Find the River is my favorite. It’s tough to pick from so many excellent songs, but Find the River is an absolutely gorgeous song, perfect in every element.
Totally agree. Listened to them since the beginning and this is the one that I just can’t get enough of. It’s so haunting and so easy to lose yourself in.
I am always going to love Document because of how that album showed what they were really capable of, but everything they would later do was evident in Fables and Pageant... I love the harmonies in "Fall On Me" so much. They're not trying to be the Beatles or the Beach Boys, they're just doing their own thing. Mike Mills backup vocals are always stellar.
The secret sauce in REM songs was Mike Mills' bass lines. He never just mirrored the guitar chords...he was always playing some kind of counterpoint to what Peter was playing or Michael was singing. I would love to hear Rick do a video with some isolated REM bass lines.
@ghost mall JPJ, like MM does a lot of counterpoint. I'd say MM is better at it but Jones does all the keyboard stuff and string arrangements. Mills is up there with McCartney and Jamerson in my opinion
@@Happyheretic2308 Great comment, you are spot on and it's been said many times if still not enough. Mills played the same role as John Paul Jones in Zep - they were both the best all-around musicians in their respective bands, multi-instrumentalists and the "secret sauce" essential to the songwriting and arranging. No JPJ, no Zep. No Millsy, no REM.
@ghost mall here's a fun fact: R.E.M. producer Scott Litt reached out to JPJ about arranging strings for "Everybody Hurts" and three other Automatic tunes: "Drive," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" and "Nightswimming." After hearing the demos, Jones happily obliged. Great crossover, not to mention Mills was surely listening to JPJ and zeplin as well back in those 1970s:) Cheers!
You are the Everything, for me. Off GREEN. Just takes me straight back to being a littlun and falling asleep laid out, on the back seat of dad’s red Ford Cortina, driving back from a day at gran and grandads. The stars, aroma of the seats, the sound of travel and the engine.. Such peace.
Same. Laid down on back seat of old Ford Escort Estate, no seat belt driving back from Aunties too late. Here's a scene you're in the backseat laying down, the windows wrap around you, the sound of travel and the engine...
"Fall on Me" deserved a mention. It's amazing in all respects especially the conversion of the vocals in the chorus. It's eerily nostalgic and utterly beautiful.
@@Tamburlaine2 life's rich pageant is amazing. My all time favorite 80s record, at least Love murmer too. The days when Michael Stipe mumbled were epic
It’s also an intentionally upbeat song because they felt the album was coming out too somber all the way through and they needed an uplifting song to break it up.
Absolutely! The second verse where Michael and Mike are singing separate lyrics with separate rhythms is one of the most enchanting parts of a song I've ever heard. Glad I'm not alone on this one
i only knew the band when they released driver 8 or the LP fables of reconstruction then i bought the previous Lp´s and E.p.(murmur, if memory doesn´t fail me)
Try Not To Breathe and Night Swimming are phenomenal songs . I’ve always loved them both from the first time I heard them. Automatic For The People is an incredible album.
"Orange Crush" for me all the time. That wave of slighty distorted arpeggios on guitar plus that syncopated bass and easy to sing lyrics still their song that makes me wish to travel back in time.
I keep coming back to “Orange Crush.” The ethereal chorus which doubles in length on the final one with Michael going up another octave. I can’t even make out what’s being said in the chorus but the harmonies make you feel pain and sadness. Incredible.
It's such a dramatic song, and every element of the band contributes to the tension. I love the incorporation of "Army sounds" into the bridge. Buck's picking is all over the scale with crazy jumps between notes - pretty amazing.
My favorite REM song is Night swimming. The melody, the backing piano and Micheal stipe’s soulfully sung lyrics…wow it just gets me in the gut! So good!
"Don't Go Back to Rockville" is my favorite REM song, I think it combines the great jangly early REM with concrete lyrics (probably because they were written by Mike Mills, instead of Michael Stipe) . In particular I love the line "At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me"
And I think I read somewhere that they couldn’t get the original arrangement to work so they played it more “countrified” almost as a send-up…but it worked so well!
