#REM – Tom MacInnes, Writer

Reader’s Choice: Song #24/250: Nightswimming By R.E.M.

Weaver D.’s Delicious Fine Foods in Athens, Georgia. “Automatic For The People” is their motto.

Athens, Georgia sits about one hour to the northeast of Atlanta. The city boasts a population of approximately 125,000 citizens. It is home to the University of Georgia and is noted for the abundance of antebellum style architecture found there. But one of the things that Athens, Georgia is most noted for is music. Specifically, it is the birthplace of an extraordinarily large number of major bands over the years including the likes of The B52s, The Indigo Girls, Matthew Sweet, Drive-By Truckers, Of Montreal, Vic Chesnutt and the biggest band of them all, R.E.M. In fact, most members of R.E.M. still maintain homes in Athens. If you ever find yourself in Athens, Georgia, you will notice that the North Oconee River flows through the city. If you follow that river far enough through the town you will find that it passes by an intersection alongside which sits a bright, lime green building known as Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods. (You can check out their menu here). Weaver D’s is a soul food restaurant. But it is equally famous for having played an important part in the world of music. That all came about as a result of the catch-phrase that is used whenever a customer places an order. That catch-phrase, which also sits upon the sign atop the front of the building, is simply, “Automatic For The People”. It was this sign that inspired local musical heroes, R.E.M. to name their 8th album Automatic For The People as well. From that album came six singles including some of their biggest hits, such as “Everybody Hurts” and “Man on the Moon”. But as this album has aged, many critics and fans are warming to another song on the album called “Nightswimming” as being the best the band had to offer that year. In fact, many claim that it is R.E.M.’s second best written song after “Losing My Religion”. High praise, indeed! Let’s see what all the fuss is about. Here is the story of “Nightswimming” by R.E.M. Hmmm! I wonder if Weaver D’s deliver to Canada?

R.E.M. is definitely a band that grew and matured as their career went along. By the time “Losing My Religion” was released (You can read a post about that song here), most members of the band were nearing thirty years of age. Several had married and had become fathers. Such is the evolutionary trajectory of our lives. The carefree days of our youth give way to the onset of the responsibilities of adulthood. Growing older changes most people. We start to understand that real life is more nuanced and multi-hued than we believed it to be while in our teens. We often begin to question our chosen path and wonder if there isn’t more out there for us. For some, the answer to that question can be depressingly negative. Consequently, many of us become more reflective and introspective as we age. This was as true for the members of R.E.M. as it is for the rest of us. As the band set out to accumulate a list of potential new songs for their 8th album, the idea was to find songs that were more uptempo and less slow and dramatic. The band knew they were becoming deeper in their emotions and worried about wallowing in it to the point that their music stopped being fun and filled with energy. So, they worked and worked for weeks at a time to write songs that rocked a little harder. But, when all was said and done, the songs that spoke to them the loudest were the ones they played the softest. They all recognized that “Everybody Hurts” was a hit right off the bat (You can read a post about that song here). “Man On The Moon” was slightly more uptempo (You can read a post about that song here). But then came “Nightswimming”.

“Nightswimming” is a beautifully-written song that has an incredible origin story to it. Whenever R.E.M. set about to record new material they always created the musical score for each song first and then let that inspire the lyrics that would follow. The story is that Mike Mills (on the piano) and Peter Buck (on the guitar) were taking turns playing pieces of instrumental music for Stipe to listen to for the first time. For “Nightswimming”, Mills played a piece of music on the piano that he had been fooling around with. It was soft and measured and constructed in a circular pattern that repeated lazily like a slow flowing brook. Michael Stipe listened to the piano piece once and then asked to hear it a second time. After that second playing, the legend states that Michael Stipe sang the entire finished lyrics to “Nightswimming” in an improvised fashion off of the top of his head all in one take! The rest of his bandmates swear that what he sang aloud that night was exactly what appeared on Automatic For The People a short while later.

“Nightswimming” is a song that best captures the emotional state of the band as they were about to turn thirty. It is a song about memories of the past. Specifically, it is about being young and free enough to go skinny dipping with friends who may remain as friends or who may become something more than that. However, the crux of the song is about looking back upon those times and coming to understand how distant those experiences have become. While the band has never stated what the true intent of the lyrics to “Nightswimming” are, there is a school of thought that says the song is about Michael Stipe trying to live his life as a gay man in the southern U.S. in the 1980s when doing so was still not widely understood nor accepted by society at large. Regardless of where the real truth lies, “Nightswimming” remains a beautiful, poetic song about lives in transition and the emotions that tend to accompany those times.

