Super Powers (by Ookla The Mok)

You ever have one of those days where you hear a song… and you just instantly associate images with it and it won’t get out of your head unless you actually make a video out of it? Maybe you haven’t by I have. While I was doing my “Top 10 Songs About Superheroes” list, I came across music from the band called Ookla the Mok. They’re famous for writing ultra-geeky songs about superheroes. I was torn between choosing three great songs for my list: “Stop Talking About Superheroes or I’ll Kill You,” “Arthur Curry,” and the subject of today’s video — “Super Powers.” It a fun little song about superhero origins, and half the fun is trying to figure out which superhero each verse refers to. Observe:

Top 10 Songs About Superheroes

Who doesn’t love songs about superheroes? They provide us with a healthy does of fun and nostalgia. Artists can treat the heroes as symbols. Or they can poke fun at how silly they are. A wide spectrum of musicians — from rap artists to indie bands to well-known rock acts — have performed songs about superheroes. Who wrote the best songs about superheroes?

In composing this list, I’ve tried to only have each superhero only appear once. This may not seem fair, but if I were to list superheroes more than once, Superman would appear on more than half the entries. That guy attracts songs like flies to honey.

Honorable mentions: Green Lantern, by Blue Harvest; The Riddler, by Method Man; Superman, by Goldfinger; The Ultimate Showdown for Ultimate Destiny, by Lemon Demon

#10 – XTC: That’s Really Super, Supergirl. Man, this song reeks of the 80’s. I mean, this song could be playing in one of those movies where career-minded women are trying to move up in the world, probably to support their supply of Aqua-Net and legwarmers. This song, by British pop band XTC, illustrates the typical dilemma when a man has a relationship with a woman who has superpowers. “How you stop the universe from dyin’/But you never gonna stop me cryin’…” So it’s the basic role reversal; Supergirl is saving the world but doesn’t have time for her man, who “Doesn’t feel super.” I guess if a girl band wanted to cover the song, they could change “Supergirl” to “Superman” without a hitch. I mean, it even mentions Kryptonite and the Fortress of Solitude and all, and most people associate that stuff with the Man of Steel in the first place.

#9 – Huang Pin-Yuan: Teen Titans. Some people are not going to agree with me, but I think this version by Taiwanese-born Huang Pin-Yuan is better than the original by Puffy AmiYumi. Mainly because Puffy AmiYumi is so sugary that if you listen to them for too long, you get diabetes. Huang doesn’t deviate too much from the original sound, and the words are in Chinese this time around, but I find the song overall to be far more tolerable. (And you know, I do like the peppy, anime-like theme song a lot.)

#8 – The Kinks: Catch Me Now I’m Falling. Iconic British band The Kinks write a song about Captain America… technically. It’s probably a symbolic call for the rest of the world to aid the US during the Oil Crisis in the late ’70s. “Now I’m calling all citizens from all over the world/this is Captain America calling./I built you up when you were down on your knees/so can you catch me now, I’m falling.” Still, it gives me the warm fuzzies to know that Cap is probably the only superhero that can represent the United States in a non-ironic sense, and that a highly respected band like the Kinks managed to work him into a song that’s relevant even today.

#7 – RBX, Snoop Dogg, & The Lady of Rage: Batman & Robin. “No one can save the day like Batman/Robin will make you sway like that and/Beat for Beat, rhyme for rhyme/Deep in Gotham, Fighting Crime.” This rap song by Snoop Dogg and friends is fun and upbeat. It shouldn’t be a surprise, the inspiration is the 60’s TV show. The song works in references to several of Batman’s rogue’s gallery: Two-Face, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and even Clayface and Mad Hatter. And you gotta love lyrics that go “Hit ’em with the POW! BAM! BIFF! Whoa,” complete with the thrilling trumpet blare. Righteous, Snoop. (As a side note, why does Batman, the grim and gritty hero, end up getting the fun songs, while songs about Superman end up making the Man of Steel sound like he’s the world’s most depressing man?)

#6 – Ookla the Mok: Stop Talkin’ About Comic Books or I’ll Kill You. Ookla the Mok is pretty much the nerdiest band ever. They’ve released several superhero-themed songs. They have songs about Aquaman (“Arthur Curry”) and Super Skrull (“Theme from Super Skrull”) for pete’s sake. Despite the title of “Stop Talkin’ About Comic Books…”, this is perhaps the song best tailored for basement-dwelling geeks. There’s several references to insider geek favorites that casual superhero fans (the ones weaned on movie) are not likely to pick up: the Spider-Man clone saga, Zero Hour, Jack Kirby’s DC run, the Overstreet Price Guide… and the piece de resistance, a final reference to The Invisibles, proving that the singer is even geekier than the person he is threatening to kill.

Movie Trailers That Should Have Been #5: Batman

Back in the ’60s, Adam West donned the cape and cowl and struck fear into the heart of absolutely no one. Strike that … the Batusi was pretty darn scary. It took until around the late 80’s-early 90’s for the Caped Crusader to return to his roots and drive criminals to being cowardly and superstitious. But what if the 60’s was less camp and more … gritty?

Out of all my Movie Trailers That Should Have Been, this one probably has the least amount of views on YouTube. I have a hard time seeing why. The trailer starts off with a black and white intro that harkens to the day of the serials from the 1940’s. Once it switches back into color, there is a definite James Bond feel. If I’d never seen the series, and I saw this trailer for the first time, I’d be convinced that the original Batman movie was an awesome action thriller and not some movie where Batman is running around a dock to make sure some cartoony bomb doesn’t blow up a bunch of ducks.

Also, the guy managed to make some sound clips from the Ceasar Romero Joker and the Burgess Meredith Penguin sound legitimately chilling, so that’s got to count for something.