Subject: R.E.M. and rec.music.rem FAQ (2/3)
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Date: Sat, 08 Jul 1995 17:12:47 -0400
References: <rgh3-0807951705040001@128.253.70.90>
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Last modified: July 7, 1995

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[Continued from Part 1/3]

 o B7. "Why is the actual song order on _Lifes Rich Pageant_ different
   from that listed on the back cover?  And do some copies actually
   list the song 'Superman' as 'Superwoman'?"

   Reportedly, the song order on _LRP_ was changed at the last minute,
   too late for the cover art to be changed.  While it's anybody's guess
   why this was not subsequently corrected for later domestic vinyl and
   CD pressings, but has been for some foreign and record club versions,
   bear in mind that the off-beat creativity of the mixed-up list and
   lyrics clues is typical of the band.

   Note also that some European issues of LRP have the proper track order,
   but list "Superman" as "Superwoman."  Hmm.

   On a related note, the song "When I was Young" is listed on the sleeve
   of _Fables of the Reconstruction_, but was dropped at the last minute,
   destined to reappear later in quite revised form, on _LRP_, as "I
   Believe."

 o B8. "What is the name of that last song on _Green_?"

   The instrumental version, on the CD-single for "Stand" is called "The
   Eleventh Untitled Song (Instrumental)."  One can therefore infer that
   it's simply called "Eleventh Untitled Song."  Reportedly, however, some
   of this cut's lyrics were included in a Fan Club mailing under the
   title, "So Awake Volunteer," so some people consider that to be its
   intended title.  Recently, an industrious group reader posted that
   while browsing the Library of Congress, he discovered that the song
   is copyright-registered under the title of "11."

 o B9. "What is that on the front cover of 'Chronic Town'?"

   The famed Spitting Gargoyle of Notre Dame (in Paris).

 o B10. "Whose half-face is on Lifes Rich Pageant?"

   Bill Berry's.  Gruesome makeup and photography courtesy Stipe (who
   said he admires the mono-brow, by the way).

 o B11. "The spine title of my copy of _Fables_ is _Reconstruction
   of the Fables_, not the other way around!  Do I have a limited ed.
   or something?

   Alas, no.  It's neither a misprint, nor rare, and the "two" titles
   indeed refer to one and the same album.  The "real" title of the album
   is circular, you might say ("Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables
   of the Reconstruction of ... [ad nauseam]").  You'll notice that on
   one side of the CD booklet, it says "Fables of the" and on the other
   side it says "Reconstruction of the."  You can flip the booklet and
   use either cover you wish.  The spine of the CD case says "Reconstruction
   of the Fables," whereas the face of the disc itself says "Fables of
   the Reconstruction," but with "Reconstruction" printed upside-down,
   and "of the" printed vertically, it can be read either way. (However,
   note that the newer European reissue discs just have "Fables of the
   Reconstruction")

   Anyway, it's a play on words, like much of Stipe's genius.  Does it
   mean "tales about the post-Civil War period in American history," or
   does it mean "putting back together those tales of yore in our own weird
   way"...?   It all depends on which way you show the cover.

 o B12. "Who is that on the cover of Document?"

   Michael Stipe, hiding behind a camera.  Note there are several
   images superimposed over each other at different angles.  The car
   is a black Checker Marathon (the kind of car most cabs used to be)
   which Michael used to drive.

 o B13.  "On the _Reckoning_ liner, it says 'Help Carl Grasso.'  Who
   was he?"

   Carl Grasso was reportedly the art director (or product manager) for
   IRS back then; supposedly the band used to drive him nuts with what they
   would and wouldn't allow on the album covers.


C. THOSE DARN LYRICS; AND OTHER MUSIC-RELATED QUESTIONS

 o C1. "What are the words to the chorus of 'Sitting Still?'"

   A few years ago, Michael Stipe claimed in a Rolling Stone interview
   that the chorus begins "Up to par, Katie bars the kitchen door but not
   me in."  Careful listening, however, leaves some listeners dubious about
   "door" at least. Check the lyrics file for the best guesses of long-
   time newsgroup readers, but let's face it -- even he doesn't know!