My very favorite REM song is Fall On Me and my second favorite is Imitation Of Life. I feel that Mike Mills is an incredibly underrated bassist and is an awesome background singer.
I agree. When I first saw this video I thought Fall on Me was going to be his pick. I like their first three albums, and I saw them live 3 times in the early years. I don’t really care for their later albums, but Fall on Me is just a perfect gem of a pop song. Beato talked of a perfect melody, well to me this is it.
My favorite song on Automatic is "Find the River" occasionally I'll listen to it alone, and it's very personal to me where my mind goes to. Try not to Breathe is an amazing choice though.
I think it’s their most beautiful song and on my top ten list, probably number one. Heard back-to-back with “Nightswimming,” you have two of the loveliest, most depressing songs ever written.
Yes! Life’s Rich Pageant was my first REM album I bought, although I vaguely knew of them since the early 80s from “Driver 8” and “Can’t Get There From Here.” And the Chronic Town EP is one of my Top Ten all time favorites.
Here is my REM's 8 favorites songs. - Radio Free Europe - So Central Rain - Driver 8 - Fall on me - World Leader Pretend - Losing my religion - E-Bow The Letter - Walk Unafraid (live version)
There's something eerily relatable in that lyric, I remember vacationing one time and looking at photographs while riding in the passenger seat illuminated by street lights and everything.
Best band of the 80s by a street. Favourite songs almost too many to count. Lifes Rich Pageant is sheer perfection. These Days, Fall On Me, I Believe, Cuyahoga. Fall On Me I think is their greatest song. If you listen to it, there are THREE vocal melodies. Who else does that? It's breathtaking.
fall on me is also one of their best songs ,i think after buying fables of reconstruction and later life´s reach pageant ,found it a great album ,I.R.S did had great productions in a time that each band sounded diferent from the other, mainstream albums were filled with high´s , i think i should refer to epic lp´s being so extremelly high on frequencies, the cds even more
@@TainuiaKid1973 i was a U2 follower but after Pop(which i think it´s filled with great songs and diferent versions that were released on their cd singles were also very good sounding to me) they seemed to make a change on their way to make songs, there are some i like but only a couple of them and also was surprised when they release "No line in the horizon"it had several songs that i found really good but after it become their traditional new style again which i don´t like or understand their change in playing music,so i don´t find them U2 or R.E.M the best bands on the last 40 years but only two great bands in the sea of thousands of bands that were also releasing great songs, i´m not a fan of a band only ,i like several songs of diferent bands that might not had the same impact of this two great bands but also good songs coming out of a lot of good bands albums, i also enjoy a lot hearing live concerts which i remenber driving 3.500 km with a friend only to see for the first time U2 playing live in their unforgetable fire tour concert in barcelona,Spain
@@RUfromthe40s I struggled with U2 once they released Actung Baby, took 20 years before I liked the album. R.E.M. had a shorter career. Oasis were great too. Metallica still do it. I like Shihad, a band from my country, New Zealand.
@@TainuiaKid1973 i remenber when the release of acthung baby ,i enjoyed a lot of songs but there were at least 3 songs that i never heard them, maybe because they stayed some years without releasing nothing one when the album came out one would expect a great work but at the first time i liked songs like the end of the world or blindness and ultra-violect , R.E.M is still giving concerts, at least is what i know, not that well informed and Oasis were a great band but because of the two brothers having fights they also had a short living but REM and U2 have a lot more LP´s released both started more or less in early 80´s and some years ago both REM and U2 released new albums, all bands that i followed but the last U2 albums are not for my taste ,only liked the "New line on the Horison"at least 3 or 4 songs ,since "how to dismantle a atomic bomb" i stop hearing U2 the change on style destroyd their unique sound ,don´t expect nothing good in the future also they´re getting old
I'd put that in my top 20 for sure, maybe even top 10. It's an incredible song, esp. coming right after nightswimming, which is also breathtakingly beautiful, arguably Michael's best vocal performance. But if you pressed me, I have to give a slight edge to Hairshirt from the Green album and Country Feedback from OOT over nightswimming, but those are my top 3, and Find The River follows it so, so well. It's an amazing album closing sequence.
terrific. but i heard 'nightswimming' come on the car radio at dusk once...it was the first time i had heard it in ages, and it blew my mind. when that oboe comes in toward the end...holy ****
Fall on Me has one of the greatest examples of counterpoint vocal arrangements (chorus) in pop music. I like their lesser known early songs, especially the dreamy, ethereal/psychedelic Flowers for Guatemala.
