The 10 best songs by R.E.M.
It goes without saying, R.E.M. remain one of the most important rock bands of all time. Comprised of vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, R.E.M. have written some of the most influential works of music of the last 40 years.
The early days of R.E.M. saw popularity on college radio, but around the time of 1987’s Document, they began to get airtime on mainstream radio too with the release of ‘The One I Love’. By the time Out of Time and Automatic for the People came out in the 1990s, R.E.M. had forever imprinted themselves into the hearts and minds of their adoring fans worldwide.
Yet the defining feature of R.E.M. is surely the lyrical ability of their singer, Michael Stipe. Stipe’s early output was notoriously difficult to understand, which only gave it a more mysterious allure. However, later in the career of the band, Stipe opened up a little and wrote some of the most vulnerable lyrics ever committed to record.
We’re taking on the task of organising the ten very best songs that R.E.M. have ever released, including a variety of their efforts from the early college radio days to their breakthrough into the mainstream. We’ve added the most vulnerable moments from the band’s catalogue and some of their most energetic. So grab your tissues, and we’ll see you in the crowd.
The 10 best songs by R.E.M.
10. ‘Perfect Circle’
‘Perfect Circle’ is one of the best tracks on R.E.M.’s debut album Murmur, released in 1983. However, it departs from much of the R.E.M. catalogue – the usual combination of arpeggiated guitar, melodic bassline and tight percussion – in the fact that it is a piano-led tune. However, Michael Stipe’s signature opaque lyrics are still a central feature of the song.
The chorus is truly ambiguous, yet it feels like one of the most beautiful lines Stipe had ever written as he sings: “Standing too soon, shoulders high in the room.” It evokes the awkwardness of being at a party you don’t really belong at, an analogy to life itself, perhaps. “It was an intensely personal song to me,” Stipe once said. “I really like that it can mean two different things. It’s the exact same feeling, but the details are different.”
9. ‘Radio Free Europe’
The song that generated the full R.E.M. buzz also arrived on the band’s debut record, but it was very, very different from ‘Perfect Circle’. ‘Radio Free Europe’ saw the band from Athens, Georgia, at their most energetic and first showed the world just how indistinguishable Michael Stipe’s lyrics could get.
But the debut R.E.M. single featured that distinctive Peter Buck arpeggio guitar work just before the chorus that would serve him so well over the years. Equally, it showed that Mike Mills was offering a new way of playing the bass, always moving and always providing the melody. The simple yet effective song is certainly deserving of its place amongst R.E.M.’s best efforts and is maybe their most important.
8. ‘Welcome To The Occupation’
There had always been a political edge to R.E.M., particularly through the admittedly turbulent 1980s in America, and there are several songs on 1987’s Document that point the finger at the United States government, their lies, and alleged cover-ups. Michael Stipe calls out on ‘Welcome To The Occupation’, “Hang your collar up inside / Hang your freedom higher / Listen to the buyer still / Listen to the Congress / Where we propagate confusion.”
Stipe likens the very nature of government to the very occupation of a country by a malevolent force, dramatic but true perhaps. Stipe’s vocals are on fire, and sonically the band are as tight as ever, having had the past five years or so to refine their feel. It was Document that saw R.E.M. breaking into the mainstream, and ‘Welcome To The Occupation’ is the best of the lot.
7. ‘Fall On Me’
One of Michael Stipe’s favourite songs in the R.E.M. catalogue arrived on 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant. ‘Fall On Me’ is a sombre song that explores the effects of environmental damage on Earth’s inhabitants. The chorus, “don’t fall on me”, is a plea to the acid rain that will potentially soak and scar us forever, as initially confirmed by Stipe himself.
However, as with many of Stipe’s best songs, there is a dual meaning to ‘Fall On Me’. In 1997, he explained, “It’s not about acid rain. It’s a general oppression song about the fact that there are a lot of causes out there that need a song that says, ‘Don’t smash us.’ And specifically, there are references to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the guy dropping weights and feathers.” Mike Mills also provides some of his best backing vocals to date.
6. ‘So. Central Rain’
Thom Yorke once noted that his favourite song by R.E.M. is ‘So. Central Rain’, taken from the band’s second studio album Reckoning, which was released in 1984 as the record’s lead single. A year prior, the band had played an early version of the track on David Letterman before it even had a title. ‘So. Central Rain’ is defined by the contrast between its upbeat verse and its melancholy chorus.