I wish to thank my friend Paul Coombs for nominating this song. I first met Paul way back in our high school days. Since that time, I have come to learn what a good man Paul is, and almost as importantly, what excellent taste in music he happens to possess. If you ever find yourself in my hometown of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, feel free to look Paul up. I am sure he would be more than happy to meet up in any of the many fine Cape Breton restaurants or pubs that abound back home. As R.E.M. discovered in Athens and as Paul and I know to be true in Cape Breton, there is just something about the combination of food and drink and music that works.

Thanks to those who continue to send in the titles of songs that you wish to see on Reader’s Choice. Your nominations are the lifeblood of this series so keep sending them in. No era or genre of music is off limits. Whatever songs speak to your heart will find a home here. It is my honour to tell your story. So, until we meet again, take care everyone. Bye for now.

The link to the video for the song “Nightswimming” by R.E.M. can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.

The link to the official website for R.E.M. can be found here.

The link to the official website for the city of Athens, Georgia can be found here.

***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2023 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com

The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History…Honourable Mention Song #5: Man On The Moon by REM (as Nominated by Paul Coombs) (KTOM)

This list of songs is inspired by lists published by radio station KEXP-FM from Seattle in 2010, as well as the latest poll taken in 2021 by Rolling Stone Magazine. For the most part I will faithfully countdown from their lists, starting at Song #500 and going until I reach Song #1. When you see the song title listed as something like: Song #XXX (KEXP)….it means that I am working off of the official KEXP list. Song XXX (RS) means the song is coming from the Rolling Stone list. If I post the song title as being: Song #xxx (KTOM), it means I have gone rogue and am inserting a song choice from my own personal list of tunes I really like. In any case, you are going to get to hear a great song and learn the story behind it. Finally, just so everyone is aware, I am not a music critic nor a musician. I am a music fan and an armchair storyteller. Here is the story behind today’s song. Enjoy.

KTOM: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.

Honourable mention Song #5: Man On The Moon by REM (as Nominated by Paul Coombs).

Like many people, I am lucky to have a wide variety of friends who have entered my life at different times, for different reasons. Lots of people come and go but, the really good ones find a way of sticking around and being there for you throughout the ups and downs of life. Paul Coombs is like that for me. We met over forty years ago, back in High School in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. By a bit of a fluke, we ended up in the same series of classes as high school rolled along; getting to know each other in the process. In a school filled with athletes and fighters and misfits and weirdos, Paul and I were two of the good guys. We did our work, tried our best, were good friends to others and tried to be the best versions of ourselves at all times. Even though we were both more quiet than loud, we were both well-liked and respected for the type of person we were. That desire to be a gentleman and a “good guy” has carried forward into adulthood. I will share one quick story about Paul, which is all you will really need to know to understand and appreciate the calibre of his character. Here we go: it was almost exactly two years ago to the day that we first started to experience the lockdown brought about by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that was sweeping the world. At the time, it was all very new and so much was unknown. A lot of people were truly frightened. We were all told to form small bubbles of people and never interact with others. We were told to stay in our homes and not leave except to buy groceries or medicine, if necessary. Suddenly, our busy lives grew very quiet. One of the biggest impacts of these restrictions was that families were separated. This was especially hard on grandparents. For me, I was suddenly cut off from my, almost 90 year old mother in Nova Scotia. I lived in Ontario, which was a twenty hour drive away and which might as well have been on the moon, for all the good it did us now. So, feeling a sense of unease about my mom being on her own, it made me realize that there might be seniors here, in my hometown, who were cut off from their loved ones, too, and may need help. So, I took to Facebook and offered my services within my hometown and surrounding area to help with errands or chores should anyone feel too nervous to go out during this time of the pandemic. I ended my message by asking if there was anyone “back home” who could the same for my mother so that I could make sure she had milk and tea and was ok. The first person I heard from in reply was Paul. He had never met my Mom but, he said that he would happily check up on her if I wanted. As it turned out, she was well taken care of by the staff at the Assisted LIving complex where she lives but, at the time, knowing that someone good, like Paul, was ready to step up and help out was very reassuring. This speaks to the type of guy Paul has turned out to be. I am grateful that he has remained a presence in my life, even though the miles separate us. I am, also, grateful that he has been willing to chime in, every now and again, during our countdown, with stories and song suggestions. When I put the call out for Honourable Mention songs, again, Paul was one of the first to reply. His song choice was a good one, “Man On The Moon” by REM. Thanks, Paul. Here is the story of this great song.

