We could gather, throw a fit

[underpants]

[mr_lebowski]

1. That was the first REM song I ever really, really loved ...

First time I listened to Murmur, on vinyl, back in about 1984 I think it was ... I was grooving to it through the preceding 7 or so songs ... was going ... this is good, I think I like these guys ... then this one came on ... and I played it like 4 times in a row.

Still one o' my top 10 all time fave REM tunes.

It's probably the ultimate/most classic example of 'Michael Mumbling Unintelligible Lyrics' ever.

[underpants]

2. Eddie Vedders speech as they joined the rock n roll hall of fame

He spoke of how many times he listened to murmur “and we could never tell what they hell Michael was saying”. it’s a great speech.

[mr_lebowski]

3. REM's inscrutability was a big part of their charm in the early days ...

Their IRS albums are models in obscurity ... songs with cryptic titles that don't appear to be 'about' anything whatsoever ... yet seemed to probably have a profound meaning if you could just make out what Mike & Mike were singing. Literally the only straightforward song on their first 3 records was (Don't Go Back to) Rockville and that's cause Mills wrote it. Album covers that conveyed a feeling more than picturing anything you could associate with anything. They rarely gave interviews. Most of their videos didn't show the band much, if all.

The overall impression you got was that these dudes are just fucking cool. In many ways I think they were like the Led Zeppelin of alternative rock. Though Zep didn't start out obscure, there was a dramatic shift starting with LZ III that continued pretty much until they disbanded.

[underpants]

4. That was part of the allure of them to me

I’m lyrically deaf (like bat blind in baseball) my friends will stop and ask me what I think lyrics of a given song are. I have several funny examples*.


REM’s songs could mean whatever you wanted them to depending on how you felt. I’ve listened to all their early albums and it’s like I’ve listened to 100’s of different songs. That was a big part of what brought me to them.

Fairly recently I’ve been listening to some of the later stuff and it’s damned good. How the west was won (great song title), Electrolight, etc.



Grateful Dead “Sugar Magnolia”
Pays my tickets when I speed became feeds my chickens when I sleep

Chumbawumba - a whole other story

[mr_lebowski]

5. Yup ...

New Adventures in HiFi is freaking phenomenal, friggin love that album.

Be Mine is a particular favorite song on it, def. a top 20 REM songs for me. It's against very stiff competition

Helps that I know how to play it on the guitar.

Their last 2, Accelerate and Collapse into Now are also worthy entries in their catalogue. Lots of good songs on those.