Man behind Five for Fighting says he couldn't write hit 'Superman' today

Having written some of the most recognizable songs that first gained popularity in the 2000s, John Ondrasik has heard his music played in some remote places ― including a Malaysian temple gift shop.

Ondrasik, 56, of California, is the Grammy-nominated songwriter and performer known as Five for Fighting, according to his bio. Among other things, he wrote and performed the songs "Superman (It's Not Easy)" and "100 Years," and Five For Fighting's work includes LPs such as the platinum-certified "America Town" and "The Battle for Everything."

He'll be performing at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, and he spoke with The Record this week before launching his latest tour. For information and tickets, visit pvconcerthall.com. A standard ticket is $45.50 plus fees.

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Record: Do you have an example of an unexpected place you've heard one of your songs played?

Ondrasik: Oh yeah. I remember I was in Malaysia … doing some work outside of music, kind of walking up to this old temple. And I was surrounded by these wild monkeys. And the monkeys were kind of aggressive. They were trying to kind of steal your wallet and they kind of, you know, intimidate you. You have to walk up 1,000 steps, and you get up to the top of this temple. … they had a little gift store, and so we went into the gift store to buy some trinkets, whatever. And believe it or not playing on the radio was "Chances." … 4,000 miles from home. And I remember I was looking at my friend, and we both looked at each other and said, "This is insane." So I think we got a sense of how the songs can travel around the world. I hope the monkeys liked it. Maybe that's why they were mad at me.

Record: Regarding two of your most famous songs, "100 Years" and "Superman," is there something people get wrong a lot about why you wrote them or what they're about?

Ondrasik: Some people think I wrote "Superman" after 9/11 … I had actually written "Superman" years before, and it had actually been out for eight or nine months, and it was becoming a popular song around the world. But, of course, after 9/11 it kind of took a context to recognize the heroes of 9/11, which I'll always be humbled by.

… It's challenging to follow a song like "Superman." … It took three years to try to find a song that could stand on its own right. And "100 Years" took a lot of suffering, a lot of songwriter suffering, a lot of notes, you know, songs thrown in the trash. … "Superman" came very quickly. I wrote the song in about an hour. It was a gift. … The nice thing about music is people take songs and apply them to their lives in ways that you never intended. So, you know, "Superman" really was about kind of my desire to be heard. It's a song I could not write now. I've learned very quickly that it's very easy to be me, you know, working with Gold Star families, people with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), Afghanistan, all these things I work on. … All songs people take and make their own, and that's the beauty of music. And if it matters to people and it finds a place in their lives in a way that I didn't intend, that's great as long as people find solace or something through music. That's all an artist can ask for.

Record: Have you been to St. Augustine?

Ondrasik: I have not. You know, we've been planning for years to come down to Florida and do some shows. One thing about this pandemic, you know, all the bucket list things we've been talking about, we're doing it. … We're bringing the string quartet, some of the best players in the world ― my violin player Katie just won a Tony. And so we're going to have a very intimate experience with these incredible players. I can't wait to share them with you guys.

Record: What was the height of the pandemic like for you and how did that affect you creatively?

Ondrasik: It was very challenging. Frankly, I didn't do much music. We have a family business, a manufacturing business, out here in California, that's been in our family since the 1940s. And my father, age 83, had to quarantine, so I was thrust into the position of trying to keep the business afloat economically, but more importantly trying to protect the health of our 300 employees, many of which I grew up working with. … I did do some virtual concerts, some virtual keynotes. I would come bang on my piano just for cathartic release more than writing a song.

Record: You have two children?

Ondrasik: Yeah, my son's 22. He's out here. He works for the family business. He goes to community college. My daughter's in New York at NYU studying musical theater, so she's got the arts bug, and they're awesome. And, you know, I've been writing about them in my songs … since they were born. You know, "100 Years" doesn't exist without two little kids sitting on your lap, so.

I've been very blessed with my family and my parents. And they certainly have found their way into many of my songs over the years, and my daughter comes and performs with me. … It's really wonderful. My wife was a music publisher, so she actually got me my first record deal. So we've been kind of riding this roller coaster together, and she's been my biggest fan and supporter. And certainly without her we wouldn't be talking.

Record: Have you ever gone busking (performed in a public place for money)?

Ondrasik: When "Superman" was like a No. 1 song … We'd sit there in the subway and we'd play and people would come by and say, "Man you really sound like that guy." And I'd say, "Thank you." And we'd raise a few bucks for whatever local charity. … You know it's a way actually to kind of ground yourself and remind yourself kind of where you came from. I was doing that, you know, playing for four people for many years in Los Angeles.

Record: You've worked a lot with the armed forces. How did you get involved and what prompted that?

Ondrasik: Early in my career, I started getting emails from many soldiers overseas, and they would kind of tell me how much music mattered to their wellness and in different ways. Some would use it to escape. Some would use it to pump themselves up for a mission. And I started getting involved with our troops, and I would go on USO tours and meet with veterans and started working with Gary Sinise and his foundation on many projects.

And just in the last, you know, year, certainly after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, working with our Afghan veterans who were so torn and broken by our abandonment of their allies and being embedded with many of these groups, mostly veterans rescuing those abandoned in Afghanistan, and now in Ukraine working with many (nongovernmental organizations) providing assistance, humanitarian work in Ukraine ― our troops, to me, and their families allow us all the freedoms we have. I was in D.C. last week playing an organization called TAPS, who works with military families who lost loved ones. They are our heart and spine, and they inspire me. To be able to shine the light on them, tell their stories, support them has truly been the honor of my career, and there's certainly more to come on that front.

Record: Is there anything else you'd like the people of St. Augustine to know?

Ondrasik: It's a family concert. Bring your kids. Bring the grandparents. The new song "Can One Man Save The World," we're giving that away for free on fiveforfighting.com, and all the proceeds are going to some of these Ukrainian relief charities. So if people want to support that, I'd appreciate that. And yeah, I hope folks come out. The quartet's amazing, and I think we'll have a good time.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Five for Fighting will play Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in St. Johns County