"O Superman" by Laurie Anderson

Submission 3,416

About

"O Superman" by Laurie Anderson, also known on TikTok by the lyrics Well You Don't Know Me, is a song recorded in 1981 for the album Big Science. The song, which is largely about war and communication, was a hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at the number two spot on the UK Singles Charts that year. It went viral on TikTok in late 2023, inspiring a slideshow trend where users share evidence that they believe points to the existence of reincarnation. The song also inspired videos where users allude to its darker meaning and share the claim that it was serial killer Dennis Nilson's favorite song.

Origin

"O Superman" was released on February 1st, 1981 by performance artist and musician Laurie Anderson (shown below).^[1] The song hit the number 2 spot on the UK Singles Chart that year and was ranked one of the top 10 tracks of the year by NME^[2] in 2016. Anderson has described the song as being about "arms and planes" in connection to the Iran hostage crisis, with some describing it as a song about "technology and communication."^[3]^[4]^[5] The song's Genius page describes it as "a cryptic song, with lyrics warning against the U.S. reliance on a strong military presence worldwide."

Well, you don't know me, but I know you
And I've got a message to give to you
Here come the planes
So you better get ready, ready to go
You can come as you are, but pay as you go, pay as you go

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2023 TikTok Resurgence

On November 22nd, 2023, TikToker^[6] @dentedmilk posted a video set to a section of the song where Anderson sings, "Well you don't know me, but I know you, and I've got a message," in which she stares at an old photograph of her great great grandmother, highlighting their resemblances, garnering over 4.4 million views in two weeks (shown below).

She’s my great great grandmother who died in 1923 during childbirth. I’m around her age, 100 years later. Her name is Jessie.

The original sound was used over 50,000 times in the same span of time. On November 27th, TikToker^[7] @charli_chavarria posted a video where she encourages viewers to look up the meaning of the song, garnering over 1.8 million views in a week (shown below, left). On December 3rd, TikToker^[8] @ghostfacepanda333 posted a video sharing the claim that the song was listened to by serial killer Dennis Nilsen on repeat for hours while hunting for victims and hyping himself up before his murders, garnering over 1.1 million views in four days (shown below, right).

"Well You Don't Know Me" Coincidences / Reincarnation Trend

In early December 2023, TikTokers began using the sound in slideshow posts and videos where they point out strange coincidences and things they believe hint at reincarnation. For example, on December 1st, TikToker^[9] @kikigrayfield posted a video claiming that her grandfather had a dream before she was born that she was his brother and shot himself in the heart and how she was born with three holes in her heart, garnering over 11 million views in six days (shown below).

On December 6th, X^[10] user @witchdctralex posted a compilation of screenshots from the trend, garnering over 19,000 likes in a day.