@@autk I hadn’t listened to the song for about 15 years, gave it a quick listen just now and you’re right about that unison/octave thing. Mind you, I was stoned most of the of youth listening to it, so…. 😂
During my time as a VP of A&R at Epic Records I tried to sign REM on two separate occasions, once in 1987 when their deal ran out at IRS (just after The One I Love came out) and a number of years later when Automatic For The People came out and their deal with Warner Bros was over. The first time I was quite disappointed that I wasn't able to however, As it happened in 1988 I signed their friends, The Indigo Girls whose debut LP with us produced by Scott Litt had REM playing on almost every track and went on to be nominated for Best New Artist Grammy and won in the category of Best Folk Record and ended up selling more than 3M albums. All told, they've sold over 15million LPs .
@@ryanpatrickpreston The 2nd time I tried to sign them was when their WBR time was up. They were at their absolute peak and I along with label head, Richard Griffiths had one secret meeting with them at a suite in the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC. We didn't even tell anyone else at the company and the deal memo was under the name of The Roses( we wanted people to think we were trying to sign Guns and Roses) The deal was for one record and the advance would be $25,000,000. Just for the one record and then they would be free to go wherever they wanted to. It would've been a great deal for everyone. However, they turned it down and stayed at Warner's as they would gain control of their catalogue. A few days later Tommy Mottola found out about the offer that he knew nothing about and went absolutely beserk! lol
They were on two tracks off the self-titled Epic debut: Kid Fears (Michael Stipe doing the guest vocal) and Tried To Be True (the rest of the band). Peter Buck appeared on a couple of tracks off the album following it, Nomads Indians Saints, also produced by Scott Litt.
@@rogerklein1007 Losing My Religion didn’t come out until 1991 and it was on Warner Brothers. I think you mean their biggest hit on IRS which was It’s The End Of The World As We Know It.
Man, not a single mention of Life's Rich Pageant? Not just great songs on that album, but the whole album, opener to ending is amazing. Love all of these songs. Brings back so many memories. My kids, especially my 13 year old daughter, share my eclectic tastes in music and I'll catch her listening to a lot of the music I grew up with and still listen to today. And this video just reminded me that I've not purposefully exposed her to REM. Something that I'll rectify immediately. Thank you, Rick.
@@hankamania Begin the Begin is their best song by a country mile. Their later stuff got maudlin for me. They were the best at the beginning. Finest Worksong is another monster.
I've always been a huge REM fan, and Rick really nailed so much of what is so great about this band. The truth is it would be hard to pick a bad REM song, their albums were among the most consistently great since something from Dylan or the Beatles. And they did it over and over again, album after album. Just when you thought they couldn't get any better, they would come out with another level of artistry, another level of sophistication, another masterpiece. All while still sounding like themselves. Truly an amazing catalog. I really hope the band members hear about this video and take Rick up on his invitation for an interview - I can't imagine it getting any better than that! Oh wait - that's what they DO - make you think it can't get better and then blow you away again. ;-) But seriously, that would be a treat for fans everywhere, especially with a guy like Rick who actually knows, loves, and respects the music.
@@shinyeesiek3357 I would want Rick to interview Mike Mills. I believe he has the most insight into the music for REM. We would probably learn the most from him. No slight on the others of course...
"Driver 8" does it for me. I was in art school at UGA during the early 80s and frequently ran into them in the department. I saw them many times at Legion Field and/or 40 Watt. Stipe would eat lunch sometimes at The Grill, a local joint, and was a pleasant soul. I sold a camera to Pete when I worked at a local store, part time, in Athens in 1985. I think I made $3 in commission....lol. I have several drawings of the lady featured in "The One I Love" as she was a frequent model in our art classes. Fun times that I never realized were significant at the time.
