SONG STATUS
Released
Do you worry that you're not liked?
How long till you break?
You're happy cause you smile
But how much can you fake?
An ordinary boy, an ordinary name
But ordinary's just not good enough today
Alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone
I'm thinking
Why, yeah, superman's dead
Yeah is it in my head?
Yeah we'll just laugh instead
You worry about the weather and
Whether or not you should hate
And are you worried about your faith?
Kneel down and obey
You're happy you're in love
You need someone to hate
An ordinary girl, an ordinary waist
But ordinary's just not good enough today
Alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone, alone
I'm thinking
Why, yeah, superman's dead
Yeah is it in my head?
Yeah we'll just laugh instead
You worry about the weather and
Whether or not you should hate
Doesn't anybody ever know
Doesn't anybody ever know
Doesn't anybody ever know
That the world's a subway, subway
Doesn't anybody ever know
Doesn't anybody ever know
Doesn't anybody ever know
That the world's a subway, subway
That the world's a subway, subway
Doesn't any, any, any, any, any
Doesn't any, any, any, any, any
Doesn't any, any, any, any, any
That the world's a subway, subway
That the world's a subway, subway
DISCOGRAPHY
4 Albums / 4 Promos / 1 Singles
Albums
Singles
Promos
TOTAL LIVE PLAYS
811 times
Debut: 1997-01-16 (Loyalist College)
Most Recent: 2026-03-31 (Toad's Place)
Plays by Year
| 2026 |
14 |
| 2025 |
53 |
| 2024 |
15 |
| 2023 |
17 |
| 2022 |
22 |
| 2021 |
15 |
| 2019 |
42 |
| 2018 |
26 |
| 2017 |
36 |
| 2016 |
16 |
| 2015 |
11 |
| 2014 |
7 |
| 2013 |
6 |
| 2012 |
40 |
| 2011 |
6 |
| 2010 |
32 |
| 2009 |
48 |
| 2008 |
3 |
| 2006 |
22 |
| 2005 |
45 |
| 2004 |
1 |
| 2003 |
57 |
| 2002 |
82 |
| 2001 |
54 |
| 2000 |
33 |
| 1999 |
14 |
| 1998 |
47 |
| 1997 |
47 |
Song Information
Mike Turner:
The original, pure, heroic picture of Superman -- this superhero who is utterly uncorruptible -- was an ideal that you could look up to. And now they've done a marketing work-over on him: "Well, it seems your demographics are a little weak. We've brought in a stylist for the suit." There's such a loss of that naive innocence and maybe that's what's being reflected on the album.
Arnold Lanni, Words and Music, July 1997:
On Superman's Dead, Raine does this very playful little vocal thing. That happened because I asked him for something that wasn't just a guy singing. We struggled and he came up with this yodeling Raine-ism. I wanted a piece of everybody on the record. I told them just give me whatever it is you are. I don't want anything brilliant, because I don't know what that is. I want something only you can do.
Raine Maida, Express Writer, 29 Aug. 1997:
It's just about how hard it is for kids to grow up today. They're inundated with the media and images and cliques they try to have to fit into. Two images that are really strong for me lyrically are `ordinary's just not good enough today,' and when I think of kids today, I would never think of a group of eight-year-olds going out to a baseball park and throwing the ball around.
It doesn't happen any more. I have a nine-year-old brother; he's either inside playing Nintendo or staying up late on a school night watching Beavis & Butt-Head. And you juxtapose that against the old Superman, on the black and white series. He was a real hero, good values, strong willed, a gentleman, but I think Beavis & Butt-Head wins today.
Mike Turner, Canoe, 29 Nov. 1997:
Media in general has made it pretty impossible to have an innocent view of heroism. No one can be a hero without there being an ulterior motive. You're not doing it because you're nice, you're trying to get something. That's sort of an element of what we're talking about in 'Superman.' It's not good, kids don't have their own identity because they get one made for them. Their told by advertisers, media and entertainment. What they like, who they should be friends with, what music they listen to, what clothes they wear. They have a complete identity that they learned to conform to by they're 15 or 16. They've had absolutely no personal investment in getting their own identity and that's not good.
Jeremy Taggart, Hard Rock Live, 3 Apr. 2001:
I think its [the lyric "the world's a subway"] basically saying, "Life is moving fast." It doesn't really stop, it just gathers speed. You can get off or stay on.