Music Monday: R.E.M.

Let's start with this caveat: I am not really familiar with the band's early albums. In fact, finding out they had 4 albums out before Document was rather a shock. I would have said one, maybe two. At most. And as these posts are not only a writeup and a history of a band, but also of my own history with that band, Imma start with Document and just go on from there. Cool? Cool. It's Music Monday, and we're talking about R.E.M.

To me, R.E.M are of a piece with The Pixies, except they kept going and found a ton more success. Both bands were formed in the 1980s, and don't feel or sound like the 1980s. Both bands were significant influences on Nirvana and 1990s rock in general. But R.E.M.'s members seem to have generally liked each other. Plus, staying together allowed them to grow and develop together.

R.E.M. was formed by four college kids, who would co-write the music to most of their songs (Michael Stipe, the lead singer, wrote most of the lyrics). They remained together - mostly - for 31 years and 15 studio albums. The eight albums I'll be featuring here were released between the years 1987 and 2001, spanning the 1990s, a decade the band helped define, musically.

Document

As I previously wrote, I'm kinda shocked that this was their fifth album. They had an entire Pixies or Smiths worth of albums before this one, though they mostly got played on US college radio. Only two songs from the albums really penetrated the cultural consciousness, but both both are still huge songs that have aged quite well. Before there was the "This Is Fine," meme, there was this song. It has played on endless soundtracks (perhaps most notably Independence Day, and is as relevant now as it has ever been. This is It's The End Of The World As We Know It:

Sample lyric:

Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched

The second song from Document was the band's first hit, which charted in many countries. It has the title of a love song. It is, most emphatically, not a love song. This is The One I Love:

Sample lyric:

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Green

While I was obviously familiar with those two bangers from Document, Green was the band's first album that I owned and listened to in its entirety. That said, this one will also be contributing only two songs to this post, as REM has a bunch of albums and a bunch of songs, and I don't want this post to be endless. The first one, well, if you understand the lyrics, please tell me. Because they are baffling. The music's great, though. Super catchy. This is Stand:

Sample lyric:

Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around
If wishes were trees, the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, season is calling

If "Stand"'s lyrics are basically meaningless, this song more than makes up for it. It is a strongly political anti war song, about a young man gone to Vietnam, infected by Agent Orange. It is harrowing. It is also a banger.

Sample lyric:

High on the booze
In a tent
Paved with blood
Nine inch howl
Brave the night
Chopper comin' in, you hope

Out of Time

This is when R.E.M. became huge. This album sold many, many copies. The lead single was an absolutely massive hit. It is a great album. It is also the beginning of R.E.M. backlash. Plenty of people liked them before they got big, and hipsterism was rife among fans of the band. The first song on the album is most notable, to me, by how many bits of it were later salvaged for better songs. It is one of those "nothing on the radio is good anymore" songs, which is ironic considering the aforementioned backlash that would hit the band. This is Radio Song:

Sample lyric:

The world is collapsing
Around our ears
I turned up the radio
But I can't hear it

When the next song was released, it was inescapable. You could move from radio station to radio station, and it was on. You could move from MTV to VH1 or MTV2 or whatever we had back then, and it was on. It wasn't just a hit. It was a massive, all encompassing hit, with a gorgeous video. And I gotta tell you, I dug it the first thousand times or so. It is not about religious faith. In fact, according to genius dot com, the title is a south American saying that could be translated as "losing my shit." It's a song about obsessive love. This is Losing My Religion:

Sample lyric:

Trying to keep up with you
And I don't know if I can do it
Oh no, I've said too much
I haven't said enough

The next song is not sung by Michael Stipe, who sings backing vocals. It is sung by the band's brilliant bass player Mike Mills, who co-wrote the lyrics. It is a song about a relationship teetering close to a breakup. This is Near Wild Heaven:

Sample lyric:

Whatever it takes I'm giving
It's just a gift I'm given
Try to live inside
Trying to move inside

The last song from Out of Time is probably the one that has gotten the most hate over the years, mostly due to people misunderstanding it and thinking of it as a cheerful, happy song. It's not. It's a song about a false utopia (those are also often called "a utopia," and possibly about the Tiananmen Square massacre in China. This is Shiny Happy People:

Sample lyric:

Everyone around, love them, love them
Put it in your hands, take it, take it
There's no time to cry, happy, happy
Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines
Gold and silver shine

Automatic for the People

As good as Out of Time was, the band's next album was better. It was more contemplative, more melodic, darker. It's an all timer, to be sure. It may be their finest album. And it starts with a song with a dark melody and cryptic lyrics, which may or may not be about young people rebelling and taking control of their lives.

