Accelerate - REM album - March 31 2008

[LemonMelon]

In this situation, I refuse to play the Shiny Happy People card. That would be cruel.

 

[Lancemc]

Truth is, everyone REM album has at least one WTF-lyrical enigma. We all love em anyway.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Up the stairs to the hallway
Up the stairs into the hall
We wa-ha-alk.

We walk through the (mumble)
Weeeee-heeee walk.

Pure brilliance, first album. Right there,

 

[lazarus]

Truth is, everyone REM album has at least one WTF-lyrical enigma. We all love em anyway.

And some albums have abominations like Shiny Happy People.

Or Ignoreland.

 

[corianderstem]

There's always Underneath the Bunker, which is wonderful in its silliness and oft-missing lightheartedness, but I will not because ....

.... oh, I can't resist.

I will fight and you will hide
and we shall hide together dear
underneath the bunker in the .... uh .... something something yodel.

I have water I have rum
Wait for dawn and dawn shall come
Underneath the bunker in the ... uh ... something something yodel.

 

[lazarus]

There's always Underneath the Bunker, which is wonderful in its silliness and oft-missing lightheartedness, but I will not because ....

.... oh, I can't resist.

I will fight and you will hide
and we shall hide together dear
underneath the bunker in the .... uh .... something something yodel.

I have water I have rum
Wait for dawn and dawn shall come
Underneath the bunker in the ... uh ... something something yodel.

I'm SO there.

Better have that rum, though.

 

[corianderstem]

I'll bring Yodels, how's that?

 

[intedomine]

Up the stairs to the hallway
Up the stairs into the hall
We wa-ha-alk.

We walk through the (mumble)
Weeeee-heeee walk.

Pure brilliance, first album. Right there, man.

Love We Walk, sounds like a kids song.

I suppose, at least you can decipher the lyrics, unlike in 9-9.

 

[lazarus]

I'll bring Yodels, how's that?

Little old lady who?

 

[corianderstem]

Awww. I love that joke.

 

[lazarus]

Little old lady YOU!

(I forgot the knock knock part)

 

[intedomine]

Hang up your chairs to better sweep
Clear the floor to dance
Shake the rug into the fireplace

Most underated REM song IMO, along with Endgame, Belong, Beachball and Worst Joke Ever( I never !!! )

 

[lazarus]

Endgame isn't really a "song", but I like it.

Belong is definitely underrated, and I love that sax solo in Fireplace. It often gets overlooked on Document, but I'm so sick of the back-to-back singles in the middle of the album that I often skip right to that track.

 

[Anu]

Before playing a bunch of the new record on the radio last night, I played these

R.E.M - Moral Kiosk

R.E.M – Harborcoat

R.E.M – Can’t Get There from Here

R.E.M - I Believe

R.E.M - Finest Worksong

R.E.M - I Remember California

R.E.M – Belong

R.E.M - Find the River

R.E.M – Everybody Hurts

R.E.M – What's the Frequency Kenneth?

The last two were not on the playlist but a request from a listener.

Then, I picked Man Sized, Hollow Man, and Until the Day from the Accelerate.

 

[Zoots]

But you didn't say it was good, you said you liked it.

Exactly!

 

[intedomine]

Moral Kiosk

 

[lazarus]

That's funny, I think "Immoral Kiosk" was one of Lance's Mom's screen names.

 

[powerhour24]

While I adore Stipe's more abstract song-writing abilities, just because a song's lyrics are more direct doesn't make it bad. Until the Day is Done is reaching out to those listening, its not meant to be interpreted, while its not bound to make my top songs, none of Accelerate is, I like it.

 

[lazarus]

It's not just that the lyrics are direct, it's also that the melody is unmemorable, and seems like an inferior version of older REM songs such as Swan Swan H.

The combination of these things is what makes it the worst song on the album.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Until the Day is Done is reaching out to those listening, its not meant to be interpreted, while its not bound to make my top songs, none of Accelerate is, I like it.

But it doesn't reach out in any sort of inspired or even remotely interesting way. Just my opinion, of course, and I guess I don't need to keep bashing it, but it does drag the record down for me. Easy enough to skip it, though.

 

[Zoots]

Why do you debbie downers have to nitpick with some of the lyrics here? lol. I remember when I complained about Vertigo's lines which are a 1000 times worse... "gimme what I want and no one gets hurt" or "yeah yeah yeah yeah...", some people said Oh c'mon what do you expect from a rock band? Poetry?

And now Stipe writes something like "The battle's been lost, the war is not won" which.. granted, is kinda WTF because he is essentially saying the same thing twice but, it's still a million times better than Bono's goofy stuff of late. I don't know, I guess I'm just really thrilled that REM's back to rocking my brains out with this album and I don't expect the lyrics to all be totally abstract and deep in the usual Stipian way.

Maybe it's just me. Speaking of Stipe's more popular political fare like Disturbance at the Heron House or Welcome To The Occupation, I've always enjoyed those songs primarily for the music and vocal delivery. I never paid attention to the lyrics cos they're too freaking abstract for me anyway. I don't know what the hell he is talking about in most of his 80s songs!

 

[joyfulgirl]

Why do you debbie downers have to nitpick with some of the lyrics here? lol. I remember when I complained about Vertigo's lines which are a 1000 times worse... "gimme what I want and no one gets hurt" or "yeah yeah yeah yeah...", some people said Oh c'mon what do you expect from a rock band? Poetry?