One of my favorite bands. So many great songs. I prefer the I.R.S. years, but they had great albums after that period too. I’d say Fall On Me, Find The River, Radio Free Europe, King Of Birds, World Leader Pretend, Begin The Begin, So. Central Rain, (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville, and Perfect Circle are amongst my favorite songs of theirs.
Why has nobody pointed out the obvious choice; Country Feedback. Absolutely incredible vocals and emotional intensity. No surprise it's Michael Stipes favourite REM song
You nailed it. This is the only answer as far as I am concerned. That's nothing against the rest of the catalog. This is just one of my favorite songs by anyone.
@@Nonononono12345-o disagree. Stipe's lyric became more political as his world-sense grew. REM as a band remain true to the music. As future albums demonstrate
I am obsessed with everything about the Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight -- Loved it years ago, but recently came upon it ...and I cannot get enough. Even the video, so creative!
I always loved that Michael laughs while singing at one point for no reason that I could figure out. It was like a happy little outtake that made it on the record.
Been watching Rick discuss great songs for years now and I don’t think I’ve seen him tear up from lyrics and melody. It’s a testament to REMs superb songwriting. They deserve the accolades now being given.
Speaking of perfect songs, Perfect Circle from Murmur was the song that made me an REM fan. Mike Mills' piano line, the haunting chorus and the slow build of the arrangement sold me on this great band.
Beautiful song and such a strange, circular piano figure with a melody that never really resolves. I guess interesting things happen when a drummer writes a song on piano haha
That entire album is a miracle the playing may be somewhat amateurish but the songwriting and song structure are very complex in the production of it is both dreamy and haunting, a perfect album. I remember first picking it up in 1983 and marveling over its quality.
Agree. Immediately was my favorite upon release and it still is. Cut out that rectangular cd cover and taped it over my bed. They took themselves seriously but tried to be self-effacing to undercut themselves, just like I always do. Fall On Me is serious. It is heavy. The band marries an Americana soulfulness sound with lyrics that hint at the dark complexity of the land. No easy feat.
Rick, I know this vid is a year old, but my father died shortly after Automatic came out, my mother soon after. Try Not to Breathe, Sweetness Follows, Everybody Hurts and Find a River resonates so strongly with me. It was the right album at the right time.Truthfully Document is my favorite R.E.M. album, Automatic is a very close second. Congrats on interviewing Mike Mills, so good to see R.E.M. perform at the Songwriters ceremony.
I get it, but I missed it. For me, it was the kinda nasal, annoying dude that sang Losing My Religion on MTV and eventually grew on me. I got their contribution to rock much later.
@@themydnighthour you were a little younger then. The 5 albums prior were amazing. When everyone poored onto the Bandwagon , pun intended of loosing my religion its was a real eye roller 🙄, with the radio play all the sudden. We felt like we lost our private band.
Been a massive fan since I discovered them at 13, going on 47 now. My personal favorites are: Let me in E-bow the letter Leave Walk unafraid (live) World Leader Pretend (unplugged 91) Bang and blame Strange currencies The sidewinder sleeps tonight Country feedback (live version from the Monster tour) The one I love Cuyahoga Finest worksong Man I miss these guys, the world can sure use some REM right now.
@@philyates7670 in my opinion they don´t have a best song but a colection of perfect songs, when they lost their drummer for health reasons ,i didn´t thought they would release a great album but not at first listening i notice but when seeing them playing indoors at the colyseum in Lisbon, Portugal a several hundred years show room ,i got stunned with "at my most beautifull" and as an extra ,Cameron Diaz was in a booth next to mine very close to the stage , she at the time was filming a movie about a girl that in the 70´s envolved herself with a german guy that was very left wing or no wing at all, he was anarquist(nothing related with the punk movement at the time) and put a bomb on a place that people died and she came to the south atlantic coast of Portugal that as lots of cliffs very high and she jumped to kill herself, i don´t remenber the name of the movie
“The Great Beyond” is the one that does it for me like that. Hits me right in the heart. I’m pretty sure it’s about watching a loved one die as well and when I hear it it brings back a moment like that in my life and I cry.
