By Andy Meek
Contributing Writer
On June 19, Five for Fighting will be in Memphis as the opening act for the Goo Goo Dolls. On a recent afternoon, John Ondrasik, lead singer of the band, spoke to The Daily Helmsman via telephone.
The Daily Helmsman: What do you think the special thing is about “Superman” that’s made it an anthem for so many people?
Ondrasik: Well, you know, we noticed long before Sept. 11 that the song really seemed to touch people of all ages, all sexes, all cultures, I mean it’s a song that’s traveled the world. I get emails from Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and that song just touches people. I think probably it’s just a common theme, it’s a very simple theme, that no matter what people expect us to be or what we want to be for ourselves, at the end of the day we’re just human. I think whether you’re 5 years old, 13 years old, grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, college kid — I think that everybody feels that pressure sometimes to be something for everybody, and at the end of the day we just can’t. I think everybody can pick up on that.
DH: Do you ever get worried that the success of that song might overshadow your future work as an artist?
Ondrasik: It will. (laughs) It just will, that’s the nature of songs like that. Sometimes that stuff can be a little annoying, because people will, frankly, misstate the facts. I mean, a lot of people think that song became a big hit because of Sept. 11. I think it raised it’s profile, but the song was doing very well before that, and I think the song touches people in contexts besides Sept. 11. But you know what? It doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day, that’s really trivial and silly. If it overshadows some of my other songs, if people say for the rest of my life “you haven’t written another “Superman”—for me, it’s just my ego. Compared to what that song’s meant for the world and especially our country, my ego’s a very small thing, and I think it’s kind of trivial. So I’m just happy the song was there when people really needed it, and I’m happy U2 songs were there when people needed them. I think it’s really reminded me about the nature of music and how powerful music can be in people’s lives.
DH: What direction do you see yourself heading down in your career?
Ondrasik: You know, I don’t know. It is the music business, so as fast as it comes, it can as easily go away, especially for songwriters. I don’t know how to write a hit. When I wrote this record, I never expected anybody to hear it. I’m just gonna try to make good records and hopefully people will take them to heart and I’ll try to be honest and write about what I’m feeling and seeing, and if I can do this for another 10 years, I would be blessed. At the end of the day, I just write them, and the rest is up to the world.
