"O Superman (For Massenet)" is a 1981 song by experimental performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson. Part of the larger work United States, "O Superman," a half-sung, half-spoken, almost minimalist piece unexpectedly rose to #2 on the UK Singles Charts in 1981. Much of Anderson's fame can be traced, directly or indirectly, to this song. Structure and release Anderson constructed the song as a cover of the aria "O Souverain, o juge, o père" (O Sovereign, O Juge, O Father) from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera Le Cid. She got the idea after listening to a recording of the aria made by African-American tenor Charles Holland, whose career was hampered for decades by racism in the classical music world. The first lines ("O Superman / O Judge / O Mom and Dad") especially echo the original aria ("O Souverain / o juge / o père"). (Susan McClary suggests in her book Feminine Endings that Anderson is also