The song became a surprise hit in the United Kingdom after it was championed by DJ John Peel,[3] rising to number 2 on the UK Singles Charts in 1981.

[14] Susan McClary suggests in her book Feminine Endings that "O Superman" may also have been inspired by Massenet's 1902 opera Le jongleur de Notre-Dame.

[15] Anderson's lead vocals are overlaid on a sparse background of two alternating chords formed by the repeated spoken syllable "ha" created by looping with an Eventide Harmonizer.

"[23] In an interview with the Australian magazine Bulletin in 2003, Anderson erroneously stated that the song was connected to the Iran–Contra affair,[24] but she had meant to refer to the earlier Iran hostage crisis and the failure of Operation Eagle Claw in 1980.

[16][27] John Peel frequently played "O Superman" on BBC Radio 1 and a British distribution company asked to press 80,000 copies of the single.

According to the 1982 book The Rock Lists Album, compiled by John Tobler and Allan Jones, polls conducted by several unidentified British newspapers saw "O Superman" voted readers' least favourite hit single of 1981.

A live performance of "O Superman" was recorded in New York City shortly after the September 11 attacks, which some, including Anderson, felt gave the song's lyrics a new topical resonance.

[33] The B-side of the original single was a spoken word piece titled "Walk the Dog", which would also appear on United States Live.