BitterSweetLife

(One for Clark Kent)*
*Words to a bittersweet song, © 2004, Ariel Vanderhorst

Superman's starring on the radio,
but not a word about Clark Kent.
Clark’s in the office working late tonight,
over a spreadsheet he is bent
by the weight of things that he can’t see,
the kind of things you just can’t fight.
He gets up and he closes the door
and his head falls in his hands.
He’s discovered what we all ignore:
You can’t always be Superman.

You can’t always be Superman,
you can’t always win,
when you’re just a man.
We always see you flying to the rescue
but once in awhile it’s no sin
to let somebody rescue you.

Now Clark’s at Hy-Vee buying groceries,
grabs macaroni and some greens,
drives home and throws them in the microwave,
but when they’re done he just can’t eat.
He thinks about the boy he used to be
and all the things that’ve changed since then.
He never thought that he’d still feel alone,
still like a child with no friends.

You can’t always be Superman,
you can’t always win,
when you’re just a man.
We always see you flying to the rescue
but once in awhile it’s no sin
to let somebody rescue you.

You can’t always just fly away,
sometimes you have to stay
and step outside the cape,
and step out of the sky.
So try and have a dream,
a dream where you can’t fly.
You can build yourself a better life, you know you can,
because you can’t always be Superman.

Clark Kent lay down, picked up the phone,
and then he dialed Lois out of town.
When she picked up, he said,
“Honey, can you talk to me?
Tonight I’m feeling kind of down.”