“Man On The Moon” by REM comes from an album that was released in 1992 called, “Automatic For The People”. It is a song based on a real person named Andy Kaufman. It is, also, one of those songs that you listen to differently depending upon whether you know Andy Kaufman’s story or not. If you don’t then, “Man On The Moon” remains a catchy sort of song, littered with Pop culture references that seem strung together in a willy-nilly fashion that seems to work, musically speaking. However, if you do know Andy’s story then, this song becomes something else, entirely. So, let’s spend a few moments talking about Andy Kaufman so that you can enjoy this song to its fullest extent, too.

Andy Kaufman first came to the attention of the world when he co-starred in the TV show, “Taxi”. In that show, he played a shy, innocent foreigner named Latka. Because Kaufman played a character who possessed an innocent, child-like demeanour, he was able to act with greater freedom that many of the other characters who were limited by the nature of their adult roles. But, being in traditional television comedies was not how Kaufman envisioned his future unfolding because, for starters, her didn’t view himself as an actor nor as a comedian. Some people have come to call Andy Kaufman as an anti-comic. He preferred the term, Performance Artist. A performance artist is someone who takes their Art to extremes. For example, people who go into a public square and perform as human statues are performance artists. They spend hours each day, frozen in place, never breaking character if it rains or if someone touches them nor if they have to go to the bathroom; nothing makes them break character. Well, Andy Kaufman believed in being consumed by his Art and, as such, once he left the show, “Taxi”, he refused to follow a career trajectory that would see him join other casts in other tv shows and, maybe, if he was lucky, get to star in his own show. No, instead, Andy Kaufman followed his muse and began one of the most unique careers of all-time. Here are but two examples of where his Art took him.

Andy Kaufman believed that breaking “the Fourth Wall” was the highest achievement any artist could attain. The Fourth Wall is an imaginary construct that suggests that, during a performance, there is a separation between actors and an audience. That one performs and the other observes. Kaufman believed that true Art was a communal experience and that his brand of entertainment sought to be more of an integrated, spectator sport. Thus, he would involve himself in scenarios such as this: One time, while stage, in character as a man addicted to drugs, Kaufman turned to the audience and broke character. He tore off some of his wardrobe, angrily denouncing his character and the play as being “stupid”. At the time, one of his fellow actors on stage was Michael Richards, (who would become famous as “Kramer” on the TV show, “Seinfeld”). When Kaufman broke character and began his on stage tantrum, Richards left the stage and returned with cue cards on which Kaufman’s line were written and angrily demanded that Kaufman be a professional and read his “damn” lines. Kaufman tore up the cue cards and a brawl ensued on stage. Parts of the set were broken. Costumes were torn. Punches actually flew and connected. The play ground to a halt, as you can imagine. The audience was in an uproar. And, that was that. Afterwards, Kaufman swore it was all a ruse and was pre-planned but, no one besides Kaufman ever admitted that. So, the question of whether or not the brawl on stage was real or not was never answered and remains ambiguous to this day.

To Kaufman, blurring the line between what was real and what was fake was the end goal. Changing the role of an audience from by passive spectators to people involved in the middle of an event, experiencing a visceral reaction was an end goal, as well. So, when Kaufman debuted his wrestling act, it was simply the very next level of Art in his repertoire. Kaufman wanted to explore the world of wrestling which is something that works hard to appear real but, to those in the know, is actually quite staged and fake. In Kaufman’s mind, he wondered if it was possible to take something that appeared real but was fake and then, make the fake seem real. So, he started challenging members of his audiences to wrestle him. However, being a wrestling heel, he only accepted challenges from women. So, he would bait a female audience member into coming into the ring with him and then, he would proceed to beat her up. Kaufman pulled hair, slapped his opponents and so on. The image of a boorish man physically dominating a woman seemed abhorrent and repulsive and caused that visceral reaction from his audiences that Kaufman was seeking. They would boo and call him every foul name in the book. Men in the audience would threaten to come into the ring and show him a thing or two but he never accepted those offers, which only served to rile his audiences up even more. As successful as this new Art was becoming, Kaufman wondered if he could blur the lines between fake and real even further so her started a “feud” with a real professional wrestler named Jerry “The King” Lawler. Lawler performed in the WWE and was a big, strong man who had wrestled as the main event on many championship wrestling cards. Lawler and Kaufman’s feud centred on whether it was right for Kaufman to mock professional wrestling as he had been doing and that, if he was a “real man” then he should accept challenges from men; especially men like Jerry “The King” Lawler. This feud worked its way all the way on to “The Late Show” with David Letterman. On an infamous episode, David Letterman invited both Kaufman and Lawler to sit down together and talk out their differences. Well, one thing led to another, an argument erupted and then, in the heat of the moment, Lawler struck Kaufman, knocking him down, all the while Letterman struggled to regain control. Kaufman got to his feet, screaming about lawsuits and then, stormed off stage. To this day, no one admits that it was all a hoax, leaving the impression that maybe Lawler and Kaufman actually did hate each other. Again, the lines were blurred between fact and fiction…..just the way Kaufman envisioned.

