Superman has long been a source for popular music, inspiring songs by artists from several generations to celebrate the "Man of Steel" or to delve into his character. Our Lady Peace and Five for Fighting interpreted the character as lonely, and burdened with the responsibility of protecting others. The Kinks focus on the aspirations of normal humans to emulate the character of Superman. Some examples of Superman-themed music include:

• "Sunshine Superman" (1965) by Donovan also mentions Green Lantern
• "Superman", a 2003 single by Eminem from his album The Eminem Show.
• "Hang In There Superman", written and performed by country singer Hal Ketchum in reaction to the accident which paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve.
• "Superman (It's Not Easy)" is also a popular 2000 single by the band Five for Fighting and is clearly sung from the point of view of Superman, although his name is never mentioned. The song became a popular anthem after the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.
• "Original Superman" by Christian band Pillar makes reference to how Jesus is superior to Superman ("Kryptonite can't slow him down. Nothing can at all.")
• "Superman" by Lazlo Bane appears as the theme song to the TV series Scrubs.
• "Superman" is the first song on the album Hang Ups by the band Goldfinger. The song was featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, on the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and PC.
• Superman is central to the 2000 hit "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down, which mentions him explicitly: "If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?"
• "Superman" is the title of a song first recorded by The Clique in 1969, and later made famous when R.E.M. covered it on their 1986 album Lifes Rich Pageant.
• The Crash Test Dummies' first hit single was the song, "Superman's Song", which is sung like a funeral dirge . The song compares Superman to Tarzan.
• The Kinks had a hit song called "Superman" in which the chorus is sung, "I wish I could fly like Superman."
• Matchbox Twenty alludes to Superman in one of their early hits, "Real World," which has the lines "I wonder what it's like to be a superhero / I wonder where I'd go if I could fly around downtown / From some other planet, I get this funky high on a yellow sun."
• Genesis mentions Superman in their song "Land of Confusion": "Ooh Superman, where are you now/ when everything's going wrong somehow?/ The men of steel, the men of power/ are losing control by the hour."
• American pop-punk band Trusty sings from the point of view of a washed-up, powerless Superman in "Kal-El".
• Our Lady Peace has had two songs which refer to Superman, "Superman's Dead" and "Made of Steel", which mention the listener wanting a "hero" and that the speaker isn't "made of steel", alluding to Superman's nickname, the "Man of Steel".
• "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" is a single from the Spin Doctors 1991 CD, Pocket Full of Kryptonite. The song is written from the perspective of Jimmy Olsen, who is in love with Lois Lane and is jealous of Superman's attention. The album has a phone booth on the cover.
• Miguel Bosé had a song in English titled "Superman" during the 1970s.
• The Flaming Lips featured two versions of a song called "Waitin' for a Superman" on their 1999 album The Soft Bulletin.
• Barbra Streisand's 1976 album Streisand Superman, which features Streisand coyly posing on the cover in a t-shirt with the Superman logo on it.
• Luna Halo also wrote a song named "Superman."
• Laurie Anderson wrote "O Superman" 1n 1981.
• Travis Tritt performed a song called "Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof," which compared being drunk to feeling like the Man of Steel. The song also mentioned that when he picks a fight, he tends to "find that my opponent's / holding kryptonite."
• Superman is mentioned in "No More Lonely Nights" by The Heads with Malin Anneteg

For other songs named "Superman," see List of sets of unrelated songs with identical titles.

Other songs, which seem to have a subtle Superman connection, may or may not be directly about the comic hero:

• "Hero" is the name of a song by Chad Kroeger. The opening line, "I'm so high, I can hear heaven," may refer to Superman's ability to fly. The remainder of the song, however, seems to speaks more generally about heroes. Since the song is played in the film, Spider-Man, many assume the lyrics pertain to that specific character. This song was written as the theme for Smallville, but was rejected by the producers in favor of "Save Me" by Remy Zero.
• "Ordinary", by Greg Jones, includes a chorus in which the speaker sings "I'm much too strange for this ordinary world," after a verse saying "just focus on clouds, and blue sky", possibly a reference to Superman's ability to fly.
• "Walk the Sky," by Fuel, refers in very general terms to Superman, with the speaker declaring "My skin is my shield," mentioning "wings that are kryptonite," and saying that "I'm thinking of trying to fly...I'll walk the sky."
• Another Fuel song, "Falls on Me," seems to be spoken from the perspective of a hero who finds himself isolated, declaring "I might change your life/I might save my world/would you save me?"
• Certain artists seem to have a great degree of adulation for Superman. 3 Doors Down is one of the most prominent (they have confessed their regard for the character on multiple occasions); besides the aforementioned "Kryptonite," their song "When I'm Gone" may refer to him as well. It may be written as a song towards Superman's own love, as the speaker says "They're secrets in this life that I can't hide," and saying that "everything in me wants to be the one you wanted me to be" and "I'll never let you down," a direct connection to Kryptonite's lyrics "I never let you down." Their song "Let Me Go" may have some tenuous connection to Superman's childhood friend Lana Lang, who he confessed his secret to but said because of it he could never be with her, before heading out into the world on his own; the lyrics "you love me but you don't know who I am," "this world falls on me," and "when all the pieces fall apart you will be the only one who know" all seem to be from Clark Kent's perspective as he says goodbye to Lana.