Superman (It's Not Easy)

Last updated

"Superman (It's Not Easy)"
Superman Five for Fighting standard cover.png
Artwork used for most releases
Single by Five for Fighting
from the album America Town
ReleasedApril 16, 2001 (2001-04-16)
Studio
Genre
Length3:42
Label
Songwriter(s) John Ondrasik
Producer(s) Gregg Wattenberg
Five for Fighting singles chronology
"Easy Tonight"
(2000)
"Superman (It's Not Easy)"
(2001)
"Easy Tonight"
(2002)
Music video
"Superman (It's Not Easy)" on YouTube

Certifications

Certifications and sales for "Superman (It's Not Easy)"
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [24] Platinum70,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [21] Platinum30,000
United States (RIAA) [16] Gold500,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Superman (It's Not Easy)"
RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
United StatesApril 16, 2001 Adult alternative radio [44]
April 23, 2001 [45]
April 24, 2001 Alternative radio [46]
AustraliaFebruary 4, 2002CD [47]
United KingdomMay 20, 2002 [48]

"Superman" has been covered multiple times by various artists. The song was covered by shadow musician Catman Cohen in 2005 via CD, How I Want to Live: the Catman Chronicles 2. [49] In his 2010 comedy tour, Conan O'Brien sang a cover of the song by himself before Jim Carrey appeared in a Superman suit to sing a duet with O'Brien. [50] Australian comedy rock trio the Axis of Awesome parodied this song with a new song, "Birdplane". This song turned out to affect the band, as it represented Jordan Raskopoulos and her transgender transition. [51]

The song has also been used in multiple television programs. It was aptly featured in Smallville , a coming-of-age series focused on the adventures of teenage Clark Kent. [52] A cover of the song by Briana Lee was used in the series finale of the television show Code Black . [53] [54]

In 2011, the song was used to honor the memory of hockey player and former Vancouver Canuck, Rick Rypien at Rogers Arena, Vancouver. Rypien committed suicide in the summer of 2011 after a lengthy battle with depression. [55]

References

  1. Five for Fighting, "America Town" CD jacket. Columbia Records, 2000.
  2. Varias, Chris (April 6, 2018). "Cincinnati Pops gets Five for Fighting". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved October 25, 2020. But things have changed industry-wide not only since the last decade when Ondrasik was cranking out soft-rock hits like "Superman (It's Not Easy)," "100 Years" and "The Riddle" under his stage name Five for Fighting.
  3. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation (July 1, 2002). Pop/Rock. Hal Leonard. p. 199. ISBN   978-0-634-05059-6.
  4. 1 2 "Five for Fighting sings 9/11 anthem "Superman"". CBS News . September 10, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  5. CBS News staff (January 4, 2002). "Complete List Of Grammy Nominees". CBS News . Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  6. "Superman (It's Not Easy) by Five for Fighting". Songfacts. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  7. Wiser, Carl (November 2, 2015). "John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  8. "Adult Pop Airplay" . Billboard . May 26, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Five for Fighting Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  10. 1 2 "Five for Fighting Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  11. "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. September 1, 2001. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "Five for Fighting Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  13. 1 2 "Five for Fighting Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  14. 1 2 "Five for Fighting Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  15. 1 2 "The Year in Music 2002: Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 114, no. 52. December 28, 2002. p. YE-96. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  16. 1 2 "American single certifications – Five for Fighting – Superman (It_s Not Easy)". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  17. 1 2 "Canadian Top 20 in 2001" (PDF). Cross Canada Countdown. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2005. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  18. 1 2 "Top 100 top played radio tracks in Canada in 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  19. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)". Top 40 Singles.
  20. 1 2 "End of Year Charts 2002". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  21. 1 2 "New Zealand single certifications – Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)". Radioscope. Retrieved January 4, 2025.Type Superman (It's Not Easy) in the "Search:" field.
  22. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  23. 1 2 "ARIA Top 100 Singles for 2002". ARIA . Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  24. 1 2 "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  25. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)". Top Digital Download.
  26. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)". VG-lista.
  27. 1 2 "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 12, 2002" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  28. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  29. 1 2 "Five for Fighting – Superman (It's Not Easy)" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  30. 1 2 "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  31. "Top 50 Singles, Week Ending 13 June 2002". Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  32. "Top 50 Singles, Week Ending 25 July 2002". Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
  33. 1 2 "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Superman (It's Not Easy)". Irish Singles Chart.
  34. 1 2 "Top 100 Songs of 2002". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2002. Archived from the original on June 2, 2004. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  35. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  36. "BDS CHART : Top 100 of 2001". Jam!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2002. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  37. "The Year in Music 2001: Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 52. December 29, 2001. p. YE-82. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  38. "Most-Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 2001". Airplay Monitor . Vol. 9, no. 51. December 21, 2001. p. 60.
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  42. "Most-Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 2002". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 10, no. 51. December 20, 2002. p. 12.
  43. "Year in Music: Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 115, no. 52. December 27, 2003. p. YE-80. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  44. "Adult Alternative: Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records . No. 1397. April 13, 2001. p. 121. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  45. "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1398. April 20, 2001. pp. 89, 94. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  46. "Alternative: Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1398. April 20, 2001. p. 118. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  47. "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 04/02/2002" (PDF). ARIA. February 4, 2002. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2002. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  48. "New Releases – For Week Starting 20 May 2002: Singles" (PDF). Music Week . May 18, 2002. p. 27. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  49. "How I Want to Live: the Catman Chronicles 2". Allmusic.com .
  50. "Conan O'Brien & Jim Carrey Perform Superman Live" . Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  51. "The Axis of Awesome". Brag Magazine – Everything Sydney. April 27, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  52. "Smallville – 'Stray' – Soundtracks". IMDB.com.
  53. "iTunes Code Black Season 3 - Single - Superman". iTunes.com.
  54. "Facebook post about the cover of the song by Five For Fighting". Facebook.com.
  55. "Rick Rypien gone, but not forgotten by Vancouver Canucks". nationalpost.com. Retrieved September 2, 2021.