Andy Kaufman had many other characters who challenged audiences. It got to the point that when it was announced that Andy Kaufman had passed away in his thirties from lung cancer, many people thought that it was simply another Kaufman bit and that he wasn’t really dead at all. It has been almost twenty years since the announcement of his death. In those intervening years, there have been no confirmed sightings of Kaufman anywhere, nor have there been of Elvis, either. But, that hasn’t stopped some people from believing that Kaufman is simply waiting people out and is set to re-emerge, alive and intact, soon.

The legacy of Andy Kaufman’s career is that he was one of the first….and best…..at causing people to mistrust their own eyes. In a world of “fake news” and media spin, we have become used to having to view our world through a filter provided by others. But, Andy Kaufman was really one of the first to actually show us all that it was possible to make fake look real and vice versa and to do it in a way that defied future revelation. He altered our perceptions of reality and invited a level of participatory interaction with his audiences that pre-dated social media and the Internet. As such, there are many who credit Andy Kaufman with being one of the most legendary and authentic performers of all-time.

Which brings us back to “Man On The Moon” by REM. This song is rife with references to aspects of Kaufman’s career, as well as, to other, real life “controversies” such as to whether Elvis is really alive and were the moon landings real. This song is not so much revealing any grand philosophical mysteries, as it is paying homage to the world of doubt that Kaufman helped to create that has left us living in a world where conspiracy theories often are given more weight by people than real, credible information from accredited experts in their fields. In a way, it is an easy leap to make the connection from what Kaufman was doing with his Art, to what the song, “Man On The Moon” is singing about, all the way to the disinformation campaigns of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

In any event, when you listen to “Man On The Moon” by REM, listen for all of the conspiracy theory mentions and for the references to Kaufman that populate this nice sounding song. As for videos, I will post the one where Kaufman and Lawler appear on Letterman. You can go down the Andy Kaufman rabbit hole on YouTube on your own time, if you wish, There are dozens of videos of him wrestling women, of him appearing on talk shows as lounge singer, Tony Clifton, of Kaufman’s work on Taxi and much, much more. For now, let’s hear a great song that was nominated by a great friend of mine, Paul Combs. Thanks, Paul, for being part of this musical countdown journey of ours. I appreciate all of the comments you made and stories you have shared along the way.

Here is REM, with the Andy Kaufman-inspired, “Man On The Moon”. Enjoy.

The link to the video for the song, “Man On The Moon” by REM, can be found here.

The link to the official website for REM, can be found here.

The link to the video for the Late Show with David Letterman episode in which Andy Kaufman and Jerry “The King” Lawler both appear, can be found here.

The link to the official website for Andy Kaufman, can be found here.

The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History…Song #361: Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. (RS)

RS: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.

Song #361: Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.

Some songs are judged by the number of records sold. Some songs are judged based on what position on a Top #40 chart the song managed to attain. Then, you have a song like, “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M., which is judged, most importantly, by the number of lives this song has saved.

Of all the things that we, as humans, do over the course of our lives, none matters more than the ability we possess to uplift those around us and make their lives better. “Everybody Hurts” is a song that came from R.E.M.’s 1992 album, “Automatic For the People”. It is a song about suicide. More to the point, it is a song that speaks to suicide prevention and, as such, has been used in various media campaigns regarding mental health and suicide prevention, since its release. You don’t have to look very hard to find YouTube comments, social media commentary or letters posted on R.E.M. fan websites that speak to the lives of people who felt lost (to the point of wanting to end their lives) but who found Hope, by way of the lyrics to this song.

The members of R.E.M., being honest, reject the claim that they deserve any special recognition for creating, “Everybody Hurts”. They all say that it was a time in their own lives when things were changing and it was becoming more difficult, personally and professionally, to hang onto the joy and the good times that characterized the first half of their career. Fame and parenthood and middle age and all the pressures and changes that come with that, are things that most people feel and, as such, the band thought that the idea for such a song was one that potentially had universal appeal. And while I can relate to the core message of having to bear the crosses of responsibility that come with adulthood, I am fortunate to have never felt so overwhelmed and filled with despair that I thought suicide was ever an option for alleviating my pain. But, some people do feel that way. For them, the words from a song that reassures them that they are not alone and that things will get better if they just hold on a little longer is, as it turns out, a message that has saved lives.

