REM - me marlon brando marlon brando and i, 2011

"a kind of meta-pop song that references a Neil Young number called 'Pocahontas'. In that song, Young imagines himself shooting the breeze around a campfire with Pocahontas and Marlon Brando, who, among other things, was a campaigner for Native American rights. I ask Stipe what his Marlon Brando song is about. 'It's about me going to Neil Young for advice,' he replies, as if this was the most natural thing in the world to write a song about. Has he actually done that? 'Oh, no. It's entirely made up, but it's sincere. I hold Neil in high regard, but I have never asked him for advice, though I am sure he would have honoured it if I had.'"

REM - all the right friends, 1993

"All the Right Friends" is one of the earliest songs written by R.E.M., written by Peter Buck and Michael Stipe in 1979 before meeting their future bandmates, according to Peter Buck's liner notes to the band's In Time compilation album. Like all R.E.M. songs, its composition is credited to all members. The song was recorded for Murmur in 1983, but was left off the album. In January 1993, the European reissue of Dead Letter Office, a B-side album compilation, included that recording, along with an acoustic version of "Gardening at Night". The song was also recorded during the Reckoning sessions, but not used (though bootlegged), and later recorded during the Lifes Rich Pageant demo sessions (this version was included on the bonus disc of the 25th Anniversary edition of the album)."

REM - i'll take the rain, 2001

"In an April 2021 interview, Michael Stipe declared Reveal his favorite R.E.M. release. While lacking the consistency of Automatic for the People or the ferocity of Monster, Reveal remains among them, a worthy offering from a brilliant band entering middle age, and looking toward the future with history still in mind."

REM - the lifting demo, 2003

"Originally released as the opening song on their 2001 album Reveal, the demo appeared in 2003 on the compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Rarities and B-Sides). It's a more stripped-down, haunting take compared to the polished album version, featuring a slower tempo, acoustic elements, and slight lyrical tweaks (e.g., the album version omits the line "You think you've felt the lifting" from the demo)."

REM - beat a drum dalkey demo, 2001

"The "Dalkey Demo" is an early, acoustic-leaning version of the song "Beat a Drum" by the alternative rock band R.E.M. It was recorded during sessions in Dalkey, Ireland (a coastal town near Dublin), in early 2001, as part of the development for their album Reveal (released May 2001). This demo version has a more stripped-down, introspective feel compared to the polished studio take on Reveal, emphasizing Michael Stipe's vocals and subtle instrumentation. It was originally released as a B-side on the UK CD single for "Imitation of Life" (April 2001)"

REM - i wanted to be wrong, 2004

“I Wanted To Be Wrong” is one of the album’s unqualified successes. It’s a slow, pretty folk-pop ballad that attempts to reconcile a strong feeling of alienation from George W. Bush’s America and a sense of obligation to feel empathy for people the singer views as a destructive influence on his country and the world at large. It’s a very conflicted song, but it’s surprisingly low on angst — if anything, it comes across like a defeated shrug. There is certainly some anger in the lyrics, but it’s stifled and buried as the singer looks around, struggling to understand a culture that he barely recognizes, and openly rejects his identity and ideals. He’s trying to be fair, he’s trying not to be judgmental, but he can’t help it."

REM - country feedback live from wiesbaden germany, 2003

"R.E.M. began their Warner contract in 1988 as the biggest band to emerge from the college-radio-fueled American underground. Fifteen years later, they released In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, the first overview of their long stint at Warner Records. During that decade and a half, R.E.M. had a turbulent journey. At the outset, their legend and influence as one of the key - if not the key - bands of the American underground was firmly in place, but their success kept growing, culminating in a breakthrough to international stardom in 1991 thanks to "Losing My Religion" and Out of Time."

REM - the worst joke ever live, 2009

"I finally understood why I kind of enjoy this song. The live version has a Fables of the Reconstruction vibe, it resembles a bit Good Advices. Both songs open similarly."

REM - i've been high, 2001

"There's an interview somewhere where Michael talks about this song as a reminder in times of distress that there are peaks and valleys throughout our lives to contemplate, he also mentions there might be an element of the 'real me' in the song."