Yep, me too. Love R.E.M. and so many favourites but that one puts a lump in my throat and I get me misty eyed every time. Try Not to Breathe, Perfect Circle and Flowers of Guatemala always give my heartstrings a tug also. Lots of memories associated with this band.
Best song by far, can't believe it wasn't mentioned. Not only beautiful melody and harmonies, but incredible lyrics. I converted an extremely talented musician friend into an REM fan with "The Great Beyond" alone.
I can't believe that, of all the many, many REM tracks, we share the same favorite. It made me so happy to watch this. I've never met anyone else who even mentions this as a standout track and I agree that it's absolutely their best. My mind is blown!
I've always thought "Can't Get There From Here" was their most underrated "hit". Unique open and "Thank you Ray" ending after the 4 slams. Classic Mills/Stipe vocal call and answer and IMO Buck's best main gtr riff of all time. Shows off Stipe's range, too. Intense bridge. Got it all.
REM does my most fave song ever in my life SWEETNESS FOLLOWS. I noticed so by the fact that whenever it sounds every now and then, that organ, bigger than the universe, makes me close my eyes and just transports me outside my body, no matter if the song is 30 years old. Sweetness Follows made me realize a favorite song is not one you choose but one that causes this high, almost like the song chooses you
REM are one of those bands that you can't explain how good the albums are to people, yes the classics are good and most people have heard them, but the songs that never got radio play need more love. I'm glad Rick explored the whole back catalogue.
Agreed, but I feel that way with almost all artists. The songs picked to be singles are usually picked because they're often safer pieces of music. You get some outliers, but singles almost never reveal the artist's true talents. Take Blur for example. Listen only to the singles, and you'd think they're a pretty good pop/rock band. Listen to their albums, and you'd realize how bloody effing weird they are... and it's brilliant!
DRIVER 8 is on another level - for the Beautiful melody which pulls us in. For free flowing notes which lift and twist & turn us along the track. For the vision inducing lyrics which suggest journey, loss, and possibility. Yet most of all, because of it's time & genre crossing character. Driving 8 is a song that could have been written on Woody's guitar as witness to the yearnings of the 30s, or played on the Woodstock stage as an anthem to all who knew of Wandering in the 60s. . . It deserves to be embraced by Nashville as much as the later Rockers. When some grandchild hears Driver 8 one hundred years from now, they'll be on the track of the Journey of America.
One of my favorite songs ever!! I love it so much that i covered it, as my second clip. Check it out, feel free to comment, hope u enjoy it! Cheers from Rio, Brazil!
They really do have so many great songs. One which I think is among their greatest but least known is Find the River. Love that song. I plan to use it in the slide show at my brother's upcoming memorial.
Good Advices could be my favorite REM song, but when combined with Wendell Gee, well, that is just too much. Green Grow the Rushes followed by Kohoutek ... just great. My favorite album.
I agree with you and everyone in this thread. Definitely my favorite of their albums, although I love everything up through Monster end to end. That said, this is an album I've never stopped playing regularly since I got it the day it came out. Every song... the feels and lyrics, is to me a masterpiece. If I had to pick a favorite, though nearly impossible, it would be Old Man Kensey followed closely by Wendel Gee. But really, I can't imagine skipping any track on the album really. And what an opener in Feeling Gravity's Pull. Whew! You know you're about to go on quite a journey, and so I have time after time. Simply brilliant all through.
Life's Rich Pageant is one of the greatest albums- absolute desert island disk. You can pick several from that album. That's the album/tour that put them in 20,000 seat venues and there was no stopping them. From the blitzkrieg opening song Begin the Begin to the campy Superman finishing it, with melodies, haunting vocals, and pure genius in between.