   In an AOL posting he made regarding this song Stipe said, "Sit. still
   -- come on now, that is an embarrassing collection of vowels that i
   strung together some 400 yrs ago! Basically nonsense... 'Katie bar
   the kitchen door' is a southern term that meant you better watch out."

|o C2. "How exactly do you people think Michael Stipe could have written
|  songs for Murmur, Reckoning, etc. without having words in mind?  He is
|  often quoted as saying "the earlier songs don't have lyrics _per se_"  
|  How does he do that?  Seems ridiculous, but at the same time witty."
|
|  Chris Piuma responded on r.m.r: "Take a song that you like but can 
|  remember only a few lines to. Now, while not listening to it, sing 
|  it.  Most people either sing 'la la la doo doo doo' or they start 
|  making up nonsense words. Don't sing 'something something.'  Now 
|  record yourself doing this.  Write down what you sang.  It will 
|  probably come out as more or less meaningless stuff that revolves 
|  around that line you did know. OK, now take your lyrics and edit them 
|  so that they fit the song (syllable-wise) and so that the words make 
|  sense and the sentences make an odd sense but the paragraphs make no 
|  sense. Then, when you sing the words, distort them into sounds which 
|  might seem like completly different words. Use that as an editing tool."
| 
|  "Voila! You now have a lyric that isn't a lyric per se."
|
|  No one is saying this exactly how Stipe created his early lyrics (or
|  versions one hears on live tapes from early shows), but it's an example
|  of how this sort of thing could evolve.  (Note that this speculation does
|  not extend to lyrics for Document and beyond, whose enunciation on the
|  album and denotative meaning are obviously more clear and deliberate.)

   R.E.M. lyrics (or at least our collective best guesses) are available
   via WWW at <http://www.halcyon.com/rem/index.html> or by anon FTP at
   either <ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/local/rem > or the infamous lyrics
   archives at cs.uwp.edu (or its mirror sites); or retrieve the lyrics
   by e-mail from the fables lyrics server (send the one-word message
   LIST to the address <fables@lynchburg.edu> for instructions.)

 o C3. "What the heck is the chorus of 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight'?"

   Well, it's *not* "Call me in Jamaica," or even "Only in Chalawaika."
   The chorus is "Call when you try to wake her up, call when you try to
   wake her."  (Stipe's alternate version related on AOL was "Call me
   if you try to wake her up.")

 o C4. "What is that weird sound/voice at the beginning of 'Superman'?"

   It's reputed to be the sound that occurs when you pull the string on
   a certain talking Japanese Godzilla doll.  (Translated: "This is a
   special news report.  Godzilla has been sighted in Tokyo Bay.  The
   attack on it by the Self-Defense Force has been useless. He is
   heading towards the city. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh....")

 o C5. "What do the lyrics to 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?' mean?"

   Stipe was quoted in several interviews at the time of _Monster_'s
   release as saying it is written from the perspective of a person
   who's getting older trying to understand current youth culture.

   Note that the lyric (printed inside) contains a quote from
   Richard Linklater, director of the film _Slacker_: "Withdrawal
   in disgust is not the same as apathy" -- a rebuttal of sorts to
   those of older generations who would claim that Generation Xers,
   or "slackers," are merely spoiled, lazy brats.  (This line of
   argument would say that "slackers" have *chosen* to exclude
   themselves from mainstream society as a protest against its empty
   values.)

   It has also been noted that the "shirt of violent green" mentioned
   in the lyric may by a reference to a Spider Robinson short story
   entitled "Lady Slings the Booze," which also makes use of the
   phrase "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"

o C6. "What is the connection between 'WTF,K?' and Dan Rather?"

   The title of the song itself, it needs to be explained, refers
   indirectly to the incident in  Oct. 1986 in which Dan Rather,
   anchor for C.B.S.'s network news broadcast, was attacked by
   two unknown men in the street in New York City wearing suits and
   sunglasses.  The men kept asking Rather "What is the frequency?"
   and called him "Kenneth" while they shoved and accosted
   him; to date the incident has never been explained completely
   (though some have theorized that "Kenneth" might be Ken Schafer,
   an electronics expert with whom Rather had worked in connection
   with Soviet TV broadcasts).  Since the incident, "What's the
   frequency?" and calling a clueless person a "kenneth" have
   become a trendy youth culture catch-phrases (which is probably,
   why Stipe wanted to use it, rather than an interest in Rather).

   Please note that the supposed reference to Rather and CBS news in
   the "Ignoreland" lyric was incorrect, so there is *no* tie-in that
   we know of between the two songs regarding the newsanchor.  Mr.
   Rather, meanwhile, has taken the "tribute" in good spirits and has
   been quoted as saying he has always liked R.E.M., that he owns the
   _Monster_ CD, and suggested jokingly that the band's name really
   stands for "Rather's Excellent Musicians," before proceeding to
   sing the chorus of "It's the End of the World As We Know It,"
   during his recent Letterman appearance!

