R.E.M.

It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

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

Stand in the place where you live

That's me in the corner
That's me in the spotlight
Losing my religion

Every whisper
Of every waking hour I'm
Choosing my confessions

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.

• 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)

Buy the sky and sell the sky,
And bleed the sky and tell the sky, don't
Fall on me.

• 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)

The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen
And they're there for you
For you alone you are the everything.

Follow me, don’t follow me.

• 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)

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.

• 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)

Everybody hurts sometimes.

• 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?

• "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)

This fame thing, I don't get it.

• 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.

• 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"

External links

Wikipedia

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R.E.M.

Commons

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R.E.M.

• Official R.E.M. website