"You've Got Possibilities" is an American

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. Th ...

. It was created by

Charles Strouse Charles Louis Strouse (June 7, 1928 – May 15, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals ''Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause (musical), Applause'', and ''Annie (musical), Annie''. Backgrou ...

and

Lee Adams Lee Richard Adams (born August 14, 1924) is an American lyricist best known for his musical theatre collaboration with Charles Strouse. Biography Lee Adams was born in Mansfield, Ohio, on August 14, 1924. He is the son of Dr. Leopold Adams, ori ...

for the 1966

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

show '' It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'' and sung by

Linda Lavin Linda Lavin (; October 15, 1937 – December 29, 2024) was an American actress and singer. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she received several awards including three Drama Desk Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Obie Awards, and a T ...

in the show. Lavin plays a secretary at the ''

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #9 (November 13, 1939) – Underworld Politics ...

'' with a crush on

Clark Kent Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

and the song describes her hope to change Kent's mild-mannered, square persona ("Let me pry you from your shell... You've got possibilities... you don't even know you've got"). ''It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'' was not a big hit, but "You've Got Possibilities", generally considered the show's most memorable tune, became something of a cabaret standard.

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local r ...

recorded the song on her 1966 album '' Big $pender'' and released it as the B-side of the single "Come Back to Me".

Joanie Sommers Joanie Sommers (born Joan Drost, February 24, 1941) is an American singer and actress. Her career has focused on jazz, standards and popular song. Early in her career she was billed as "The Voice of the Sixties"; she also collaborated with promin ...

released "You've Got Possibilities" as the B-side of her single "Never Throw Your Dreams Away", also in 1966, while Carol Ventura released it also in 1966 as an

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single. Linda Lavin included the song on her 2011 album ''Possibilities'' (she had earlier sung it on the 1966 original cast album for ''It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Superman'').

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...

's version appears on his ''Here's To My Lady'' (1966) and ''The Best of the Capitol Years'' (1990),

Jason Graae Jason Graae (pronounced "grah" or "graw", but not "gray") (born 15 May 1958) is an American musical theater actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film. He has ...

released a version on ''You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile'' (1996), Wendy Coates on ''Journeys'' (2001), and

Karen Akers Karen Akers (born October 13, 1945) is an American actress and singer, who has appeared on Broadway, and in cabaret and film. Early years Born on October 13, 1945, in New York City, Akers is the daughter of Heinrick C. Orth-Pallavicini, an i ...

on ''Like It Was'' (2006).

Barbara McNair Barbara Jean McNair (March 4, 1934 – February 4, 2007) was an American singer and theater, television, and film actress. McNair's career spanned over five decades in television, film, and stage. McNair's professional career began in music dur ...

recorded a version for

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

in 1966, but it was not released until 2016, in digital format on ''Motown Unreleased: 1966''. Song composer Charles Strouse himself is heard singing "You've Got Possibilities" on the album ''Charles Sings Strouse'' (2006), part of the Songwriter Series produced in conjunction with the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. "You've Got Possibilities" was used in a 2005 television advertising campaign for Pillsbury Grand biscuits.

References

External links

Detailed exposition on "You've Got Possibilities"
by Seth Rudetsky (video) {{Superman in popular media 1966 songs Songs from musicals Songs with music by Charles Strouse Songs with lyrics by Lee Adams Superman music