Album: Copper Blue
Year: 1992
. . .
It’s one of the weird quirks of 1992 that the two best albums of the year both had a song called “Man on The Moon,” but outside of the titles, the two songs really have nothing in common.
We’ve already talked about R.E.M.’s “Man on the Moon,” the low-key samba that uses Andy Kaufman and Mott The Hoople to question the nature of reality itself.
As you might imagine, Sugar’s “Man on The Moon” is a totally different beast: rather than slithering in on the rhythm section, their “Man on The Moon” starts off with a pair of massive power chords — WHAM! WHAM!! — repeated four times before jumping into a verse that I choose to take literally.
It’s the man on the moon
Saying goodnight to you
Oh how it shines
He’s a good friend of mine
He’s a good friend of yours
Even many miles awayI hope he comes soon
It’s the man on the moon
“Man on the Moon” is the last song on Copper Blue, finishing side two after the joyous roar of “Fortune Teller” and the car-crash fantasia “Slick,” and while it’s not a fast song, the guitars are cranked, and Mould’s singing near the top of his range, to boot.
In a night of despair
Only one light is there
It’s the man on the moon
Saying goodnight to you
If you’re holding my hand
As the earth turns to sand
And then, out of nowhere, “Man on The Moon” decides that it’s also a Beatles song just like “Hoover Dam” was, and goes into what is probably my favorite chorus on the whole album, which is saying a lot. A lot, a lot, as a wall of organs come in to help with the guitars.
I see your face
I see that look on your face
Don’t you know that
Space is the place
I see your face
I see that look on your face
Don’t you know that
Space is the place
Yes kids, that’s right!! SPACE!! “Man on the Moon” is part of one of the greatest subgenres of Certain Songs: Songs About Outer Space!! SPACE!!!
Almost instantly, there’s a weird stop-time synth solo — unless it’s a treated guitar solo, leading “Man on the Moon” into its final verse.
If you look to the sky
Look him straight in the eye
And as strange as it seems
If you wish all your dreams
Will come true after all
After that, there’s a guitar solo, and for the last couple of minutes, “Man on the Moon” ascends into utter madness, the least weird of which is a cop from “I Am The Walrus,” as the guitars and keyboards and a million miles of overdubbed Moulds all compete to sing the praises of the Man on The Moon, saying goodnight to you and letting us know that SPACE! is the place. By the end, the entire song is piled on top of itself. It’s really unlike anything Bob Mould had ever recorded or since, and it’s totally and completely glorious.
People were still listening to albums as albums back then, and ending with such a crazed mindfuck as “Man on The Moon” was at least part of the reason that Copper Blue was incredibly critically acclaimed on both sides of the pond. In the U.K. the NME named it the Album of The Year, and here in the colonies, it was #7 on the 1992 Village Voice’s Pazz and Jop critics poll.
Even more crucial, it seems to be one of those albums that has stood the test of time, sounding as great as ever 30 years down the pike, easily the greatest achievement of Mould’s post Hüsker Dü career, and (whispers) maybe ever. Hüsker Dü meant the world to me, but this record, man.
“Man on the Moon”
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