\\\///\\\/// It's the ILX SUPER SUMMER R.E.M. POLL OF POLLS RESULTS THREAD \\\///\\\///

it's the wrong time of year for that song

100% otm.

also, fables of the reconstruction is very -- very -- underrated. i like it more than murmur or reckoning, tbh. it hits the southern-gothic rock vibe better than it's album predecessors and captures the band in a fragile, tenuous, almost-jittery, state. absorbing, hypnotic songs throughout this album.

― Daniel, Esq., Wednesday, 28 July 2010 19:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

wow, the "Feeling Gravitys Pull" on the second disk of the rerelease sounds like "The Hanging Garden", or at the least the drumming does at about 2/3 through the song, and again at the end; first time I've heard I've heard the Cure in REM I think?

― Euler, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Haven't heard the whole thing, but mentioned yesterday on the Rolling Reissues thread how great I thought the Fables remaster sounds.

― timellison, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 21:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

also, fables of the reconstruction is very -- very -- underrated. i like it more than murmur or reckoning, tbh.

I completely agree, and "Lifes Rich Pagent" continues that uber-high quality. I like Fables and LRP much better than Murmur and Reckoning.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 22:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

Liked "Find The River" when it came out, but now don't feel the need to hear it ever. There are a lot of explicit indications of poignancy on AFTP but in the end it's kind of a cold, gestural record -- e.g. no expression of regret on the entire album displays 1/10 as much feeling as does "Me In Honey."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 29 July 2010 02:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh, I don't agree! "Find the River" is, I think, bigger in scope in that it's not about regret. It's the more universal loss coming simply from the passage of time.

― timellison, Thursday, 29 July 2010 02:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I agree with Tim, more or less; although it's not so much about regret per se as it is about attempts to step outside the "normal world" of work into which most of us enter, and to find "our own" way in the world. For Stipe this is the artist's way, strewn with flowers. And it is a beautiful dream but at the same time it is to see "life", that is, the life of the "normal world", passing you by. You have to leave the road to find this other way, and there is no one else to lead you. But while this is a standard romantic trope (the lone hero traverses her own way in the world), the song contrasts this celebration of the heroic individual with the observation that even the heroic individual is going to die, just like the "normals". All this energy & vision is still going to end up flowing into the ocean. All of this is coming your way.

― Euler, Thursday, 29 July 2010 06:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, somehow the last line of the song really recasts the whole thing for me, it becomes open-hearted and optimistic after the inward-looking artist's path stuff and "nothing is going my way" - - - suddenly it comes into focus as Stipe at 30something chatting with a 20-year-old pondering whether to follow his/her dreams, or do what the read on the speed-meter says and take on a 9-5 in "the city." And the former is going to have its ups and downs, but the rewards are great and "all of this is coming your way." I like this one a lot.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm curious, is there something in the lyric that gave you guys the interpretation that he's singing to himself? Of course, he's singing about himself in some of it, but I always interpreted the character referred to in the second person as being somebody else.

The song is not very situational, though (apart from that reference to "the city," which can really just be a very general metaphor for everyday life). So, the character referred to in the second person is easily an Everyman/Everywoman. That's why I was talking about its universality in comparison with "Me in Honey."

― timellison, Thursday, 29 July 2010 19:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

#7: Sitting Still
12 votes, 107 points
Highest position: #1 (Euler)
Position in Murmur poll: #2 (9 points)

24 years after figuring out how to play it, "Sitting Still" is STILL the song I play when I'm checking out a guitar.

― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Friday, December 12, 2008 4:02 AM Bookmark

"sitting still" = template for a million trillion indiepop bands

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, November 7, 2003 7:02 AM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 30 July 2010 02:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh man "Sitting Still"...in the early 90s budding scholar me wanted to make a "history of punk" compilation that was based around this song; still hear it as the band's way through punk to something that's uniquely their own. I dunno if it should be called the chorus, but the part of the song that leads into the song's title being sung is total pogo music (i.e. not for sitting still). I"m not sure this song really has a lyric so there's no chance of drawing anything out of that, except that its inarticulacy is pretty self-conscious with the "can you hear me?" part. Boy, I'm not making much of a case for this song, my #1: I'm pretty inarticulate too today! The drums on this song are a masterpiece, a propeller.

If this is the template for a million trillion indiepop bands then I should probably try listening to some of them!

― Euler, Friday, 30 July 2010 06:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Definitely one of my favourites. The last few in this poll were things I wouldn't have voted for, so hopefully we're back on track now.

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 30 July 2010 07:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

One of my very favorites too. There are some videos of them playing this back in the day where mike mills exuberance is soooo infectious!

― "goof proof cooking, I love it!" (Z S), Friday, 30 July 2010 14:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

#6: Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
12 votes, 112 points
Highest position: #1 (Piotr Kowalczyk, dad a, rogermexico, Daniel Esq)
Position in Chronic Town poll: #1 (22 points)

"carnival of sorts" is a high-water mark in 80s pop music or any pop music.

