Songs Inspired by Stan Lee’s Characters

Stan Lee at Tokyo Comic Con 2016.

On Monday, the world lost one of its brightest storytelling minds. Stan Lee, creator of many of Marvel’s most iconic superheroes, passed away at the age of 95.

With a career spanning more than seven decades, almost everyone has been inspired by Lee’s characters, including musicians. There are many songs referencing the likes of Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man and the Hulk.

In honor of Stan Lee’s life, Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a look at some of the songs that took inspiration from his characters. Here are five that show the reach of Lee’s work. (Note: Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” is not about the character, so it is not on this list.)

1.       Ramones, “Spider-Man”: Quintessential New York punk band the Ramones covered the theme to the 1967 ‘Spider-Man’ cartoon for their final album, ‘iAdios Amigos!,’ in 1995. Surely fans of the original program, the song is done with the same kind of raw, “short, fast and loud” style as their originals. Ramones would find themselves associated with the web-slingging superhero again in 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’ (video)

2.       Joe Satriani, “Surfing With The Alien”: The title track to Joe Satriani’s “Surfing With The Alien,” was written about Stan Lee / Jack Kirby hero the Silver Surfer. The song ended up giving him his big break, cementing him as one of the best guitarists of all time. Satriani also controversially put a picture of the character on the front cover of the album. (video)

3.       Paul McCartney & Wings, “Magneto And Titanium Man”: Paying homage to a couple of Lee’s villains, Paul MCartney and Wings included “Magneto and Titanium Man” as a B-Side to their “Venus and Mars”/ “Rock Show” single. McCartney is a big fan of Marvel Comics and was inspired to write the song after purchasing comic books during recording sessions in Jamaica in the 1970s. (video)

4.       The Traits, “Nobody Loves The Hulk”: This 1969 garage-rock track tells the story of how the Hulk came to be and how no one loves him because of how he looks. The song makes you sympathize with the character, after all, its not his fault he giant, green and menacing. (video)

5.       The Black Lips, “Spidey’s Curse”: Written in 2011 about a 1984 PSA, The Black Lips’ “Spidey’s Curse” is about Spider-Man alter-ego Peter Parker being inappropriately touched as a teen. The story is told pretty faithfully in the song, with the narrator commenting that he never knew the story of Spider-Man was so dark. Then, the song breaks the fourth wall to let the listener know that they are talking about a PSA that the narrator was shown by his teacher and that the song becomes about how that comic made him feel. (video)

Stan Lee has created some of the most beloved characters in both comic book and animation history. So many musicians have been inspired by his work and have written songs about his characters (like the ones above). With such a prolific library of stories and characters that have been inspiring artists and fans for decades, Stan Lee’s legacy will continue to live on. Excelsior!

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Find more music from these Marvel-inspired artists at Vinyl Bay 777. As Long Island’s top new independent record shop, we have thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs and memorabilia in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, you never know what you might find at Vinyl Bay 777.