# R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe (lead vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass guitar), and Bill Berry (drums and percussion). The band members shared equal credit on all songs produced by the band, no matter who did most of the writing.

## Song lyrics
### Murmur (1983)

* Calling all, in transit, Calling all, in transit, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Europe.
** "Radio Free Europe"
* The pilgrimage has gained momentum, Take our turn, take our turn Take our fortune, take our fortune.
** "Pilgrimage"
* Empty prayer, empty mouths, Combien reaction, Empty prayer, empty mouths, Talk about the passion.
** "Talk About the Passion"
* Standing too soon, Shoulders high in the room.
** "Perfect Circle"

### Reckoning (1984)

* Please find my harborcoat, Can't go outside without it.
** "Harborcoat"
* Did you never call? I waited for your call, These rivers of suggestion Are driving me away. The trees will bend, The cities wash away, The city on the river, There's a girl without a dream. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
** "So. Central Rain"
* Looking at your watch a third time, Waiting in the station for the bus. Going to a place that's far, so far away And if that's not enough, Going where nobody says 'Hello,' They don't talk to anybody they don't know.
** "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"
* Don't go back to Rockville, And waste another year.
** "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"

### Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)

* It's a Man Ray kind of sky, Let me show you what I can do with it.
** "Feeling Gravitys Pull"
* And the train conductor says, 'Take a break, Driver 8, Driver 8, take a break, We can reach our destination But it's still a ways away.'
** "Driver 8"
* If your world is a monster, Bad to swallow you whole, Philomath, they know the lowdown, Throw your trolls out the door.
** "Cant Get There from Here"
* When you greet a stranger, Look at his shoes.
** "Good Advices"
* That's when Wendell Gee Takes a tug upon the string That held the line of trees Behind the house he lived in, He was reared to give respect, But somewhere down the line he chose To whistle as the wind blows, Whistle as the wind blows with me.
** "Wendell Gee"

### Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

* Birdie in the hand for life's rich demand, The insurgency began and you missed it. I looked for it and I found it, Myles Standish proud, congratulate me.Life's rich demand creates supply in the hand Of the powers, the only vote that matters Silence means security, silence means approval Watching zenith on the TV, tiger run around the tree Follow the leader, run and turn into butter.
** "Begin the Begin"
* Let's begin again, begin the begin. Let's begin again like Martin Luther, Zen. The mythology begins the begin.
** "Begin the Begin"
* Buy the sky and sell the sky, And bleed the sky and tell the sky, don't Fall on me.
** "Fall on Me" - Official video at YouTube
* Let's put our heads together To start a new country up. Our father's father's father tried, Erased the parts he didn't like. Let's try to fill it in, Bank the quarry, river swim, We knee-skinned it, you and me, We knee-skinned that river red.
** "Cuyahoga"
* I believe my humor's wearing thin And change is what I believe in I believe my shirt is wearing thin And change is what I believe in
** "I Believe"

### Document (1987)

* The time to rise has been engaged; You'd better best to rearrange. I'm talking here to me alone, I listen to the finest worksong.
** "Finest Worksong"
* We're sharpening stones, walking on coals, To improve your business acumen.
** "Exhuming McCarthy"
* That's great, it starts with an earthquake, Birds and snakes and aeroplanes. Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn. World serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs.
** "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - Official video at YouTube
* It’s the end of the world as we know it, (It's time I had some time alone) And I feel fine.
** "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
* Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign tower Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform, book burning, blood letting, Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate. Light a candle, light a votive, step down, step down, Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh. This means no fear, cavalier renegade and steering clear,< br>A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline.
** "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
* The other night I dreamt of knives, Continental drift divide Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein. Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs, Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom! You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck Right? Right!
** "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
* This one goes out to the one I love. This one goes out to the one I've left behind. A simple prop to occupy my time. This one goes out to the one I love.
** "The One I Love" - Official video at YouTube

### Green (1988)

* Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you, I think I can remember your name, name.
** "Pop Song 89"
* Should we talk about the weather? Hi! Hi, hi! Should we talk about the government? Hi! Hi, hi, hi!
** "Pop Song 89"
* All you hear is time stand still in travel And feel such peace and absolute The stillness still that doesn't end But slowly drifts into sleep The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen And they're there for you For you alone you are the everything.
** "You Are The Everything" - YouTube video
* You are here with me You have been here and you are everything.
** "You Are The Everything"
* Stand in the place where you live Now face North Think about direction Wonder why you haven’t Now stand in the place where you work Now face West Think about the place where you live Wonder why you haven’t before.
** "Stand" - YouTube video
* This is my world and I am the world leader pretend, This is my life and this is my time, I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit, It's high time I razed the walls that I've constructed.
** "World Leader Pretend"
* Follow me, don’t follow me. I’ve got my spine, I’ve got my orange crush Collar me, don’t collar me I’ve got my spine, I’ve got my orange crush.
** "Orange Crush" - YouTube video
* We are agents of the free I’ve had my fun and now its time to Serve your conscience overseas (over me, not over me) Coming in fast, over me.
** "Orange Crush"

