Buy Superman - The Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The Superman the Movie Soundtrack was composed by John Williams who worked with director Richard Donner to score the 1978 film Superman. The score's heroic and romantic themes, particularly the main march, the Superman fanfare and the love theme, known as "Can You Read My Mind," would appear in the four subsequent sequel films. Williams is responsible for many movie themes including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and many more.

In 2006, Superman Returns was released, under the direction of Bryan Singer, best known for directing the first two movies in the X-Men series. Singer did not request Williams to compose a score for the new movie; instead, he employed the skills of X2 composer John Ottman to honorably incorporate Williams' original Superman theme, as well as those for "Lois Lane" and "Smallville". Don Davis performed a similar role for Jurassic Park III, recommended to the producers by Williams himself. (Film scores by Ottman and to a lesser extent Davis are often compared to those of Williams, as both use similar styles of composition.)

Jerry Goldsmith, who scored Donner's The Omen, was originally set to compose Superman. Portions of Goldsmith's work from Capricorn One were used in Superman's teaser trailer. He dropped out over scheduling conflicts and John Williams was hired. Kidder was supposed to sing "Can You Read My Mind", the lyrics to which were written by Leslie Bricusse, but Donner disliked it and changed it to a composition accompanied by a voiceover.

Editorial Review
John Williams's epic score. The composer's Oscar-nominated music (coming on the heels of Star Wars and Close Encounters) was a wall-to-wall heroic symphony, rife with memorable melodies and ominous arrangements. Almost every original cut on this soundtrack appears in an expanded version, supplemented by nearly a dozen previously unreleased cues and alternate takes. Featuring a deluxe slipcase and extensive, new liner notes, this is the definitive release of one of Maestro Williams's greatest scores. --Jerry McCulley

Can You Read My Mind

Can You Read My Mind is the love theme from the 1978 film Superman, with music by John Williams and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

The music is a theme for Lois Lane, whose role in the film was performed by Margot Kidder. It was originally recorded as a pop-influenced piece, but as the original version might have dated the picture, a more orchestrated version was used for the final film.

It has been said that either Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters) or Toni Tennille (Captain and Tennille) were originally considered to perform the vocal, but there is no existing proof that either one actually did it. What is known is that the producers of Superman tried to get Margot Kidder herself to actually sing it but, according to Richard Donner's commentary track for the Superman DVD, "it didn't sound right". So it was decided that Kidder would recite the lyrics, and this vocal track is what was used for the final film version.

Shortly after the film's release, Maureen McGovern recorded the song proper for the hit single version, which did not appear in the film.

The soundtrack album by Rhino Movie Music contains four versions of "Can You Read My Mind" - the film version with and without vocal (as part of "The Flying Sequence" medley), and two alternate "pop versions", also with and without vocal. Alternate mixes of the "pop version" appear on both the supplementary section of the Superman DVD and the 2008 Film Score Monthly compilation set Superman: The Music (1978-1988).

An instrumental orchestral version with the London Symphony Orchestra (titled "Love Theme From Superman") was recorded for the original 1978 double LP Superman soundtrack as a "concert piece" and had not been intended for use in the movie, but during the film's post-production the final credits ran longer than expected (seven-and-a-half minutes), so to fill the extra time the piece was the last music cue used in the film.

 Buy Superman: The Movie - Original Sound Track

Customer Review -
Abridged "Super-Saver" album is still super, man.....
Before Rhino Records released the 2-CD soundtrack album a few years ago, this single disc 1990 edition was the only version of the John Williams' composed-and-conducted soundtrack for Superman: The Movie. Featuring the exciting Theme from Superman and the romantic "Love Theme" as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, this somewhat abridged album is still worth listening to, even though the newer (and more expensive) version is better.

Superman: The Movie's original double album and cassette editions had 16 tracks, but when this CD was first published 14 years ago there was a "super saver" (no pun intended) trend of releasing soundtrack albums with fewer tracks to sell the CDs at a lower price. In the case of Superman, the cues "Growing Up" (heard mostly in the scene where young Clark Kent kicks a football into the stratosphere, then outraces a train) and "Lex Luthor's Lair" were deleted. The latter track is not missed -- the thematic material omitted is reprised in "The March of the Villains" -- but "Growing Up" was one of my favorite cues, starting out with a gentle statement of the "Superman Fanfare" which segues first into an ascending motif that suggests the flight of that kicked football and concludes with music that conveys the power of that speeding locomotive and the even faster superhero-to-be.

The tracks are arranged more or less in the sequence in which they appear in the film, but as is common practice on albums of the genre some cues are spliced together because they sound good on the record. The major differences between the original 1978 soundtrack (and this first CD) and the Rhino/Warner Archives reissue are:

1. The tracks on the 2-CD re-release follow the film's storyline precisely. This is also the case on other Nick Redman-produced projects such as The Special Edition albums of the original Star Wars Trilogy and the Raiders of the Lost Ark CD release.

2. Track 5, which should have been "Growing Up," is "Love Theme From Superman." The 2001 re-release features the love theme after the main end title march, since it is played as underscore for what is one of the longest credits rolls in movie history.

3. Track 1, Theme from Superman (Main Title) is not the same cue heard either in the film or on the Rhino re-release. It's actually the shorter concert hall version. It lacks the subtle woodwind introduction and the longer, more dramatic buildup to the Main Title, and it is included in the 2-CD edition as a bonus track.

4. The Flying Sequence and Margot Kidder's "Can You Read My Mind" vocal (which was also covered as a song by Melissa Manchester but not in any soundtrack) appears on this abridged version right after The Fortress of Solitude, but is presented as a bonus track on the Rhino re-release. (There was another, unused "pop" version which was wisely not used in either the final film or the original recordings, but owners of the Special Edition DVD or the longer soundtrack can hear and compare it to the LSO/Kidder version.)

Even though film score (and John Williams) aficionados prefer the latest version of the Superman: The Movie soundtrack, this "super-saver" edition is still enjoyable. The LSO is one of the world's greatest classical ensembles and has provided musical firepower to such films as the Star Wars saga and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and under the direction of Williams at the height of his powers, its performance of this score will make the listener believe that a man can, indeed, fly.
 

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