Spider-Man (theme song)

"Spider-Man" is the theme song of the 1967 cartoon show Spider-Man, composed by Academy Award winner Paul Francis Webster and Robert "Bob" Harris. The song's opening lines, "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can," have become as synonymous with the Marvel Comics character as his costume.

The 2000 Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 film adaptations have featured characters as buskers performing the song; Jayce Bartok and Elyse Dinh respectively. Both films also feature the song at the very end of the credits: the 2000 film featured the 1967 version, while the 2001 film featured a re-recording by Michael Bublé (see below). 2007's Spider-Man 3 also featured the song's melody during the scene where Spider-Man arrives at a big celebration.

Michael Bublé version

"Spider-Man Theme (Junkie XL Remix)"
Single by Michael Bublé
from the album BaBalu
Released	2001
Format	CD single
Recorded	2001
Genre	Swing, Remix
Length	3:03
Label	143, Reprise
Writer(s)	Paul Francis Webster
Michael Bublé singles chronology
"Kissing a Fool" (2003) "Spider-Man Theme" (2004) "Sway" (2004)

The song was included, as "Spiderman Theme," on Michael Bublé's album, BaBalu, from 2001. It features an introduction taken from the popular jazz tune "Sing, Sing, Sing" originally made famous by Benny Goodman. In this version, Bublé sings the original lyrics to the 1967 cartoon show Spider-Man.

Bublé performed the song live for Ronald McDonald House Charities' The Concert for World Children's Day in Chicago on September 14, 2000. The concert was broadcast on ABC on November 14, 2000 and released on DVD in 2001.

Bublé later re-recorded the song and released it as a single (respelled as "Spider-Man Theme") remixed by Junkie XL on July 6, 2001. The introduction plays a police siren sound effect in the background. In this updated version, Bublé excludes the last lines of the cartoon's lyrics: "To him life is a great big bang up / Wherever there's a hang up / You'll find the Spider-Man".

The official remix was included in the film, Spider-Man 2, and though it was not a part of the soundtrack, it was played during the credits. It was also reissued as part of his 2009 Crazy Love - Fan Edition package.

A video was made for the remix single and released on June 25, 2001.

"Spider-Man Theme" reached the #6 position in Canada, becoming his first entrance on the chart. It also reached the Australian and Italian charts.

Track list

CD Single

• Side A: Spider-Man Theme (Junkie XL Remix)
• Side B: Sway (Junkie XL Remix)

German CD Single

1. "Spider-Man Theme" (Junkie XL Remix) - 3:04
2. "Sway" (Junkie XL Remix) - 3:09
3. "Sway" (The Passengerz European Mixshow) - 3:10
4. "Sway" (Ralphi's Sensation Edit) - 3:10
5. "Sway" (Ralphi's Salsation Vox Mix) - 7:08
6. "Sway" (Ralphi's Dark Rhumba Dub) - 8:46

Chart performance

Chart (2001)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	6
Australian ARIA Charts	21
Italian Singles Chart	2

Lyrics

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a spider can:
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies--
Look out:
Here comes the Spider-Man.

Is he strong?
Listen bud,
He's got radioactive blood.
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead;
Hey there--
There goes the Spider-Man.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Wealth and fame
He's ignored
Action is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Whenever there's a hang up
You'll find the Spider-Man.

Covers and parodies

• Aerosmith covered the song for the soundtrack of the 2002 film adaptation, albeit with altered lyrics. It should also be noted that Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry performed a new theme song for the 1994 Spider-Man cartoon, playing the lead guitar track and speaking lyrics through a vocoder that loosely referenced the 1967 theme, specifically the line "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, radioactive Spider-Man" and references to "radioactive blood" (changed to "radioactive spider blood" for the 1994 theme). The guitar riff was also based on the melody of the original line "Spider-Man, Spider-Man".
• Apollo 440 covered the song for the 2000 Spider-Man video game, developed by Neversoft for PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and PC.
• The punk band The Distillers have also recorded their own unique version for the Spider-Man 2 console game.
• Brian May reinterpreted the theme for the 1995 BBC Radio 1 serial.
• Moxy Früvous in the 1993 album Bargainville.
• The Mr. T Experience on their 1989 album Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood.
• Ramones as a hidden track in the vinyl version of their 1995 album ¡Adios Amigos!, their 1996 album Greatest Hits Live, the compilation, Weird Tales of the Ramones (CD 3), as well as their last live performance We're Outta Here!. It also appears on the alt-rock compilation Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, and appears in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The song is featured in the comedy film Bio-Dome as well. It was used in a television commercial for Spider-Man toys in Australia.
• The song has been parodied in a Kombat Pavilion Flash movie named "Scorpionman" within the "Konquest of the Kamidogu, pt. VIII" movie, based on the Mortal Kombat character Scorpion.
• Nintendo of America also parodied the song in a Bomberman 64 commercial during the 1997 holiday season.
• In The Simpsons Movie, Homer Simpson is seen walking a pig on the ceiling singing "Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig. Does whatever a Spider-Pig does. Can he swing, from a web? [Pause] No he can't, he's a pig. Look ooooooouuuut! He is a Spider-Pig!" A choral version is in the closing credits, part of which appears in Homer's epiphany.
• On the syndicated radio program, The John Boy and Billy Big Show, a recurring segment called Married Man (the saga of a henpecked husband and second-rate superhero) uses a parody of the Spider-Man theme as its theme song.

External links

• Animated Superheroes - Video and cover versions of the Spider-Man theme song.