REM - drive live, 2009

"Live at the Olympia is a live album[1] by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was recorded during the band's five-night residency at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, between June 30 and July 5, 2007, and released on October 27, 2009."

REM - it's a free world baby, 1992

"I don’t know why “It’s A Free World, Baby” is not on Out Of Time. It just doesn’t make sense. The song is distinct, fully formed, and superior to all but maybe four of the tracks that actually appear on the record, but something compelled R.E.M. to cast it aside. I suppose that it could be an issue of thematic consistency — though the arrangement most certainly fits the chamber pop aesthetic of Out Of Time, its oblique, infantilized lyrics stray far from the album’s theme of love and romance."

REM - imitation of life, 2001

"In the booklet for R.E.M.'s 2003 "best of" album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, the band states that the song's title comes from Douglas Sirk's 1959 film of the same name, which none of the band members had ever watched, and that the title is a metaphor for adolescence and adulthood."

REM - every day is yours to win, 2011

"I feel like this song is about trying to make someone understand that despite the many struggles they’ll have to face in their life, the world is theirs to make great and everyday is theirs to win. It’s about being hopeful and optimistic for the future. The title of the song is also the message of the song. It’s advice that I’m sure a lot of parents give to their children." 

Such a great song!

REM - walk it back, 2011

"This ballad was written during studio sessions in New Orleans, the city clearly inspiring the hymnal tones of the song's piano. Instead of following their usual procedure of penning a batch of tunes and recording them in one long session, R.E.M. laid down Collapse Into Now in three different cities — Berlin, Nashville and New Orleans — with breaks in between for writing sessions."

REM - the lifting, 2001

"Matt LeMay of Pitchfork gave the album a rating of 5.0 out of 10, stating he found the album's electronic elements to be "superficial" and felt they created an overly busy sound. He also found many of its songs to be repetitive, without stronger melodies or more variation to improve the tracks. LeMay does state that despite some "terrible lyrics", "Imitation of Life" possesses "a catchy hook, and a sufficient degree of sonic variety", while "The Lifting" contains "an undeniably great melody."

REM - star me kitten, 1992

"Bassist-keyboardist Mike Mills wanted to achieve an effect similar to the English group’s ethereal, layered backing vocals on the ’70s hit. He told Scott Litt about his thoughts, and the producer came up with the idea of recording Mills as he sang different notes, then playing them back on a mixing board, with each fader controlling a separate note. The musician could then create a weird choral backing by positioning the faders."

REM - summer turns to high, 2001

"It’s one of those songs where the verse are more lo-key musically, and then the chorus hits and the room is filled with these lush soundscapes of textures. It’s like the band is trying make another Beach Boys song without sounding too much like one (aka At My Most Beautiful). Michael continues to sing (in a mostly soft tone) about childhood things like sandals, candy, dragonflies, candles and caramel. These images definitely give you summer vibes, so I’m curious on what he means by “summer turns to high”

REM - find the river, 1992

"Harborcoat" from Reckoning has got me and Michael and Bill all doing completely unrelated things, and yet it works together. Because of the production we insisted on from Mitch and Don, which I know must have been incredibly frustrating for them, it's hard to pick out exactly what's going on. We tried it again on "Find the River". I had the idea that Bill and I would go in and do some harmonies without listening to each other. It's great because mine is this incredibly angst-ridden emotional thing, and Bill's is this really low-key sort of ambling part. They're two opposite ends of the spectrum but they're both on there, and it's a beautiful thing."

REM - at my most beautiful, 1998

"At My Most Beautiful" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. During the song's creation, members of the group noted its similarity to the work of the Beach Boys and purposefully fashioned it to resemble that band's output. Singer Michael Stipe strove to make his lyrics the most romantic he had ever written, and the piano-driven ballad became R.E.M.'s first straightforward love song. Released on the group's 1998 album Up, it was issued as the third single from that record the following year, reaching number 10 on the UK Singles Chart."

REM - the great beyond, 1999

"The Great Beyond" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., written for the 1999 film Man on the Moon. It was released as a single the same year for support of the film's soundtrack album. On the soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the movie at the end of the track; meanwhile, the single version is a radio edit, with the bridge omitted."