Sunday Song Lyric

By popular request ....

So comics characters have been adapted ino a variety of other media, from film to television to prose to broadway musical to ... rock opera narrated by Stan Lee?

Yes, it's true.

Back in 1975, Marvel released the following gem:

(That's a clickable link that takes you to Amazon, by the way -- in case you want to buy your own).

Through a series of tracks that alternate between songs and spoken-word narration (provided by Stan Lee!), the album takes the listener through Peter's origin -- the Spider-bite, the brief show-biz career, the burglar. It then introduces us (and Peter) to Gwen -- and Dr. Octopus and the Green Goblin! The climax of the album comes when (spoiler alert!) Gwen is murdered by the Goblin atop th Brooklyn Bridge.

Step inside the jump and I'll give you some of the lyrics.

Here are the lyrics to "Spider-Man"

Oh, what is this change
within my being
it feels so strange
like I'm skiing

With the ground so far below me
a natural high
Nothing now can hold me
I can fly

Once I was nothing but a failure
now I know
just who I am
Spider-Man

Once I was helpless
now I rescue those who need me
when I can
Spider-Man

I must be blind
to see this clearly
to speak my name
where none can hear me

I still can't quite believe it
Soaring free
Someone should exceed this guilt
why not me?

Once I was changed in my existence
now I know
just who I am
Spider-Man

Once I was helpless
now I rescue those who need me
when I can
Spider-Man

Most of the music is surprisingly good. "Spider-Man," for example, is a pretty decent take on a Jackson Browne-esque tune, and "Gwendolyn" is pure doo-wop (more than anything, it reminds me of "Beauty School Dropout" from Grease). Dr. Octopus has an psychedelic-rock sound to it that may well have been lifted directly from the Who's "Acid Queen." All of the musical tracks betray similar origins in existing music -- there's not an original note on the album -- but the lifts are all well done.

The lyrics? Well, let's just say the ones I posted are among the better lyrics on the album. The lyricists -- and the liner notes indicate that there were an army of them, mostly employees of the record label -- are clearly not bucking for spots in the Rock & Roll Hall of fame.

Since this Sunday Sog Lyric seems to have morphed into a review, I'll close out by saying that this is probably not an album you will listen to for anything other than its novelty value. But it's a fun novelty album, and the music is eminently listenable.

Posted by Jason Fliegel at May 13, 2007 12:29 PM