Laurie Anderson: O Superman

 the song's lyrics are loosely structured around a phone conversation between the narrator and a mysterious voice. At first, the voice leaves a message claiming to be the narrator's mother but, upon not receiving a response, reveals itself as someone who the narrator "doesn't know" but who "knows" the narrator. The narrator finally responds, asking "who is this really?" The voice then identifies itself as "the hand that takes" and informs the narrator that the "American planes" are coming. The song concludes with the stanza "When love is gone, there is always justice/ and when justice is gone, there is always force/ and when force is gone, there is always mom", with the narrator pleading to be held in her mom's "long", "electronic", and "petrochemical" arms.

This song addresses issues of technology and communication, in particular planes and arms. Anderson told Mojo magazine June 2008 that she wrote this song in a similar time to now. She explained: "In this case it was the Contra affair and defeat as we were experiencing a series of techno disasters- helicopters trying to rescue hostages and crashing in the desert. Oh, and as well as now, yet another war that is endless-or as the same war. The same conflict with Islam."

songfacts.com

	1			Laurie Anderson - O Superman (For Massenet)
	1			Laurie Anderson - O Superman (live '83)
	2			Laurie Anderson - Big Science