At the end of 2000 Merge 93 (KMRG in Dallas, Texas) picked Five For Fighting as their featured new artist for their New Years Eve Concert. At the time they were playing Easy Tonight on a fairly regular basis and I fell in love with the song almost immedaitely. It went to #1 on my AA and Rock Charts as did the followup, Superman. While I was enjoying this second track during the summer of 2001, it wasn't until after the tragedy of September 11th that the song took on a renewed life on the national scene. A New York firefighter heard the
song and called up the radio station to dedicate it to his fellow firefighters. It was soon adopted as an unofficial theme
of the New York City Fire Department. After that story was heard around the country during the concert for New York City and was performed there by John Ondrasik who is Five For Fighting, the song has become a mega-hit across the United States becoming the #1 song on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart in December 2001.
The song is an interesting take on the Superman legend. It asks the question - what if Superman got tired of being Superman and just wanted to be a regular guy. It is used as an analogy for the end of a relationship where the guy felt he had to be more than what he really was. Though he is saddened by the end of the relationship there is some relief that he can now be himself. I found the song very poignant and emotionally strong.
