Harold Bloom was disgusted by how much his students listened to music. I think that he’s probably right that we have become a little excessive, and I think that he’s also probably right that some types of music have led to nothing but allowing kids to plug into sounds that attempt to mimic sexual indulgence instead of involving themselves with living their own lives a little more fully. On the other hand, there’s some music out there that’s pretty important to me that seems to go well beyond childish noise that continually reinforces childish, stunted emotions inside of myself. In fact, the fact that music is so pervasive and the attempt at deeper sentimentality in bands like U2 and the Seuss-like rhythyms of R.E.M. can displace hair band” rock in American culture for a time indicates that the American mind never closes off so completely in the way that Bloom suggests it might. With this in mind, I’ve been thinking about two different R.E.M. debates I have been having in my mind this week. The first one consists of what are my favorite R.E.M. songs, and the other one was about whether or not I wanted to share this here. I think the answer to number two is yes. Number one is still a toughy. Partially, there are too many choices. I think I will just refect on some that I have come across lately that are really nice and give a little blurb for each of them. I think I’m going to reflect on what I consider some recent treasures. Feel free to add your own to the list.
- “I Wanted To Be Wrong” (Around the Sun) – Most consider R.E.M.’s last album pretty mediocre, but I am impressed by the way that the political commentary in this song stil contains a perspective, self doubt, concessions, and what I think are magnificent sociological metaphors like “salute Apollo 13 from the rattle jewelry seats”. There’s something about R.E.M.’s sound and narration that is always distant and familiar at the same time, and I think there songs shine best when they pull this off. Here I think they use it to talk about substantial feelings of political frustration that they make more personable by de-objectifying them.
- “Ascent of Man” (Around the Sun) – Again, I submit “Ascent of Man” as evidence that R.E.M. has not completely lost it, and if you find “Everybody Hurts” or “Losing My Religion” tough to listen to anymore because of the wear of their playcounts, I think that you can find the sort of style that works in songs like “Ascent of Man” in a way that still feels fresh… an honorable mention to “Electron Blue” for having some essential R.E.M. elements without it feeling like a total rehash of old songs.
- “She Just Wants” (Reveal) – I think that “She Just Wants” is an absolutely fabulous song. I do think that it is a little musically tired about halfway through the song and that keeps it from being a “great” song in my opinion. However, lyrically, it’s R.E.M. at its best. For me, this song more than any of R.E.M.’s other recent offerings reminds me of the influence the R.E.M. obviously had on Beck’s songwriting. in “She Just Wants”, I think R.E.M.’s prose is still rival to Beck, though again, musically it pales in such a comparison. Reveal also has some consistency issues in my opinion. Musically, it’s a little too consistent. The whle album is a little muscially stale and similar, with a couple of punctuating moments. Lyrically, it is really inconsistent. Nevertheless Reveal has a couple of wonderful finds like “She Just Wants” and “The Chorus and the Ring”.
- “At My Most Beautiful” (Up) They refer to this as “their Brian Wilson Song”. It works the way that really good Brian Wilson songs seem to work. R.E.M. has always had a side to them that is interested in exploring how to make really saccharine types of music and pull it off, I think it comes together very nicely here. This song is sweet, but not too sweet for my tastes.
- “Hope” (Up) I just really like the sounds and paces in songs like “Hope” and “Electron Blue”. Both songs are nice creative developments into the possibilities of making this type of music without a drummer in the band.
May 7, 2006 at 10:41 pm |
Since I’ll jump into any music conversation headfirst and without thinking (convincing some chick at a party that I had majored in modern music studies remains one of the crowning achievements of my life), I need to step in here to say that you actually give “She Just Wants” much less credit than it deserves even despite calling it a fabulous song. I honestly believe that had it been included on, say, Automatic rather than Reveal, it would widely be considered as one of R.E.M.’s finest songs ever.
It would only be fair to acknowledge here that I think of Reveal much as you think of Around the Sun (ie, I know hardly anyone agrees with me, but it’s actually a fantastic album despite some significant flaws and deserves more recognition than it gets). That being said, even if parts of the album are musically stale and blend together, She Just Wants was the one stand out track for me from the first time I heard it. Keep in mind that the music, especially within this particular track, is “too consistent” of necessity. She justs wants to be somewhere/She just wants to be; some sort of revelation has hit She, but She hasn’t quite figured it out yet, She doesn’t know where things are going, she just needs them to go somewhere and she just needs to be SOMETHING but she doesn’t know what… And now is greater than the whole/Of the past/Is greater and now she knows that… I would argue that the music reflects this idea perfectly. They build to a crescendo, but not one that is satisfying; it continues to drift and blend in with itself. The epiphany is almost reached, but it’s just never quite there. In a way, the song is supposed to sound tired- She is tired.
In short, the lyrics of this song perfectly capture a specific feeling, and the music is the best possibly way of supporting those lyrics. Again, I know that your critique was meant to be directed more at Reveal as a whole rather than this song in particular, but just in case, I felt the very strong need to defend a song that I absolutely love every time I hear it. And, on something of a more personal scale, I’d have to mention that it perfectly captures the sense of being lost and alone in the modern world embodied by both David Byrne and Thom Yorke in my favorite works of theirs except with a tired and frustrated edge rather than a neurotic and terrified one. If I were to make my own extended list of my favorite R.E.M. songs, I’m sure I would have just as much trouble as you, but I can say with absolute certainty that She Just Wants is in the top five both lyrically and musically.
May 8, 2006 at 12:03 pm |
I love She Just Wants to Be, but I’m not sure it’s even the best song on the album. “I’ll Take the Rain” discusses the very same tiredness from the flipside…a form of resignation to the fact that life gives you unsweetened lemons on pretty much a daily basis. It’s a little bit more mature (read as: less whiny) than “She Just Wants to Be,” and evokes a man who has found his comfort level in a crappy situation without really giving up.
Personally, I’d choose both to be on a top 15 REM list, especially if I was planning on committing suicide. Other notables for that list would be my co-all-time favorite REM songs, “World Leader Pretend” and “Country Feedback (the non-Steve played version),” as well as such tried and trues as “so. Central Rain,” “Wendell Gee,” and “So Fast, So Numb.”
Just saying, I may have made this album before, and it freaking rocks.
May 8, 2006 at 12:09 pm |
Don’t forget Star Me Kitten.
May 8, 2006 at 12:22 pm |
Star Me Kitten is just an objectively bad song, though….the others are just depressing, decent songs.
May 8, 2006 at 12:38 pm |
Err, I was joking; of course SMK is objectively bad.
May 8, 2006 at 2:06 pm |
Too Late!!! You love Star Me Kitten….and probably “Bad Day.”
BURN!!!
May 8, 2006 at 2:49 pm |
You got me… I also love “Great Beyond”… I’m pushing an elephant up the stairs, I’m tossing up punch lines that were never there?
February 15, 2007 at 11:20 am |
Hey, I must tell you, guys, that from my point of view Reveal is actually REM’s best album ever. I don’t know what flaws are being talked about here but, well, I think that’s REM at their best. Not that they haven’t produced great music elsewhere, say, in automatic or out of time or Up but considered as a unit I guess Reveal is top quality.