   Also note in passing that the album _Lolita Nation_ by Game Theory,
   released in 1987 and produced by Mitch Easter (there's another R.E.M.
   connection) contains a similarly titled song: "Kenneth -- What's the
   Frequency?"; WTF,K? is not a cover of that, of course -- the resemblance
   pretty much stops at the title.  Other newsgroup readers here have noted
   that the phrase may also have popped up in the movie "The Conversation"
   and in Dan Clowes' comic "Eightball".

 o C7. "Who is Michael Stipe referring to in the song 'Can't Get There
   from Here,' in the lines, 'Brother Ray can sing my song,' and the
   last line, 'Thank you, Ray'?"

   In _It Crawled..._ Bill Berry and Peter Buck are quoted discussing
   this song, which they refer to as a "jazz ballad."  Bill says, "We
   wanted to get an Otis [Redding] sound on that one," and Peter
   elaborates, "It's like a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Ray Charles
   and James Brown and all the great Georgia music giants."  Given
   these quotes, a probable answer is "Ray Charles."  (Remember too
   that Michael Stipe often cites, among his musical influences, singers
   whose records were in his parents' record collection when he was
   young, like Elvis, Henry Mancini, and possibly Ray Charles.)

 o C8. "Where did Stipe get the words in 'Voice of Harold' (from _Dead
   Letter Office_)?"

   Stipe used the liner notes to a gospel album in the studio during
   the recording of _Reckoning_ with the same backing music track as
   "Seven Chinese Brothers."  See the .gif files of the front and
   back covers of the album on the WWW Home Page for more information
   about the text of the album (there is also a text trascription for
   those without graphics).  This graphic file and transcribed text
   were obtained from a photocopy of the actual album still in the
   possession of Reflection Studios where the song was recorded.  If
   you are familiar with the lyrics, you can now see that Stipe didn't
   sing the entire text, and what he did sing wasn't always in sequence.

 o C9. "Who is 'Monty' in 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' on _AfTP_?"

   Montgomery Clift, actor. He was considered to be one of the most
   handsome movie stars ever in Hollywood at his prime, though he
   lost much of those looks in a car accident  His films included
   "Raintree County," "A Place in the Sun," and "The Misfits."  He died
   fairly young due to depression and alcohol abuse. A biography of
   Clift, written by Robert Laguardia, was published in 1977.

   Answers to questions about other real people mentioned in R.E.M.
   lyrics can be found in the document, "Real People Mentioned in REM
   Songs, v.1.1 2/26/95" researched by Gary Nabors and recently posted
   to the group (email rgh3@cornell.edu for a copy if you missed it).

 o C10. "Who speaks during the break in 'Exhuming McCarthy'?"

   From Marcus Gray's _It Crawled From The South_:

      "...the spoken-word middle eight, lifted from a McCarthy
   documentary the band watched during the album's mixing stage.  The
   film, _Point of Order_, takes as its climax a key moment during
   the televised army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 (the Senator was
   engaged in trying to root out subversives in the armed forces).
      "On June 9th, McCarthy repeatedly tried to ruin, by associating
   him with a left wing group, a young law associate of the Army
   counsel Joseph N. Welch.  The associate was not involved in the
   hearings, and Welch replied to McCarthy's irrelevant and spiteful
   harangues thus: 'Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.
   You have done enough.  Have you no sense of decency, sir?  At
   long last, have you no sense of decency?'"

 o C11. "What does the title of 'Green Grow the Rushes' refer to?"

   It may refer to the poem, "Green Grow The Rashes," by the Scottish
   poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), whose opening verse reads,

                         Green grow the rashes, O;
                         Green grow the rashes, O;
                   The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
                       Are spent among the lasses, O!

   It has been noted that Burns' was but one of many variations of
   a then-popular lyric by this name, many of them bawdy, and most
   sung by workers or soldiers to while away the hours.  A historically-
   unconfirmed story says that immigrants to the New World from the
   British Isles were especially fond of the song, and to the Spanish
   born population the Anglo-Americans who sang this work song became
   known as "greengrows" (later shortened to "gringos").  Since
   Stipe has been quoted as saying the song concerns American
   exploitation of migrant (Mexican) workers, one might speculate he
   had all of these possibilities in mind.

 o C12. "What is the snippet of music heard on some versions of
   Reckoning, but which is not on current CD recordings of the album?"