The chorus is just about as simple as one could imagine, with the sole line, “I’m sorry”. However, it’s that very simplicity that gives the track its brilliance. Even as early as R.E.M.’s sophomore effort, it was always evident that Michael Stipe had the genius of a poet deep within him with lines like, “These rivers of suggestion are driving me” and “Go build yourself another dream, this choice isn’t mine.”
5. ‘Country Feedback’
During one of R.E.M.’s MTV Unplugged sessions, Stipe introduced ‘Country Feedback’ as “a very sad song indeed”, and it’s clear to see why. It sees Stipe assume the role of an observer considering the disintegration of a recent relationship. Amazingly, the beautiful lyrics were improvised on the spot.
Stipe claimed that he “just had a piece of paper with a few words”. Detailing further, he added: “I sang it, and I walked out”. Evidently, many things were on the singer’s mind that day in the studio, showing that the best songs often come straight from the heart rather than arduously trying to find the perfect lyrics. Like much of Out of Time, ‘Country Feedback’ is a slower, acoustic effort with melancholy keyboards closely behind. “It’s crazy what you could’ve had,” Stipe laments in yet another genius lyrical moment.
4. ‘Find the River’
‘Find the River’ on Automatic for the People finds R.E.M. at their simultaneously most chilled out and yet euphoric. It’s a call for us to abandon the speed and chaos of metropolitan life and return once again to our natural habitat. As Stipe urges, we must simply “find the river” to find joy once again, seeing as the city implores us to work and do little else.
Dual backing vocals by Bill Berry and Mike Mills elevate the track into true ecstasy, and the reflective mood of the song is carried throughout, much like a river itself. The harmonica piece is particularly moving, but the real genius of ‘Find The River’ is the wonderfully composed piano melody. A true essential of the R.E.M. catalogue and perhaps one that has eluded your ears hitherto.
3. ‘Try Not To Breathe’
While Document and Out of Time saw R.E.M. cement their place as one of the most significant alternative rock bands of the 20th Century and helped them to leave college radio behind once and for all, it was Automatic for the People that really solidified their status, still considered their greatest album. There are countless masterpieces on the record, but ‘Try Not To Breathe’ is a certain standout.
The rhythm of the guitar track would undoubtedly influence Smashing Pumpkins, while the sitar-like lead tone lent the song a unique flavour. Again, Michael Stipe just reveals himself to be a true poet. “I will try not to burden you; I can hold my breath until all these shivers subside. Just look in my eyes. I will try not to worry you.” Stipe is simply one of, if not the, most vulnerable lyrists of all time.
2. ‘Half a World Away’
While much of the R.E.M. catalogue, especially from the early years, had the energy that made their tunes truly infectious, they were often at their best when slowing down and providing a more melancholy backdrop to Michael Stipe’s beautifully yet occasionally odd lyrics. One of these moments came on Out of Time’s ‘Half a World Away’.
It was on that album that R.E.M. began to experiment with alternative instruments, particularly Peter Buck’s mandolin. ‘Half a World’ is probably one of the most moving and heartbreaking songs ever written. Stipe sings: “This could be the saddest dusk I’ve ever seen. You turn to a miracle, high-alive. My mind is racing as it always will. My hand’s tired, my heart aches. I’m half a world away.” Just effortlessly beautiful. Hand me the tissues.
1. ‘Everybody Hurts’
While R.E.M. were undoubtedly a college radio band for many years, by the time Automatic for the People rolled out, pretty much everyone with half an inkling of musical knowledge knew who they were. The temptation when picking out the best tunes of any band is to issue those that are least known, but with R.E.M., it would be remiss not to say that the ubiquitous ‘Everybody Hurts’ is not their best song.
A painful, beautiful, effortless and unifying reflection on the reality of the human experience, Michael Stipe urges us to acknowledge the fact that even when we feel utterly alone in our pain and suffering, someone else is out there, experiencing that very harrow and it is that same understanding is the perfect tonic to our sadness.
Indeed, every human being does truly feel sorrow and grief at some point or another, and often, all we want to do is bury that sadness, deny it and hide from its very existence. But ‘Everybody Hurts’ urges us to face that pain head-on, share it with our closest friends, and comfort them when it is their turn to cry. R.E.M.’s song is genuine art and might just be one of the most vital pieces to ever come forth from one human soul to many, many others. Timeless. Genius.