REM and The Smiths in the mid 80’s were just so unique and cool. Love the alternative scene from then! Radio Free Europe made me discover REM, Fall On Me made me fall in love with the band…been a fan ever since!
shiny happy people is maybe one of their most underrated songs ,at the time the B52´s was one of the best alternative bands and the voice of Kate Pierson sounds great with Michael Stype voice in the mix also have a positive kind of lyrics that with the music feels what´s great in this bad world it´s a great dance song at the same time very simple, just my opinion
@@RUfromthe40s how can rem songs that were singles and charted hits be underrated. Thats not what underrated defines. I loathe the use of that word. Naked “manns chinese” is underrated. The Toadies “when im awake” is underrated.
“Nightswimming” is nothing short of a masterpiece. Maybe the most vulnerable lyrics since “One More Try” by George Michael. Stipe really knocked it out of the park.
The great thing about REM is that they got better and better. So many bands hit it hard with their first album and then struggle to hit that high again. REM had such a stirong and gradual development that allowed the fans to grow with them. Such a great journey for the band and their fans.
This was a personal one for me. I was in a REM coma for about 2-3 years. The late 80s to early 90s. Impossible to pick a favorite, but "Talk About the Passion" is a top 5.
As someone who was a huge fan back in the 80's, and saw REM 4 times (the first was on the Life's Rich Pageant Tour, which I still feel is their best album), their best song, in my humble opinion, is Fall On Me, with Driver 8 being a close second.
Always thought R.E.M were a step above when it came to song structure. Many of their songs have opening riffs that return later in the song (like Driver 8) multiple verse sections A and B, pre choruses and post choruses, bridges, key changes and modulations. They were much more sophisticated song writers than most of the 80s/90s alternative rock bands.
They really came up with fantastic bridges, even when they were really short and simple. The bridge on What if We Give It Away for instance makes the song, elevates a good song to a whole other level.
To me they were the best of the so called "alternative rock bands." It's like you say here their song structure, talented playing, Stipe's provocative voice and ways. R.E.M. songs had some artsy complex themes too. They were big on college radio outside of Atlanta. They developed a huge following back then, when they first started out!
Driver 8, Pretty Persuasion, Talk About the Passion, Cuyahoga and Lotus from Up are all songs that have an opening riff that returns half way through the song. Supposedly Peter Buck got this technique from a song called "Couldn't I just Tell You" by Todd Rundgren. The Beatles have several songs that do this too like Paperback Writer, DayTripper, I Feel Fine, and Hey Bulldog.
Very fine band in what was to me a pretty “dead” period-I never liked the ‘80s musically even though I was in school. Yeah, there was Bowie and squeeze. But I was a ‘70s guy and late ‘60s. But I really always liked REM
Fall On Me was my first REM song, _knowing_ it was by REM, and fell in love. A little while later, I realized I'd heard Radio Free Europe & Driver 8 a few times each, 2 or 3 years before '86, but didn't know who the band was, just really liked the songs. I had a similar experience with the Psychedelic Furs, with Love My Way & Ghost in You; liked the songs in '82 or '83, didn't discover who the band was until a few years later. Surfing the radio dial will do that, I guess. 😊
As a long-time REM fan, It's my opinion that their greatest ALBUM is Lifes Rich Pageant. I think lyrically, it is REM's best work. Musically, the band was playing at their peak performance. I also think the album was produced very well. Beautifully balanced arrangements and Stipe's voice is not mixed too loud or muffled under the instruments. Given that, in my opinion, Begin The Begin is my favorite REM song on that album followed closely by Fall On Me, These Days and I Believe...🙂
They brought in Don Gehman (Mellencamp's producer) who worked hard to convince Stipe to enunciate more and to become less cryptic in his lyric writing. To be honest, I'm rather fond of Stipe's poetic word pictures which prevailed from Chronic Town to Fables.
After all these years, “Fall On Me” is still my favorite song of theirs; the three part harmony still blows me away. But one of my favorite aspects of R.E.M. is how they can take a routine album track and transform it live. “Walk Unafraid” and “Let Me In” are two great examples. Good songs made amazing live.
