fly like Superman
Superman, Superman
Wish I could hang out with Superman

Look in the paper, what do I see?
Robbery, violence, insanity
Hey girl, we've got to get out of this place
There's got to be something better than this
I need you, but I hate to see you this way
If I were Superman, then we'd fly away
Ohhh!

Superman, Superman
I want to be like Superman

Superman, Superman
Wish I could fly around with Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to be like Superman

Superman, Superman
Wish I could fly like Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to be like Superman

Superman, Superman
Wish I could play like Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to be like Superman

Superman, Superman
Wish I could be like Superman
Superman, Superman
I want to be be like Superman

Superman, Superman
I want to fly like Superman
Comments (25)add comment
lyrics are fun but I prefer "Catch Me Now I'm Falling " from the same album.
Sounds like some eighties ZZ Top
not their best...
Live and electric (One for the Road album) it is even better.
disco kinks. stupid drum.
Was just saying the other day how The Kinks are a way better band than I initially thought. This song sucks, though.
 wadoflove wrote:
This is the first tune that I have heard that seems a clear influence on Franz Ferdinand... are there others?
 
I hate to say it, but "Kiss - I was made for lovin' you" from the same year (not sure which was first).
This is a great track from one of the best later day Kinks albums, Low Budget.

An album that is listenable from beginning to end, and works as a concept album for a real bonus.

Worth buying.  It was one of the last Kinks albums to make it to CD.

That said, a 9. 
 wadoflove wrote:
This is the first tune that I have heard that seems a clear influence on Franz Ferdinand... are there others?

 
Gang of Four
This is the first tune that I have heard that seems a clear influence on Franz Ferdinand... are there others?
by my survey of comment dates, this song has been played seven times since 2004.

Now that is what I would call a "deep cut".  The kind of thing Bill can do that none of those automated music shufflers can do.

Thank you Radio Paradise !  Everybody in my church (although I have none) be dancing. 
Love this song. It never gets old.
lotus_65 wrote:
i don't see the reason for playing this. i remember spinning tunes on a cable access tv station around 1980 and grabbing this cart accidentally instead of REM's superman! blech! i wasn't a very good dj.
Sounds like there was a better DJ inside of you somewhere. I'm not a huge fan of either The Kinks or REM but The Kinks are generally more interesting to me...
Mark1970 wrote:
Like Kiss for example...... LOL
I was thinking of the Dead's album - Shakedown Street. Disco Dead. I still loved it. I recently caught Saturday Night Fever again on TBS or one of those stations - man, what a terrible movie, but that era really did have *something* - - -
"I looked in the mirror at my pigeon chest, I had to put on my clothes because it made me depressed." Poignant, funny. A thing of beauty, so many of which the godlike Kinks have produced over the years.
Larswede wrote:
All you nay sayers: where is your sense of humor?
Sense of humor? What's that? I swear, sometimes I wonder if it all died with John Lennon. We're all so determined not to be confused with people who like "popular" music...
All you nay sayers: where is your sense of humor?
i don't see the reason for playing this. i remember spinning tunes on a cable access tv station around 1980 and grabbing this cart accidentally instead of REM's superman! blech! i wasn't a very good dj.
Darlington wrote:
The whole disco era brought about some genuinely God awful attempts by rock artists (many of whom should have known better) to come out with "disco material," or at least songs that could be played to/danced to in a disco. However, this song is pretty much an exception to that list. Sounds good, even today.
Huh. All this time I never noticed it was disco. Really. I guess that proves your point, in a way. 7
Darlington wrote:
The whole disco era brought about some genuinely God awful attempts by rock artists (many of whom should have known better) to come out with "disco material," or at least songs that could be played to/danced to in a disco. However, this song is pretty much an exception to that list. Sounds good, even today.
Like Kiss for example...... LOL
snurfer wrote:
Too plastic..too boogie...this is not the great 60's kinks
But it's so much fun.
Ouch, painfully dated.
The whole disco era brought about some genuinely God awful attempts by rock artists (many of whom should have known better) to come out with "disco material," or at least songs that could be played to/danced to in a disco. However, this song is pretty much an exception to that list. Sounds good, even today.
Sweet! My favorite Kinks song!
Too plastic..too boogie...this is not the great 60's kinks