Don't worry, I hate Vertigo, too.

 

[Zoots]

I don't hate Vertigo. Musically I like it. But some of the lyrics and that awful video make me go Why, U2? Why???

 

[corianderstem]

I still love the song Vertigo, but the video is twenty kinds of lame.

I'm usually not big on lyrics. I appreciate a great lyric, but don't usually notice or care if they're subpar (I care more about the mood, feel, melody and sound of the song). I've noticed a declined in lyrics both by Stipe and Bono, but it doesn't bother me that much.

 

[lazarus]

Vertigo is actually pretty abstract (to me), something referring back to Pop's club setting and the decadent loss of self. When he says "all of this can be yours..." and then follows it up with "just give me what I want and no one gets hurt", it's a little joke, something a bank robber would say. I don't understand how those lyrics are bad. They're not serious but they're not generic, either.

You shouldn't feel stupid about not understand what Stipe's talking about on those 80's songs. They're pretty out there. I enjoyed them on a basic level too until I read more about the material. Welcome to the Occupation deals with U.S. involvement in South American politics, the first clue being the line "fire on the hemisphere below". The rest is somewhat vague, but it's clear where he's pointing the finger:

Hang your collar up inside
Hang your dollar on me
Listen to the water still
Listen to the cause where you are
Fed and educated,
Primitive and wild
Welcome to the occupation
Here we stand and here we fight
All your fallen heroes
Held and dyed and skinned alive
Listen to the Congress fire
Offering the educated
primitive and loyal
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
Primitive and wild
Fire on the hemisphere below
Sugar cane and coffee cup
Copper, steel and cattle
An annotated history
The forest for the fire
Where we open up the floodgates
Freedom reigns supreme
Fire on the hemisphere below
Listen to me

Now we don't know what specific country is being talked about, but it's definitely inspired by the practices of the Reagan Administation (and earlier Republican ones). You can also look at Exhuming McCarthy, which is political even from the title, and its accusation of collusion between big business and government ("loyal to the bank of America", "vested interest/united ties", "look who bought the myth/by jingo/buy America").

And then on Green (released non-coincidentally on Election Day 1988) you have Orange Crush dealing with the military (Vietnam in particular, where Agent Orage was used, though it could be applied to any bullshit war). Look at these stream-of-consciousness lines:

"We'd circle and we'd circle and we'd circle to stop and consider and
Centered on the pavement stacked up all the trucks jacked up and
Our wheels in slush and orange crush in pocket and all this here county
Hell any county it's just like heaven here and I was remembering and I
Was just in a different county and all then this whirlybird that I
Headed for I had my goggles pulled off I knew it all I knew every back
Road and every truck stop"

Now that's pretty amazing shit. Go back further and you have Swan Swan H which was inspired by Civil War folklore.

 

[Lancemc]

I'm more or less in the same park as Cori in regards to lyrics. I definitely appreciate them when they're good. Bob Dylan is one of my absolutely favorite artists because of this, and I have even more respect for guys like Nick Cave or David Bowie when they can write a killer verse or two. But it's not typically what I listen for. So I guess, when they're great, I love it more, but when they aren't so hot, I don't have too much trouble ignoring them.

 

[Irishteen]

I feel the only time you ever really notice the lyrics of a song is when they are either really amazing or really awful; and maybe when they feel like they apply to you, or are about something you disagree with or really dislike. Most of the time, it's more about how they are sung.

 

[Zoots]

I feel the only time you ever really notice the lyrics of a song is when they are either really amazing or really awful; and maybe when they feel like they apply to you, or are about something you disagree with or really dislike. Most of the time, it's more about how they are sung.

 

[lazarus]

I'm more or less in the same park as Cori in regards to lyrics. I definitely appreciate them when they're good. Bob Dylan is one of my absolutely favorite artists because of this, and I have even more respect for guys like Nick Cave or David Bowie when they can write a killer verse or two. But it's not typically what I listen for. So I guess, when they're great, I love it more, but when they aren't so hot, I don't have too much trouble ignoring them.

Right, but a large part of what made R.E.M. beloved in the first place was Stipe's poetic, abstract approach to lyric writing.

While the band still has the ability to write catchy tunes, it's sad to see him resorting to such broad sentiments. It's not like the whole album's lyrics are bad, but it's as if his political conscience has overwhelmed his artistic one.

You could accuse Bono of being too literate on Sometimes , Crumbs, and Miracle Drug to a certain extent.

I'm mystified that one can just ignore what is certainly an integral part of the songwriting and recording. While most artists would certainly hope that you listen first for the sound before the content, to disregard it misses a good part of what makes it special, ESPECIALLY when it comes to a band like R.E.M. With Thom Yorke it's one thing because he's often working in sketches and images that aren't usually coherent, but Stipe is a much more accomplished writer.

 

[Lancemc]

I don't really agree with what Irishteen said. Like I said before, I don't ignore writing, it's just never much of a make-or-break factor in what or how I listen to...

I don't love Accelerate because it has great lyrics (it doesn't), and I don't hate HTDAAB because it has bad lyrics (it does).

Hmm, still don't think I'm contributing anything relevant. Whatever, I have shit to listen to.