Depending on what you’ve read, “Waitin’ for a Superman” was either inspired by the death of Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne’s father or by the death of a childhood friend from leukemia. In either case, the song is Coyne’s way of grappling with a harsh truth: Sometimes, existence gets too heavy even for a Superman to lift. That’s a harsh truth that I’ve been forced to grapple with, as well, in recent years.

Coyne’s warbling vocals and heartbreaking lyrics — “Tell everybody waiting for a Superman/That they should try to hold on best they can” — are backed by shuffling drums and a rollicking piano melody that’s further accented by swelling horn arrangements and Dave Fridmann’s lush, layered production. When The Soft Bulletin was released in 1999, it was quickly celebrated as one of the year’s best albums, a rich and mature work from the folks who’d previously given us “She Don’t Use Jelly.”