"Sometimes I Feel Like I Can't Even Sing..."

Election Day (Nov 8), 1988 - R.E.M. releases GREEN, their 6th full-length album, and their first on a major label, Warner Bros. [Sidebar on the term "sell-out": I think it's wielded way too frequently, and does not apply here. Disagree if you like, but ask yourself what you would do in a similar scenario.]

I've been digging this album profusely this week. Emily loves it, too. Now, after 10+ years since my last listen, this has been a real trip down memory lane: freshman year in college ('88-'89).

Track listing [All songs written by Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe]:

1. Pop Song 89 – 3:03
2. Get Up – 2:35
3. You Are The Everything – 3:45
R. Stand – 3:10
5. World Leader Pretend – 4:15
6. The Wrong Child – 3:35
7. Orange Crush – 3:50
8. Turn You Inside-Out – 4:15
9. Hairshirt – 3:55
10. I Remember California – 5:05
11. [Untitled] – 3:15

"Pop Song 89" is an upbeat kick-off. Someone once told me it's a reinterpretation of "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors. "Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you/I think I can remember your name...name/Hello I'm sorry, I lost myself/I think I thought you were someone else" - sounds like a theory with some merit to me. "Get Up" is another rocker. An Emily favorite, I'm finding out. "Dreams, they complicate my life." Ain't that the truth?!!

If one had listened to each REM album as they were released, and in running order (song-wise), I'm pretty sure "You Are The Everything" represented the first chance to hear Peter Buck on mandolin. Normally, I might not mention "mandolin" with such glee. It just sounds so damned sweet here. Of course, there's also Stipe's vivid lyrical imagery, and powerful vocal delivery of that lyrical imagery...wow!

"Stand" was the first big hit single (reaching #6 on the Billboard "Hot 100") from Green, very catchy and radio friendly. Yet, it also was notable for its environmentalist lyrics, vague though some might've found them. "Think about the place where you live/Wonder why you haven’t before"...makes sense to me, especially after 8 years of Reagan. Buck plays a ridiculous wah-wah guitar solo that couldn't fit more perfectly. OK, call it overindulgent if you must. It's a fine line, I suppose.

"World Leader Pretend" represented another first for the band: printed lyrics! Moody and brooding, this song might bear the most resemblance to earlier REM tunes of the slower variety. In "The Wrong Child", the mandolin is back. I love this song, and its story of a childhood filled with dread over being an outcast ("Those kids are looking at me/They're laughing and they're running over here"). And, my goodness, Stipe's voice has reached new heights of pure emotional resonance through good, old-fashioned belting it out: "I'm not supposed to be like this/But it's okay...okay".

From the ending vocals of the previous song, comes the stinging intro to "Orange Crush", another single from Green. This one is an anti-war ditty, whether you translate "orange crush" to mean agent orange or napalm. Either one works. This leads directly into what was probably the band's heaviest tune to date, "Turn You Inside-Out". It's a great song, in my humble opinion. Beth over at "A Cup of Coffey" refers to it as "sexy". That works.

The 3rd and final mandolin appearance is "Hairshirt". WOW!!! I love this song. These are some of Stipe's best stream-of-consciousness lyrics, this side of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". Vocally, this might be the pinnacle, in my opinion. Too much angst and self-pity, JM? Maybe. But, everyone has their down days. And when my high school sweetheart turned long-distance relationship in college decided "we" needed to see other people, there was "Hairshirt"...'nuff said. (See here for more on the meaning of the term "hairshirt").

"I Remember California" is another heavy one. This one might be heavier than TYI-O, even. And, it's got these great, darkly humorous lyrics about life after California has fallen into the Pacific Ocean. Then, there's a really cool untitled track to end the album. It's basically a straightforward going-away-and-I'll-miss-everyone kind of song, but a good one at that.

This one's got something for everyone, I think. Call it eclectic, dyslexic, schizophrenic, or whatever you wish. I might be the only one who actually thinks it flows in order. I like the changes in pace. However, it's also cool to listen to the 3 mandolin tunes back-to-back-to-back. Or, to listen to PS89, "Get Up", OC, and TYI-O in a row. Shit, pull a Forrest "you never know what you'll get" Gump, and put this f*cker on random play. Haahnster likes it any old way you cut it!