Even Heroes have the right to dream/
It’s not easy to be me.

In Five For Fighting’s “Superman”, John Ondrasik imagines Superman voicing his insecurities as he flies and stops trains. He worries about kryptonite and feels silly in his red cape. He says, “It’s not easy to be me”, not because saving the world is a tough task, but because of silly feelings of insecurity.

The message is an important one: if Superman can feel insecure while saving the world, it is normal for me to feel insecure in my everyday life, as everyone experiences it-even superheroes.  It is clearly irrational for superman to feel insecure, so perhaps it is irrational when I have those feelings too.

The delicate piano playing creates a great sound that is antithetical to the Superman persona. Similarly, his tender vocals don’t sound like how we’d imagine Superman. This helps to hit the message home that perhaps we all feel uncomfortable inside our own skin. Perhaps it is a fundamental aspect of the human experience.

Superman (It’s Not Easy) Lyrics

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naïve
I’m just out to find
The better part of me

I’m more than a bird, I’m more than a plane
I’m more than some pretty face beside a train
And it’s not easy to be me

I wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see

It may sound absurd, but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed, but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
And it’s not easy to be me

Up, up and away, away from me
Well, it’s all right, you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy or anything

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naïve
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside me
Inside me
Inside of me

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy
It’s not easy to be me

Songwriters: John Ondrasik

We are beautiful no matter what they say/
Words won’t bring us down.

Since this is a celebration of the top 500 songs of all-time, I don’t spend much time at all critiquing the songs. I like to celebrate the strengths of the songs. Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” has a couple weaknesses that makes it difficult to ignore. One is the over-exposure. That is no fault of the song. I feel I have heard it too many times. This is minor.

The main thing is Aguilera’s vocal. She has a great voice but her runs are SO over the top that they are distracting. If you have ever watched a singing competition on TV this is one of the worst aspects. They seem to equate “singing with emotion” with “doing a bunch of vocal runs”. This is one of the songs that inspired that trend.

Let’s talk about the good aspects of this song. Linda Perry wrote a song with a beautiful message and an even better melody. You might remember her from 4 Non-Blondes. That gives her two songs on this list. The piano is simple yet somehow is able to anchor the song.

The topic the song describes in the first verse is basically a panic attack. The narrator is feeling fine and then all of the sudden she can’t breathe—she feels ashamed and insecure. The remedy to this is to remember that she is beautiful. Awesome. I would love to hear a cover of this song.

Beautiful Lyrics

Don’t look at me…
Everyday is so wonderful,
Then suddenly,
It’s hard to breathe.
Now and then I get insecure,
From all the pain
I’m so ashamed.

I am beautiful.
No matter what they say,
Words can’t bring me down.
I am beautiful.
In every single way,
Yes words can’t bring me down.
Oh no,
So don’t you bring me down today.

To all your friends you’re delirious,
So consumed,
In all your doom, ooh.
Trying hard to fill the emptiness,
The pieces gone,
Left the puzzle undone.
Ain’t that the way it is…

You are beautiful.
No matter what they say,
Words can’t bring you down.
Oh no
You are beautiful
In every single way.
Yes words can’t bring you down
Oh no
So don’t you bring me down today.

No matter what we do (no matter what we do).
No matter what we say (no matter what we say).
We’re the song inside the tune (yeah, oh yeah).
Full of beautiful mistakes.

And everywhere we go (and everywhere we go),
The sun will always shine (the sun will always, always, shine).
And tomorrow we might awake,
On the other side.

‘Cause we are beautiful
No matter what they say,
Yes words won’t bring us down.
Oh no
We are beautiful
In every single way.
Yes words can’t bring us down.
Oh no,
So don’t you bring me down today.

Oh, oh oh
Don’t you bring me down today, yeah.
Don’t you bring me down, ooh
Today.

Songwriters: Linda Perry

If you leave me now you’ll take away the biggest part of me.

“If You Leave Me Now” is a very “Chicago” sounding song. Chicago is known for using a lot of brass instruments on their songs and “If You Leave Me Now” is no different. The intro is memorable and famous and features what I believe are French horns. The production on this song is very intricate. Note the lack of drums but the presence of a shaker! Cetera’s bassline is surprisingly complex and it gets lost in the orchestration. That is okay–bass is meant to be in the background most of the time.

Later-era Chicago featured the vocal stylings of Peter Cetera. This is one of later Chicago’s best songs if not their best song. Cetera has a pretty crazy range for a male vocalist and one of the more unique voices in rock.

The lyric is pretty straight forward: the narrator is asking his lover not to leave him. Both because it will hurt him and because of all the time they’ve put in. Also, because they might regret it tomorrow. Maybe not the best logical arguments but this is a love song not a logic class.

If You Leave Me Now Lyrics

If you leave me now you’ll take away the biggest part of me
No baby please don’t go
And if you leave me now you’ll take away the very heart of me
No baby please don’t go, no I just want you to stay

A love like ours is love that’s hard to find
How could we let it slip away?
We’ve come too far to leave it all behind
How could we end it all this way?
When tomorrow comes and we both regret
The things we said today

A love like ours is love that’s hard to find
How could we let it slip away?
We’ve come too far to leave it all behind
How could we end it all this way?
When tomorrow comes and we both regret
The things we said today

And if you leave me now you’ll take away the biggest part of me
No baby please don’t go, no baby please don’t go
Oh girl, I just got to have your lovin, yeah
No baby please don’t go, don’t go, don’t go

Songwriters: Peter Cetera