Superman

"Superman"
Alone IV cover art
Demo by Rivers Cuomo
Album	Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years
Released	November 11, 2020 - on Alone IV October 25, 2024 - as a digital single
Recorded	May 1992
Length	2:01
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
RC#	141
Rivers Cuomo song chronology
"Too Good for Me" (RC# 140) "Superman" (RC# 141) "Why Are We?" (RC# 142)

"Superman" (also demoed as "The Road My Father Paved") is a song by Rivers Cuomo.

Appearances

• Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years (2020)
• Alone V: Before Weezer (2020)
• Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe) (2024)

Overview

"Superman" was recorded by Cuomo in May of 1992. Cuomo also recorded a version around the same time with alternate lyrics, under the title "The Road My Father Paved." The song is known to have been practiced by Weezer during rehearsal on at least one occasion in June 1992, which was released on the 30th Anniversary Deluxe edition of The Blue Album. Scans of handwritten lyrics were made available to fans by Cuomo in 2002 through the Grand File on riverscuomo.com, including lyrics for "The Road My Father Paved." The song would not be heard by fans until it was leaked online through the site's demo storefront on November 7, 2020. The song was then sold to a single user when the storefront officially launched a few days later on November 11, before being sold to all users as part of the digital compilation Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years on November 22.

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
• Jason Cropper – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Matt Sharp – bass guitar
• Patrick Wilson – percussion

Lyrics

• 

  Handwritten lyrics for "Superman"

• 

  Handwritten lyrics for "The Road My Father Paved"

I will be your Superman
Under the water
Swimmin' with the fishies, now
Looking for father

Yeah

I will be your Superman
Watch me explode
[...]
What you know, now!

I’m fearing dependency
And I'm running out the door
Gonna find your last name, babe
If it kills me more and more

Love is pain and what will be remains

I will be up in the
Yellow Pages
You will find my advertisement
In the Green Book

I’m fearing dependency (dependency)
And I'm running out the door (running out the door)
Looking for the road my father paved fifteen years ago

Hoping that you are going to call me
Hoping that you are going to call me
On the phone

I would be your Superman
And watch me explode
I'll give you what you need now
And what you know
Yeah, yeah

And if you look me up in the
Yellow Pages
You will see my advertisement
In the Green Book

I’m fearing dependency
And I'm running back for more
Gonna find your last name, babe
If it kills me more and more

Love is pain and what will be remains

I will be your Aquaman
Under the water
Swimmin' with the fishies, now
Looking for father

I’m fearing dependency
And I'm running back for more
Lookin' for your mama’s Superman
Heading back for more

Love is pain and what will be remains
To be seen in the distant future
Looking for the meaning of it all
Hoping that you are going to call me
On the telephone so fast now
Go, go

It's a fine day for a walk
Or a bike ride
I grab my hat, my cigarettes
And step outside
Little birds fly down to me
Sit on my shoulder
Say to me; "What's up witchoo?
You're looking older" I say;
"I'm fearing dependency
So I'm walking out the door
I'm looking for the road my father made 15 years ago"

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Superman	10 Superman.mp3	Spring 1992		2:11	Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years
Rivers Cuomo	Superman	Superman      3.mp3	Spring 1992		2:10	Alone V: Before Weezer	Slightly different mix; added to bundle November 11, 2021
Rivers Cuomo	The Road My Father Paved		Spring 1992
Weezer	Superman		June 1992	2226 Amherst Ave., Los Angeles, CA	2:01	Weezer (The Blue Album) (30th Anniversary Deluxe)	Taped practice. Mix of lyrics from prior versions

See also

• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs
• Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years
• Alone V: Before Weezer