   The snippet in question is at the end, after "Little America" on early
   versions of the LP pressing of Reckoning.  This is not referring to
   the intro to "Rockville", but instead a somewhat abstract sequence
   which fades in, lasts about ten seconds, then fades out, and it has
   vocals with no discernable lyrics.  Mitch Easter called this studio
   outtake "found art", and it was drawn out and edited by Mitch and
   Don Dixon at Reflection Studios.  (For those who have the R.E.M.
   _Succumbs_ video collection, it plays during the clip before "Left
   of Reckoning" that depicts a person trying to walk through a
   hurricane rain storm.)

 o C13. "What is that song 'Photograph' that Michael Stipe sings, and
   why wasn't it on an R.E.M. album?"

   The compilation  "Born to Choose" CD features, among other things, the
   track "Photograph," co-written and performed by R.E.M. and Natalie
   Merchant. The album was put together to raise funds for the non-profit
   organization NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League).

 o C14. "What is that song where Michael Stipe sings 'You were in
   my dream'?"

   Stipe sang background vocals for the song, "Your Ghost," which appears
   on the recent solo album _Hips & Makers_ (Sire/4AD) by Throwing Muses'
   lead vocalist Kristin Hersh.

 o C15. "What is the R.E.M. song with the line 'First we take Manhattan,
   then we take Berlin...'?"

   This is a cover of the Leonard Cohen song "First We Take Manhattan,"
   which first appeared on the Cohen tribute album _I'm Your Fan_ and
   later appeared as a b-side on a single for "Drive" (see the disco-
   graphy for more details about releases).

 o C16. "Has Michael Stipe done a duet with Tori Amos?"

   Amos was quoted as saying, '...we're talking about doing a duet for
   a film called 'Don Juan de Marco and the Centerfold.'"  (Rolling Stone
   #691, p. 20).  A report indicated first that the song might not be
   included because Ms. Amos was unhappy with some of the other cuts on
   the album, and later that it wasn't included because the producers of
   the movie had dropped it in favor of a more marketable Bryan Adams
   song.  Latest word is that the cut may appear on a soundtrack album
   for a new film called "Empire" sometime late in July.

 o C17. "In 'Country Feedback," what is 'est' in the line, 'Self help, self
   pain, EST, psychics, fuck all'?  Are they referring to electro-shock
   therapy?"

   No.  Electro-Shock Therapy, usually called Electro-convulsive therapy
   (ECT) is not pronounced like a word, but is pronounced as separate
   letters ("E-C-T" rather than "est").  The Est in "Country Feedback" is
   probably the self-assertiveness encounter therapy called EST, which
   stood for "Erhard Sensitivity Training".  A man, Werner Erhard, in the
   seventies, concocted weekend "self-improvement" seminars to make people
   "tougher" and more "responsible." He made tons of money by locking
   large groups of future yuppies in Holiday Inn convention rooms, yelling
   at them a lot, and refusing to let them leave, even to go to the bathroom.

 o C18. "Where is Rockville, in '(Don't Go Back to) Rockville'?"

   From the book _Remarks, The Story of R.E.M._  by Tony Fletcher:
   "Mike Mills too was improving [his songwriting]. He wrote a plea to ... 
   a new girl in Athens who had been making a big impact on all the 
   boys, begging her not to spend the summer of '80 in Maryland. 
   'Don't Go Back To Rockville', with its memorable chorus and frantic 
   pacing, became an instant live favorite."

 
D. QUESTIONS ON R.E.M.'s LIVE PERFORMANCES

 o D1. "What is all this talk about Bingo Hand Job?  Who are they?"

   Bingo Hand Job was the name that R.E.M. went under when they played
   two "secret" gigs at a club called The Borderline around the time of the
   release of Out Of Time.  There are a few tapes of the shows floating
   around, and since everyone wants a copy, Bingo Hand Job gets brought
   up a lot.

 o D2. "Who is Peter Holsapple -- is/was he a member of R.E.M.?"

   Peter Holsapple was the unofficial "fifth member" of the band during
   the Green tour and the promotional tour for Out Of Time.  At last
   report, Peter was in The Continental Drifters, along with ex-Bangle
   Vicki Peterson and singer Susan Cowsill.  Peter, Vicki, and Susan
   opened the Go-Go's shows in L.A., with two others, billed as
   "Psycho Sisters."  He was also a member of the band the dB's.

 o D3. "What is the name of that song in _Tourfilm_ that goes 'Hey
   man I'm making moves, and I am so much stronger than you...'?"

