Be Sure To Get Good REM

Will Truman

Will Truman is the Editor-in-Chief of Ordinary Times. He is also on Twitter.

Related Post Roulette

11 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    It was written in 2003 in response to George W Bush and Iraq, but it strikes a much wider vibes as the best songs often do.

    I remember reading the liner notes from their greatest hits album that finally had it on there (remember liner notes? What were we thinking?) and I wanna say that they wrote it earlier than that…

    From Wikipedia:

    In the liner notes for In Time, Peter Buck wrote: “We started writing this song in 1986 [sic]. We finished writing it in 2003. The sad thing is, between those years nothing much has changed.”

    Ah, so the first version of the song was from Life’s Rich Pageant and it was an outtake.

    Then they finished it in 2003.Report

  2. Marchmaine says:

    Dang, kinda sorta honestly didn’t realize REM made a song after 1989. Saw them at ND (of all places) in, well, 1989.

    First video makes me think that Michael Stipe has taken his dance vibes from Morrissey… but in a janky American sort of way. If you know what I mean.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Marchmaine says:

      Automatic for the People wasn’t *BAD*. Sure, “Everybody Hurts” was execrable, but the rest of the album had some serious high points.

      Try Not To Breathe? That was a *GREAT* song.Report

      • Marchmaine in reply to Jaybird says:

        No, You’re right… Mr. Google shows me that I really tapped out in 1992. Definitely didn’t buy Monster. But in my mind they were a mid-80’s band — then they totally sold out dude.Report

      • Fish in reply to Jaybird says:

        Automatic ended with “Find the River,” which was the song that finally enabled REM to get their hooks into me (I could play guitar to it). “Everybody Hurts” is a fantastic song, and also an easy tune to practice your finger style to (that’s what SHE said).

        My first introduction to REM was “Losing My Religion,” which led me to ignore them for a very long time.Report

      • Slade the Leveller in reply to Jaybird says:

        It’s a great album. I had some friends play Sweetness Follows at my wife’s memorial service.Report

    • PD Shaw in reply to Marchmaine says:

      It looks like I saw them two days earlier in Champaign. I think Stipe once described the three stages of R.E.M. as underground college act, stadium pop stars and band making music for fans of the first two groups to grouse that it wasn’t as good as their older stuff. This could be fake news, but seems like something he would have said anyway.Report

      • Marchmaine in reply to PD Shaw says:

        Back in the olden days we counted our ‘likes’ in person every night for 5 months in a row… for a decade.

        [Psy lauging as Gangnam Style approaches 4.5B views]

        Re: apocrypha… yeah, sounds like Stipe.

        Meta comment: The 80s bands spent their energy being metaphorically political… except Natalie Merchant. Like, you kinda thought one thing, but could totally pretend it was another thing.Report

  3. Fish says:

    I’ve had various R.E.M. songs stuck in my head since reading this story, so I’m now listening to _In Time_ trying to chase the demons away.Report