It's
Not Easy To Be Me
(Disclaimer: Superman and
all related characters are property of DC Comics.)
(The song is Superman
by Five For Fighting. I just had to write this after hearing this song. But
oddly, it was a different Superman that came to my mind.)
I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
I'm just out to find
The better part of me
So now he's back.
He's been out of the
public eye, officially retired, for more than twenty years now. A lot of the
people he knew are dead and gone. So now he just comes back?
I'm more than a bird…I'm more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It's not easy to be me
And what happens to me now? What am I supposed
to do? Can't go back to being Superboy again, can I?
Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I'll never see
I understood why he left. Lois had died, and
without her, he had lost his anchor. People forget that the "Man" is just as
important as the "Super." He needed to reconnect with the human part of himself
for a while.
I understand that.
What I don't understand is
why he came back.
It may sound absurd…but don't be naive
Even Heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed…but won't you conceed
Even Heroes have the right to dream
It's not easy to be me
But we had to have a Superman. Maybe I should
have asked him, before I took over. Gotten his official approval, that kind of
thing. But the world couldn't wait. Every moment I hesitated, people—maybe a
few, maybe thousands, or millions—were dying somewhere. There had to be a
Superman.
It was my greatest dream.
So why did it feel so wrong?
Up, up and away…away from me
It's all right…You can all sleep sound tonight
I'm not crazy…or anything…
It took me years to finally get over my
"substitute Superman" complex. Years before I felt comfortable in the role. It
wasn't like I stole anything, really. Somebody had to do it.
And then just when I
finally got used to being Superman . . . Superman came back.
I can't stand to fly
I'm not that naive
Men weren't meant to ride
With clouds between their knees
All of a sudden, I was the little kid at the
grownups' table. Thanks for filling in, you can go home now. So what? I'm
supposed to just step aside and let him have it all again? After I've worked so
hard for so long to get the respect I deserve, he comes and takes it away from
me. How could he do this to me?
Why didn't you stay dead,
you bastard?
I'm only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
It's not easy to be me.