Sample lyric:

Maybe you did, maybe you walk
Maybe you rock around the clock
Tick-tock, tick-tock
Maybe I ride, maybe you walk
Maybe I drive to get off, baby

Oh, did I say the last song's lyrics were cryptic? They ain't got nothing on this one, which I have been trying to figure out for literally decades. And guess what? I still don't get it. Musically, it's a homage to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," and it is beautiful. This is The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite:

Sample lyric:

Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me
Today I need something more sub-sub-sub-substantial
A can of beans or black-eyed peas, some Nescafe and ice
A candy bar, a falling star, or a reading from Doctor Seuss

Out of Time had "Losing My Religion," as the massive, breakout, you can't get away from it hit. Automatic for the People had this one, a song devoid of the irony that pervades so many of the band's lyrics. A song written for their young fans, to tell them things will get better. This song is another one some people hate. But fuck that. It is gorgeous. And it is an unalloyed good in the world. Fuck the haters. This is Everybody Hurts:

Sample lyric:

When the day is long and the night
The night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life, well hang on
Don't let yourself go
Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes

I've got some issues with the next song. First and foremost, it is about a pretty terrible person, and it a loving tribute to that person. Which, to be fair, Stipe probably didn't know much about Andy Kaufman beyond his comedy. And his comedy was sometimes nasty, but it was brilliant. It's also about nostalgia, and about belief and disbelief. It's a beautiful song, musically. This is Man On The Moon:

Sample lyric:

Now, Andy, did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Andy, are you goofing on Elvis?
Hey, baby, are we losing touch?

The last song I'll feature from this album may have the band's most amazing melody. It's is breathtakingly gorgeous. At the same time, it is even more a song about nostalgia than "Man On The Moon." I hate nostalgia. It is, as John Hodgman often says, a toxic impulse. It makes people long for a past that never was, tinted with rose glasses. When things were "great." But, damn, that music. This is ***Nightswimming ***:

Sample lyric:

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
Of recklessness and water
They cannot see me naked
These things, they go away
Replaced by everyday

Monster

A case can be made - in fact, has been made many times, by many people, over the years - that the previous two albums were R.E.M. apex. It was certainly the case commercially. But, you know what? Monster is a pretty great album too! This album is a response to the band's own previous two albums, and to their own huge - and still new - celebrity. It was a return to the driving guitar sound of Green and Document. The first song takes its title from the words spoken by an assailant to broadcaster Dan Rather while he beat him. The lyrics are about the media's failed attempts to understand the millennials of the time: my generation, GenX. This is What's The Frequency, Kenneth?

Sample lyric:

You said that irony was the shackles of youth
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh

The next song is the band's ode to the New York Dolls, which - to my mind - also echoes the Pixies. I... think it's about having a crush? This is Crush With Eyeliner:

Sample lyric:

I am smitten
You know me (Yeah, you know me)
I could be your Frankenstein
My crush with eyeliner

The last song I'll feature from this album is a song about a fight, about a breakup. The lyrics echo those of The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb," as it deals with a shift in the power balance of a relationship. This is Bang and Blame:

Sample lyric:

If you could see yourself now, baby
The tables have turned, the whole world hinges on your swings
Your secret life of indiscreet discretions
I'd turn the screw and leave the screen
Don't point your finger

New Adventures in Hi-Fi

This is an album that happened. I swear! I didn't care for it, and barely heard of it. Moving on!

Up

It took R.E.M. eleven albums to lose one of their original members, which is quite incredible. This was their first album without drummer Bill Berry. And it features a couple of absolutely lovely songs. The first of those is, well, it's a straight up love song. It's not a song about a terrible relationship, about obsession or abuse. It is about love. And thus, it is appropriate that it is called At My Most Beautiful:

Sample lyric:

I save your messages
Just to hear your voice
You always listen carefully
To awkward rhymes

I am someone who is awake at night and sleeps during the day. I have DSPD. So, of course I would love this song, except for me, being awake at night is pretty great much of the time. Not so for the character of this song, the titular Daysleeper:

The bull and the bear are marking their territories
They're leading the blind with their international glories
I am the screen, the blinding light
I'm the screen, I work at night

The performance's final song is not available on the official youtube channel, but I can't skip it. It is, to my mind, one of the greatest cover performances of all time, covering a song made famous - though not written by, as Cobain erroneously says on the recording - by folk and blues performer Lead Belly. The lyrics are dark, but the performance is darker. This is a man bleeding on a stage, while singing, screaming, and playing guitar. A beautiful man, suffering from drug withdrawal and sharing his pain. It is, I have long believed, the song he meant as a final statement of art. This is Tell Me Where Did You Sleep Last Night:

Sample lyric:

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through

Reveal

I only have one song from this album, which is the last one I'll be featuring here. I didn't dig their later stuff, and then they broke up. This song is about wanting success, and pretending to be aloof, to be above it all. This is Imitation Of Life:

Sample lyric: