The Supermen

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The final song on The Man Who Sold the World was inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and H. P. Lovecraft. Bowie later said of the song’s apocalyptic themes: I… Read More

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The Supermen Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When all the world was very young
And mountain magic heavy hung
The supermen would walk in file
Guardians of a loveless isle
And gloomy browed with superfear
Their tragic endless lives could heave nor sigh
In solemn, perverse serenity
Wondrous beings chained to life

[Chorus 1]
Strange games they would play then
No death for the perfect men
Life rolls into one for them
So softly a supergod cries

[Verse 2]
Where all were minds in uni-thought
Powers weird by mystics taught
No pain, no joy, no power too great
Colossal strength to grasp a fate
Where sad-eyed mermen tossed in slumbers
Nightmare dreams no mortal mind could hold
A man would tear his brother's flesh
A chance to die, to turn to mold

[Chorus 2]
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod cries
Far out in the red-sky
Far out from the sad eyes
Strange, mad celebration
So softly a supergod dies

About

The final song on The Man Who Sold the World was inspired by the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche and H. P. Lovecraft. Bowie later said of the song’s apocalyptic themes:

I was still going through the thing when I was pretending that I understood Nietzsche… And I had tried to translate it into my own terms to understand it so “Supermen” came out of that."

— from Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story

The guitar riff was given to Bowie by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page after he had played on the early song, “I Pity the Fool”. The same riff was later used in 1997 on “Dead Man Walking”, from Earthling.