― sundar subramanian, Friday, February 23, 2001 8:00 PM Bookmark

later on, whenever i put on another r.e.m. album, dad would say "i don't hear anything as good as 'carnival of sorts'."

― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:40 PM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 7 August 2010 16:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

wow, that's quite a picture, Stipey with the sad professor look! is that from a single? I guess I didn't realize it was ever released as a single.

Last week I finished listening through all the REM I have, including a bunch of live shows through 1985 or so. "Carnival of Sorts" is a mainstay of those shows; for instance it closes the July 1983 set included on the deluxe Murmur. Every one in the band is crucial: Stipe & Mills' vocal interplay on the choruses, Buck's riff (live it's even more juiced), & Berry's drumming: going into each chorus his fills are so fucking exciting. It's dance music! which the band always wanted to be until 1985 or so, at least dance music as music you can dance, rather than a separate genre. They're a party band! for a carnival, of sorts.

― Euler, Saturday, 7 August 2010 16:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's a bootleg cover, but boy what a great period photo.

God, it would have been great to see them back in the day, just these jumped-up party kids keeping the gang entertained with a show in the barn that consisted of, um, some of the best post-punk ever recorded.

― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 7 August 2010 16:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

Thanks to Stipe wearing these glasses I wore basically the same ones until like 1993. And people would always be like, why are you still wearing John Lennon glasses? and I would be like, no, they're Michael Stipe glasses, but not Michael Stipe NOW glasses, abandoned-church-era Michael Stipe glasses, and then I'd realize the person I was talking to wasn't there anymore.

Anyway. Great song. Still chill at "Gentlemen don't get caught."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 7 August 2010 19:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

so bummed that REM hasn't officially released or somehow sanctioned a bunch of their bootlegs.

carnival of sorts has -- and will always have -- THAT BEAT.

― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 7 August 2010 19:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

#5: Fall On Me
15 votes, 113 points
Highest position: #1 (Doctor Casino)
Position in Lifes Rich Pageant poll: #1 (16 points)

All I would add is that "Fall On Me" is still my favorite song of theirs.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, December 5, 2005 9:13 PM Bookmark

"Fall On Me" duh.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, December 15, 2008 7:28 AM Bookmark

Pivotal moments in your life:
first kiss - r.e.m. 'fall on me'

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, June 21, 2003 12:34 AM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 12 August 2010 20:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Just an unstoppable force of a performance IMO. I've said before that I think this is Stipe's finest moment as a vocalist, and really I think everybody involved turns in 150% here, just pulling out every trick they've got and throwing them at one impassioned plea for - what? Public sanity? Heavenly mercy? It's tough to do environmental songs that don't sound preachy but here Stipe borrows from the "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home?" playbook, he's just this guy shocked at how everything's going to hell and hoping it doesn't come crashing down on him. At least, I think that's what's going on here. God, that chorus.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 12 August 2010 20:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

MVP: Mike Mills' B-VOX

― Hideous Lump, Friday, 13 August 2010 02:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

wow this song is ranked much higher than i thought it would be. (don't recall if i ranked it at all, and if so, where).

― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 13 August 2010 02:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

Love this song but not even in my top 3 on Lifes Rich Pageant. In fact, I don't even think it's my favorite "inspirational" number on LRP -- that's "I Believe." Unless "These Days" is inspirational -- which it kind of is -- in that case, "These Days."

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 13 August 2010 03:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't even remember if it's on this poll, but "Camera" came on my shuffle yesterday and jeez, my god.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Sunday, 22 August 2010 00:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

#4: So. Central Rain
18 votes, 135 points
Highest position: #1 (David Merryweather, Nasty Brutish & Short)
Position in Reckoning poll: #1 (17 points)

fall on me? it's no 'so. central rain'.

― keyth (keyth), Sunday, April 9, 2006 1:21 PM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 22 August 2010 03:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

watching rem perform this on david letterman was a striking, shattering moment for me in the 80s.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 03:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

That's the one I've been waiting for.

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Sunday, 22 August 2010 13:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

i don't think it was in my top five, but it's a towering moment for 80s college rock (the forebearer to 90s indie-rock, i guess).

also, having them debut it in that setting was extraordinary. and it showed tremendous confidence. they were promoting murmur; reckoning wouldn't be released for another year, i think; even fans in the audience would have had no familiarity with the song. it was just so good that they went ahead with it, instead of something else from murmur. such an extraordinary band, until it all went downhill.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 14:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's also amazing to think of a time where a band could be on a major late night tv show in the U.S. and play a new, unreleased song on a national debut without their label or the tv execs shitting their pants.

― Z S, Sunday, 22 August 2010 14:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

That live clip isn't doing much for me (the sound is bad, unsurprisingly) & Stipe comes across as a thoroughly unappealing frontman. The ending isn't explosive the way it is on later versions. Buck & Mills are charming in the intro though!

