Singing Superman to the various Superman themes
There’s only one rule when you’re writing a Superman theme and it’s that you be able to sing the word Superman to it while you’re listening to it.
Superman’s had a lot of different themes in a lot of different media over the years, and most adhere to this simple rule, but they largely take very different approaches to what that means.
Is this an intentional choice by composers or do three-syllable phrases just fit nicely within most musical compositions? I don’t know, go ask a music nerd. I’m a Superman nerd.
Fleischer Cartoons—1941-1943
The “Superman” precedent is set early and often by the Fleischer cartoon theme. The radio show didn’t really have a theme song of its own to speak of, it opened with spoken-word narration (and then usually a callout ad for Kellog’s Pep), so this is the first time Big Blue got his own musical theme.
The theme, composed by Fleischer’s go-to musician Sammy Timberg, is pretty much made up exclusively of three-note musical blocks for you to yell “Su-perman, Su-perman, Superman, Superman, Superman” to. These straightforward bars perfectly fit the clear-headed man of action the cartoons position him as.
Adventures of Superman—1952-1958
While still a hugely popular comics character, when Superman made the leap to TV, he was still largely known in pop culture for the success of his radio and cartoon appearances, so the intro here keeps the general structure of both of those with the “Speeding Bullet” narration.
The show kicks off with some light “Supermans” musical bits before the narration and the official march is buried under the explanation of who the hell Clark Kent is. You can hear it more clearly in the end credits sequence where you hear each musical phrase essentially conclude with a “Superman” or two.
Side Note: Nobody knows who really wrote this one. It’s credited to Leon Klatzkin, but it’s more likely he was more of a musical coordinator, selecting pieces and placing them in the show without composing them himself. Klatzkin also tried suing John Williams for the ’78 march, which seems insane, because it sounds way less like this than this does the Fleischer theme.
Superman: The Movie—1978
I normally would knock this for making you wait for so long before hearing the theme play Superman, but John Williams teases you out so masterfully, I can’t even be mad at it. You’ve got the build-up to the title theme that already builds your anticipation, but then the title theme doesn’t even have it!
You have to wait for the Superman March in the back half of the opening credits before you get your first “Su-perman!” (around 3:06 when Susannah York’s name flies on screen). By that point, you figure you’ve already heard the Superman theme and the love theme, so it’s holding out on it, but nope, it’s there and it’s as exciting and beautiful as you’d hope.
It’s a lot like the film itself…a hell of a lot of build up to your first true sighting of Superman, but once he’s there he’s worth every second of waiting.
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman—1993-1996
Fitting the series it’s based on, the Lois and Clark theme opens with newsy strings that feel more at home on the Daily Planet than the planet Krypton, but it soon transitions into a main theme where each section crescendos with a “Superman.” It doesn’t overdo the Superman notes, but then again, it’s a show where the focus is more on Lois Lane and his secret identity, so it all fits.
Superman: The Animated Series—1996-2000
Ok, this theme by BTAS composer Shirley Walker really hammers in the Supermans—appropriate due to this show’s focus on action. Not only that, you can pretty much sing exactly what’s happening on screen to the tune of the theme during the entire opening credits. Here are the lyrics I always sing.
Superman
Superman
Hey holy shit, it’s Superman
Superman
Superman
Look at ‘im go, it’s Superman
And don’t forget about Lois Lane
Jimmy Olsen
and flying at night.
Explosion
Flying fast
Got to save almost everyone.
Dinosaur
Parasite
Fighting Lobo in outerspace
Explosion
Dinosaur
Lex Luthor
Explosion
Superman
Smallville—2001-2010
Minus 100 points for being unable to sing “Superman” at any point.
Plus 10,000 points for how fun it is to scream-sing “Somebody saaaave me!” when it starts.
Man of Steel—2013
I’m a Man of Steel hater and you can’t really sing “Superman” to any part of this (fitting given the final film’s resistance to any Superman iconography) BUT this track is so good that the final Man of Steel trailer is probably my second favorite Superman movie despite the fact that I think the full movie stinks.
The trailer so good that I was like “wait, maybe this will rule actually” before I was shown that no it won’t.
Superman and Lois—2021-
I keep meaning to actually watch this show, so I put on a random episode and folks, we got another modern-era show where instead of an actual title theme, you get a dang 4-second stinger. And guess what…you can’t sing Superman to it.
Zero stars.