### Out of Time (1991)

* The world is collapsing around our ears; I turned up the radio, but I can't hear it.
** "Radio Song"
* Oh, Life is bigger, it's bigger than you, And you are not me. The lengths that I will go to, The distance in your eyes. Oh no, I've said too much, I set it up.That's me in the corner, That's me in the spotlight Losing my religion, Trying to keep up with you, And I don't know if I can do it. Oh no I've said too much. I haven't said enough.I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try
** "Losing My Religion" - Official video at YouTube
* Every whisper Of every waking hour, I'm choosing my confessions. Trying to keep an eye on you, Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool. Oh no, I've said too much, I set it up.
** "Losing My Religion"
* Everyone around, love them, love them. Put it in your hands, take it, take it. There's no time to cry, happy, happy. Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines. Gold and silver shine.
** "Shiny Happy People" - YouTube video
* Her world collapsed early Sunday morning. She got up from the kitchen table, Folded the newspaper and silenced the radio. Those creatures jumped the barricades And have headed for the sea, sea.
** "Belong"
* She began to breathe, to breathe at the thought of this freedom, Stood and whispered to her child, belong. She held the child and whispered With calm, calm; belong.
** "Belong"
* This flower is scorched, this film is on, On a maddening loop, these clothes, These clothes don't fit us right and I'm to blame. It's all the same, it's all the same.
** "Country Feedback"
* You come to me with a bone in your hand You come to me with your hair curled tight You come to me with positions You come to me with excuses Ducked out in a row You wear me out.
** "Country Feedback"
* It's crazy what you could have had, It's crazy what you could have had, I need this, I need this.
** "Country Feedback"
* It seems a shame to waste your time on me. It seems a lot to waste your time for me. Left me to love, What it's doing to me.
** "Me in Honey"

### Automatic for the People (1992)

* Hey kids, where are you? Nobody tells you what to do, baby. Hey kids, rock and roll, Nobody tells you where to go, baby.
** "Drive"
* Baby, instant soup doesn't really grab me, Today I need something more sub, sub, sub, substantial, A can of beans or black-eyed peas, Some Nescafe and ice, A candy bar, a falling star Or a reading from Dr. Seuss.
** "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"
* When the day is long And the night, the night is yours alone, When you're sure you've had enough Of this life, well, hang on.
Don't let yourself go 'Cause everybody cries. And everybody hurts, Sometimes.
** "Everybody Hurts" - Official YouTube video - Live Aid performance, London (2005)
* Mott the Hoople and The Game of Life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
** "Man on the Moon" - YouTube video
* Let's play Twister, let's play Risk. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. See you heaven if you make the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
** "Man on the Moon"
* Now, Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch? Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey, baby. Are we losing touch?If you believed they put a man on the moon, Man on the moon. If you believed there's nothing up his sleeve, Then nothing is cool
** "Man on the Moon"
* Nightswimming deserves a quiet night. I'm not sure all these people understand. It's not like years ago. The fear of getting caught, Of recklessness and water. They cannot see me naked. These things, they go away, Replaced by everyday.
** "Nightswimming"

### Monster (1994)

* "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, uh-huh. I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed. I thought I'd pegged you an idiot's dream, Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen.I never understood the frequency, uh-huh. You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh.
** "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", the opening line of the song , based on the remark "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" which a mentally disturbed man kept repeating, during a spontaneous attack on Dan Rather in 1986. - YouTube video
* I am smitten. I'm the real thing.
** "Crush with Eyeliner"

### New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)

* I said your name, I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras, Dreaming of Maria Callas, Whoever she is.
** "E-Bow the Letter"
* This fame thing, I don't get it.
** "E-Bow the Letter"
* And you are the star tonight, Your sun electric, out of sight, Your light eclipsed the moon tonight. Electrolite. You're out of sight.
** "Electrolite"

### Up (1998)

* I’ve found a way to make you I’ve found a way A way to make you smile. I read bad poetry Into your machine. I save your messages Just to hear your voice.
** "At My Most Beautiful" - YouTube video

### Reveal (2001)

* That sugarcane, that tasted good, That's cinnamon, that's Hollywood, Come on, come on, No-one can see you try.
** "Imitation of Life"

### Accelerate (2008)

* Well, I'm not one to sit and spin Because living well is the best revenge.
** "Living Well Is the Best Revenge"
* If the storm doesn't kill me, The government will.
** "Houston"
* Houston is filled with promise, Laredo is a beautiful place, Galveston sings like that song that I loved, Its meaning has not been erased.
** "Houston"

## Quotes about R.E.M.

* They invented a whole new ballgame for all of the other bands to follow whether it was Sonic Youth or the Replacements or Nirvana or Butthole Surfers. R.E.M. staked the claim. Musically, the bands did different things, but R.E.M. was first to show us you can be big and still be cool.
** Steve Wynn of The Dream Syndicate

## External links

* Official R.E.M. website