Some context: Edgar Yipsel "Yip" Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg, Yiddish: ysydvr hvkbrg; April 8, 1896 - March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?"
Harburg and Gorney were offered a contract with Paramount: in Hollywood, Harburg worked with composers Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne, and Burton Lane, and later wrote the lyrics for The Wizard of Oz, one of the earliest known "integrated musicals," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for "Over the Rainbow."  Of his work on The Wizard of Oz, his son (and biographer) Ernie Harburg has said:  So anyhow, Yip also wrote all the dialogue in that time and the setup to the songs and he also wrote the part where they give out the heart, the brains and the nerve, because he was the final script editor. And he--there were eleven screenwriters on that--and he pulled the whole thing together, wrote his own lines and gave the thing a coherence and unity which made it a work of art. But he doesn't get credit for that. He gets lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, you see. But nevertheless, he put his influence on the thing.  Working in Hollywood did not stop Harburg's career on Broadway. In the 1940s, he wrote a series of "book" musicals with social messages, including the successful Bloomer Girl (1944), set during the Civil War, which was about temperance and women's rights activist Amelia Bloomer. Harburg's best known Broadway show, Finian's Rainbow (1947) was, in its original production, possibly the first Broadway musical with a racially integrated chorus line, and features his "When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich." It was made into a film in 1968 starring Fred Astaire and Petula Clark, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
Any other interesting points I should know?
A: he won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for "Over the Rainbow."
Some context: "Man on the Moon" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 1992 album Automatic for the People. The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck, and credited to the whole band as usual. The song was well received by critics and peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time:
The song's lyrics do not tell a conventional story, and may instead been seen as a collection of cultural references, images and ideas. There are repeated mentions of Andy Kaufman, including references to his Elvis impersonation and work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry Lawler. Some critics find the song also invokes the conspiracy theories surrounding the moon landing and Elvis Presley as an indirect nod to the persistent rumors that Kaufman faked his own death. Speaking in 2017 to the NME, Mills explained that the perceived ambiguity of Kaufman's legacy, including questions of whether he was a comedian or a performance artist, and whether or not his work was funny or irritating, was a way to frame other questions about life within the song:  "He's the perfect ghost to lead you through this tour of questioning things. Did the moon landing really happen? Is Elvis really dead? He was kind of an ephemeral figure at that point so he was the perfect guy to tie all this stuff together as you journey through childhood and touchstones of life."  Other lyrical references include persons from the history of science and religion, as well as board-games and the rock band Mott the Hoople of whom Stipe had been a fan in his youth, and whose music he associated with the years of Kaufman's original television broadcasts. Regarding the cryptic lyrics, critic Greg Kot wrote that the song "presents a surreal vision of heaven." According to Ann Powers, "Mentioning Kaufman in the same breath as Moses and Sir Isaac Newton, Stipe makes a game of human endeavor, insisting that it all ends in dust. 'Let's play Twister, let's play Risk,' Stipe jokes to the notables he's invoked. 'I'll see you in heaven if you make the list.'"  The lyrics to Man on the Moon also feature a prominent repeated refrain of "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah". Stipe has explained that his friend Kurt Cobain was in the habit of placing "yeah" in the lyrics to the songs of his band, Nirvana, and that Stipe intended to outdo him, even to the extent of counting the "yeahs".
what are the lyrics about
A: The song's lyrics do not tell a conventional story, and may instead been seen as a collection of cultural references, images and ideas.
Some context: Sandman (Wesley Dodds) is a fictional character, a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first of several DC characters to bear the name Sandman, he was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bert Christman. Attired in a green business suit, fedora, and gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later was outfitted with a unitard/cowl costume and developed into a proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and founding the Justice Society of America.
Dodds has prophetic dreams which come to him as cryptic, ambiguous visions of crimes. Originally of unexplained origin, these dreams were later ascribed to encounter between Dodds and the entity known as Dream via retcon. The visions haunt Wes, who uses his keen intellect and amateur detective skills to properly interpret them. He is also a talented chemist and inventor, creating the sand-like substance and the Silicoid Gun ultimately responsible for transforming Sandy the Golden Boy into a Silicon-based life-form. In the early years of his career, Wesley Dodds possesses the strength level of a man who engages in regular exercise, and was a fine hand-to-hand combatant. As he grows older, his strength level diminishes in relative proportion to his age. As hobbies, Wes enjoys reading, writing, poetry, origami and philosophy. Through an unknown process, Wes passes his power of prophetic visions on to his former ward, Sanderson Hawkins upon the moment of his own death.  Wesley Dodds' costume consists of a basic green business suit, fedora, a World War I era gas mask, a gas gun, and a wire gun. The gas mask protects Dodds from the effects of the gas emitted from his gas gun. The gas gun, a handheld device fitted with cartridges containing concentrated sleeping gas, is Wesley Dodds' only known weapon. Pressing the trigger on the gun releases a cloud of green dust rendering all within the Sandman's immediate vicinity unconscious. An upgraded canister dispenser for the gun is provided for him by his close friend and confidante, Lee Travis. Wes is also known to conceal smaller knockout gas capsules in a hollow heel on his shoe. These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available. He also makes use of a specially designed "wirepoon" gun, which fires a length of thin, steel cable.  In the early days of his career, the Sandman drives a black 1938 Plymouth Coupe. The car is enhanced with various features to aid Wes in his crusade against crime.
Is he able to fight the criminals?
A:
These prove ideal when placed in situations where his gas gun is not readily available.