   Michael is singing the first verse of "Future 40's (String of Pearls)".
   It was a duet that Michael sang with Syd Straw (ex-Golden Palominos)
   on her solo album _Surprise_.

 o D4. "What about the one that goes 'If we close the door, the night
   could last forever...'?"

   That's "The After Hours", a Velvet Underground original.

 o D5. "What about the other one that goes 'We live as we dream alone,
   To break the spell, we mix with the others...'"

   Originally by the Gang of Four, that is "We Live As We Dream, Alone."

 o D6. "And what about the acapella thing JMS sings that begins, 'Evenin'
   a-comin' soon....' done before 'I Believe' in some shows?"

   That is the beginning of "Harpers" by Hugo Largo, from their album
   _Drum_, which Stipe both produced and performed on.

 o D7. "I heard this version of U2's song 'One' with Michael Stipe
   singing. What was that all about?"

   Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, along with U2's Adam Clayton and Larry
   Mullen, Jr., appeared at the Inaugural Festivities in January, 1993 under
   the name Automatic Baby, performing U2's "One".  Michael Stipe also
   performed that evening with the 10,000 Maniacs on the numbers "Candy
   Everybody Wants" and "To Sir With Love."

 o D8. "And what about that song on 'MTV Unplugged' which Mike Mills
   sings, that goes, 'Love is all around us...'?"

   It is a cover of the Troggs' song, "Love Is All Around."  Note that the
   group Wet Wet Wet recently did a cover of the tune as well. It can be
   found on the CD single:  Radio Song (Tower Of Luv Bug Mix)/Love Is
   All Around (Live Acoustic)/Belong (Live) [Warner Brothers 9-40229-2
   (CD) November 1991 (US)], as well as bootleg recordings of the MTV
   Unplugged appearance.

 o D9. "So what *are* all the songs by other artists which R.E.M.
   has recorded?"

   On _official_ releases, the following songs have been covered.

   Song                          Original Artist
   _____________________________________________________________

   (All I Have To Do Is) Dream   Everly Brothers
   Academy Fight Song            Mission of Burma
   After Hours                   Velvet Underground
   Arms of Love                  Robin Hitchcock
   Baby, Baby                    The Vibrators
   Christmas Time is Here        The Vince Guaraldi Trio
   Crazy                         Pylon
   Dark Globe                    Syd Barrett
   Deck the Halls                (traditional)
   Femme Fatale                  Velvet Underground
   First We Take Manhattan       Leonard Cohen
   Funtime                       Iggy Pop (co-written w/ David Bowie)
   (Ghost) Reindeer in the Sky   The Outlaws, (orig. "Ghost Riders...")
   Ghostrider                    Suicide
   Good King Wenceslas           (traditional)
   I Walked With a Zombie        Roky Erikson
   King of the Road              Roger Miller
   Last Date                     Floyd Cramer
   Love is All Around            The Troggs
   Moon River                    Jerry Butler
   Pale Blue Eyes                Velvet Underground
   Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (Tchaikovsky, orig. "March of...")
   See No Evil                   Television
|  Sex Bomb                      Flipper
   Silver Bells                  (writer Jay Livingston/Ray Evans)
   Skin Tight                    Ohio Players
   Strange                       Wire
   Summertime                    (writer Gershwin)
   Superman                      The Clique
   The Lion Sleeps Tonight       (trad.; made popular by The Weavers)
   There She Goes Again          Velvet Underground
   Tighten Up                    Archie Bell and the Drells
   Tom's Diner                   Susanne Vega
   Toyland                       (writer Glen MacDonough & Victor Herbert)
   Toys in the Attic             Aerosmith
   Where's Captain Kirk?         Athletico Spizz

   Of course, those with recordings of R.E.M.'s live shows know that
   the band has performed covers of even more songs than this; browsing
   the Bootleg Discography will give you an idea of some of these (see
   Net Resources to find out how to obtain this file).

 o D10. "What are the lyrics to the new R.E.M. song, "Revolution"
   being performed on tour?"

   See the official consensus lyrics file available from the file server at
   FABLES@LYNCHBURG.EDU -- send the command LIST for information, or the
   command SENDME LYRICS.OTHER for a file that includes the lyrics to this
   song.

------
[Continued in Part 3/3]