The band received lots of praise for the “official” video they released that accompanied the song. The idea of everyone being stuck in a massive traffic jam is meant to symbolize everyone being stuck with the ups and downs of surviving everyday life. There is, also, an orchestral feel to “Everybody Hurts” that gives it a grander, more noble air. Whatever the reason is that you may be drawn to this song, I hope that seeing this video brings you a sense of peace and of calm that you may need to better navigate your way through this day.

You are not alone. I am here.

So is R.E.M., with “Everybody Hurts”.

Have a wonderful day, all!

The link to the music video for “Everybody Hurts” by R.E.M., can be found here.

The link to the official website for R.E.M., can be found here.

***IF YOU ARE FEELING DISTRESSED AND COULD USE SOMEONE TO TALK TO ABOUT LIFE…..the voices at the other end of this link may help. You are not alone. Click on the link here for help.

Thanks, as always, to KEXP, for supporting important music that brings light to the darkest corners of our lives. A link to their official website can be found here.

The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History…Song #386: Losing My Religion by R.E.M. (RS)

RS: The Top 500 Songs in Modern Music History.

Song #386: Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

“Losing My Religion” was the song that took R.E.M. from the category of being cult favourites to being one of the biggest selling, most well-known bands in America. The song was their first national Top Ten hit and helped the band to sell over eighteen million copies of their album, “Out of Time”. When the evolution of R.E.M. is traced, “Losing My Religion” is a bit of a demarcation point. Prior to it being released, the band was building a career based on “college radio” hits such as “Its the End of the World”, “This One Goes Out to the One I Love”, “Driver 8” and so on. After “Losing My Religion” was released, the band produced songs such as “Everybody Hurts”, “Man on the Moon”, “Nightswimming” and “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” and became the legends that they are today.

The funny thing about this song is that it is not about religion in the slightest and, as such, it is one of the most frequently misunderstood songs in modern music history. The phrase, “to lose one’s religion” comes from the southern US. R.E.M. was formed in Athens, Georgia so they were quite familiar with hearing folks use that phrase. Essentially, it means to lose your sense of decorum and civility. In the case of this song, lead singer Michael Stipe has said that the song is about an obsessive yet, unrequited longing by one person for another. He likened the sensation to reaching out to touch the object of your affection, only to withdraw your hand a millimetre before contact of skin upon skin. The continued unfulfilled longing would, eventually, cause a person to “lose their religion”.

While this song is a good, solid song in its own right, one of the things that pushed it over the top, when it comes to artistic expression, was the music video that accompanied the song. There was a time in the 1980s, when music videos were one of the main ways that bands/artists were able to promote their vision of their song. Many videos were fun, concert videos, some tried to create a dramatic or comedic scene while others, such as “Losing My Religion” became known as Art. It may surprise you to know that, in fact, many bands are quite literate. Because of long rides on airplanes and in the backs of vans as they travel from gig to gig, many artists pass the time by reading. It is not surprising then, that the books they read end up influencing the songs they write and, in this case, the video that they made to accompany a song. The video for “Losing My Religion” is based upon a short story by famous South American author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez called, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”. The video was produced by an Indian director named Tarsem Singh, who wanted to meld Marquez’s “magic realism” with his Indian, Bollywood visual style. The result is one of the most provocative, artistic-looking music videos ever produced. For example, the scene with the pitcher of milk spilling and dripping is borrowed from a painting by Italian artist, Caravaggio. The video for “Losing My Religion” won almost ever conceivable award for music videos the year it was released. It is, in fact, Art.

The history of many bands who enjoyed long careers is such that their work evolved and became more complex, more confident and, in the end, more interesting than the work that initially launched their careers. This can certainly be said of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and, it can certainly be said of R.E.M. While I am more a fan of their “early stuff”, I recognize the beauty of much of what they produced in the second half of their career. “Losing My Religion”, with its mandolin cords and angel winged video elevated R.E.M. to a higher musical plain; an ascension that many viewed as welcome. So, without further delay, here is R.E.M. with “Losing My Religion”. Enjoy.

The link to the music video for “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M., can be found here.

The link to the official website for R.E.M., can be found here.

Thanks to KEXP for helping to inspire the writing of this post. A link to their website can be found here.