I voted this song #9 it appears. That's partly a function of what ended up as choices for this poll, iirc. Is this REM's most Pearl Jam moment?

― Euler, Sunday, 22 August 2010 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

What stands out more than anything in that clip is that Peter's guitar it out of tune. But that, combined with Stipe's stage demeanor, just makes the whole thing more appealing for me. You can still picture them in a a garage, drinking cheap beers and casually working out a staple of college rock.

― Z S, Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

yep. sometimes it's more than dynamic playing/showmanship that make a performance. i just remember being struck by the song. like, "wow," these guys have a lot more than chronic town and murmur in them.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

having said that, i don't think this song was on my ballot at all.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, but when I picture them in garages I think of the pre-Murmur boots in which they're leading what sound like awesome parties.

― Euler, Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh, yeah. well, as i've said before, it's ridiculous that they haven't officially released all those awesome performances from the early, early 80s that are floating around on bootlegs.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

Stipe comes across as a thoroughly unappealing frontman. [...] Buck & Mills are charming in the intro though!

Totally my first impression as well. Peter Buck especially I was like "awwwww!" and then Stipe came up from the shadows and I was like "O_O OMG WTF IS THAT THING O_O" and then his stage demeanor made me all, "...oh great."

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Monday, 23 August 2010 13:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

Three things I love about this song (in order of appearance):

1) The bass line before each verse

2) Eastern to Mountain, third party call, the lines are down, the wise man built his words upon the rocks
but I'm not bound to follow suit - I just loved the way this lengthy line sounded when I was a teenager, even though I couldn't work out what he was saying (due to mumbling, American accent, American culturally specific stuff('Eastern to Mountain') and sheer unlikeliness of the lyrics)

3) The Mills 'ah-ah-ah-ah...' in the final verse

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Monday, 23 August 2010 14:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I love that phone-connection line, especially the way it tumbles from the practical specifics of the long-distance relationship storyline to this philosophical musing on wise men etc. "Eastern to Mountain, third-party call" is so grounded and specific, it's not quite "Long distance information, get me Memphis Tennessee," but it's sure close.

So did he/she really never call, or was it just that the lines were down?

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 23 August 2010 18:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

#3: Radio Free Europe
15 votes, 138 points
Highest position: #1 (Guayaquil (eephus!))
Position in Murmur poll: tie for #1 (10 points)

I paid $100 for a fully-autographed copy of REM's Radio Free Europe on Hib-Tone.

― dan, Thursday, April 25, 2002 8:00 PM Bookmark

You have to remember how Radio Free Europe sounded late at night on commercial radio stations between Men Without fucking Hats and Quarterflash to appreciate how it impacted on observant suburban kids.

― suzy (suzy), Saturday, February 10, 2007 6:47 AM Bookmark

what a great way to start a career btw

― mr bollock apple (electricsound), Tuesday, January 5, 2010 3:48 AM Bookmark

― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Which leaves us with these for the top two:

Beat A Drum
Crazy
Driver 8
Fretless
Harborcoat
Hope
Imitation of Life
King of the Road
Kohoutek
Leaving New York
Let Me In
Orange Crush
Sad Professor
Strange Currencies
The Lifting
The One I Love
Turn You Inside Out

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'd say this is between "Driver 8" and "The One I Love," perhaps with "Harborcoat" as a long-shot upset.

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Then again I can imagine "The One I Love" getting shut out, so...

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

Have any wildcards placed yet?

― Euler, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

just #29: It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

― Mosquepanik at Ground Zero (abanana), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Orange Crush" might have a chance

― Mosquepanik at Ground Zero (abanana), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think "Life..." was a wildcard as well.

― ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

I put a wildcard at #3, but I don't think it stands a chance.

― Euler, Tuesday, 31 August 2010 21:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

I was waiting for Sitting Still, but have just noticed it was at no.7

― Jerome Personnel Cheeses (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 06:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

On the merits, "Driver 8" takes it, followed by "Harborcoat." In real life, "Driver 8" followed by "The One I Love" (which certainly doesn't deserve, on the merits, to get shut out.)

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

As for my #1. When I was in high school I formed the intention to programatically become more cool. From what I read in Washington CityPaper, it was cool to like REM. This was maybe 1987. I bought _Document_ and _Murmur_ and listened to them over and over until I was cool.

Mills's up-the-stairs-down-the-stairs bassline on "Straight off the boat...." is one of my favorite moments in the history of popular music.

Is that weird? But I was once drunk at a part with a guy who played bass in a medium-successful indie rock band, and I didn't really have anything to talk about, and I started talking about this bassline, and it was like we were fans of the same baseball team or something, we were just instantly best friends, "go bassline!"

I heard this bassline and for the first time -- despite the many, many Yes albums I had listened to by 1987 -- understood that pop music was in certain ways supposed to be complicated.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 1 September 2010 12:47 (2 years ago) Permalink