Marvel Superheroes On Song And In Tune

When they’re not busy saving the world and battling enough emotional insecurities to fill a small country there’s a whole host of Marvel superheroes who’ve appeared in popular song – let’s take a look at a select few.

Black Sabbath – “Iron Man”

It may be the most obvious but it couldn’t really be left of the list could it? Well it could, because Black Sabbath’s riff-riddled epic was not really written about the Marvel character at all.

Ozzy Osbourne originally titled the song “Iron Bloke,” which has a very British ring to it but doesn’t really translate well when striving to capture the playboy lifestyle of billionaire Tony Stark.

Nevertheless, although the song is actually about a man who travels to the end of time, sees the apocalypse and rushes back to warn mankind, only to get turned to iron on the way and eventually deciding to kill us all, it will forever be associated with the Marvel character. Especially since the first Iron Man film features the song.

Paul McCartney and Wings – “Magneto and Titanium Man”

It’s a little know fact that Macca is a huge Marvel fan, as this B-side song to 1975 Wings single “Venus and Mars/Rock Show” aptly demonstrates. As a song, “Magneto and Titanium Man” is not really in the same league as “Hey Jude,” but how can you argue with such emotive lyrics as, “You couldn’t be bad, Magneto was mad! Titanium too! And the Crimson Dynamo just couldn’t cut it no more, you were the law…” Strewth Paul! What you been smoking?

The Wedding Present – “Spiderman On Hollywood”

The Wedding Present’s singer David Gedge isn’t a million miles removed from Peter Parker. They both have self obsessions with rejection, inadequacy and loneliness and never seem to get the girl.

In “Spiderman On Hollywood,” the webbed wonder is referenced purely in terms of the multi-faceted illusions of love. Here’s a sample snippet for you, “I thought I saw a superhero but it was just Spiderman in Hollywood, I thought I saw a supermodel but she had hair where I don’t think she should, Yes, things can be a parody of what they first appear to be.” Pass the Prozac if you please.

Rancid – “Sidekick”

You always get the impression with a character like Wolverine that he’s a bit of a punk rocker at heart, which makes Rancid’s tribute to him even more apt.

The song “Sidekick” is a pretty much a wish fulfillment exercise on behalf of fanboys everywhere. It starts with the lines, “I had i dream I was a vigilante sidekick, my name is Tim I’m a lesser known character.”

It then goes on to explain how the “Sidekick” and Wolverine go on to right the wrongs caused by urban decay. Let’s hope One Direction never decide to cover it.

Country Joe & The Fish – “Superbird”

And the award for the most superheroes featured in one song goes to 1960’s hippies Country Joe & The Fish.

Granted they do mention Superman who belongs not to the Marvel universe, but that other camp (whisper it) DC, but the psychedelic rockers also name check Dr. Strange and the Fantastic Four.

The song basically revolves around kicking President Lyndon B. Johnson out of government and back to Texas to work on his ranch.

Of course the rockabilly revolutionaries are only able to do this with the help of Marvel’s heroes to help the much despised LBJ on his way.

[Featured Image by VCG/VCG via Getty Images]