Stellar list, Rick. You really can't go wrong with this band. My two faves are Talk About the Passion and Don't Go Back to Rockville. Also love how Night Swimming is constructed -- two completely different melodies (piano and vocal) mashed together perfectly.
Kurt's song gets me every time. "Let me in" and Michael's favorite song "Country feedback" are simple musical daggers. "Find the river" gives life struggles a silver lighting. My brothers favorite band.
My mother in law passed away recently at 93, she got Covid and was having a really hard time. She was a diabetic and she had the choice to stop dialysis and she did. I leaned on Try Not To Breathe heavily in her final days. A truly honest and genuine song.
Sometimes a song can be a life guide . “You can’t always get what you want , but if you try sometimes you just might find , you get what you need .” Thank you Rolling Stones .
"What's the frequency Kenneth" is one of my favorites. I didn't expect it on this list due to the litany of iconic REM songs. Yet, it just strikes cord with me.
"Low" from Out of Time. Its mysterious and hauntingly beautiful. The vocal harmonies are amazing, and it is tinged with the quiet melancholy that suffuses the whole album.
Low, Country Feedback, and Half a World Away are the best on this album! Can you believe there are people who like REM's music that they've heard who don’t even know these songs exist? It makes me upset
Yeah, that's a song at first you're like it's boring... But's it's supposed to be, and then you want to hear it again and again, the album is too happy it needed it. Great song.
Love "7 Chinese Bros.", "Electrolyte", etc. etc. But my favorite one is "Perfect Circle". The background melody is just too good and complements the vocals beautifully.
Wendell Gee is one of my favs. When the banjo kicks in - goosebump time. Yeah, that’s right, banjo. If the wind were colors If the air could speak Soecial shout out to Disturbance at the Heron House
Automatic For The People is my favourite album of theirs. There is not one song on it that I skip. Try Not To Breathe is amazing. And Find The River is sublime.
I got into R.E.M. recently after avoiding them on the radio for a long time. The songs that finally convinced me were "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and "Radio Free Europe". Their indie '80s stuff is fantastic and doesn't get enough attention. I was actually listening to the Chronic Town EP earlier today! "Wolves, Lower" and "Gardening At Night" are extremely underrated.
I went through that after Automatic For The People came out. I'd ignore-hated REM for years before that, but I bought AFTP and then went catalog diving and found Life's Rich Pageant. Cuyahoga is fantastic and I'm surprised Rick didn't mention it here.
Their videos were also groundbreaking. Gardening at Night and the complete disregard/apathy for lip syncing on The One I Love. The losing my religion video is pretty cool too.
To me, Automatic is their best album. Nightswimming is so vivid that I can see it in my mind effortlessly. Find the River is my favorite song on that album. It is just a beautiful piece of work.
Rick- I appreciate you doing this on REM. They are an iconic band that doesn't get a lot of attention in mainstream music. I didn't know you loved them so much. They are the reason I got so into music back in the 80's.... Loved that you included Driver 8 too!
I grew up in Athens and attended the University of Georgia (which the members of R.E.M. dropped out of in 1980) in the 1980's. The music scene in Athens was outstanding during that time. R.E.M. remains one of my favorite bands of all time. Another great song that many people don't know about is Nightswimming.
My 3 favourite R.E.M. songs weren't mentioned. "Fall On Me", "Electrolite" & "Cuyahoga". But there are so many great ones to mention anyways. One of the best catalogs in rock and roll history! 🙌🎶
Cuyahoga is def top 5 for me, a song I always go back to, and having lived near the Cuyahoga River all my life, the song's vibe captures the area perfectly
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Find the River is my favorite. It’s tough to pick from so many excellent songs, but Find the River is an absolutely gorgeous song, perfect in every element.
Me too! When they came to Brisbane in about 2009 they played it and Michael said it was because someone had asked specifically. I was so glad.
Agreed
Totally agree. Listened to them since the beginning and this is the one that I just can’t get enough of. It’s so haunting and so easy to lose yourself in.
Yea find the river is such a great song
Fall on Me, Gardening at Night, and Rockville are some other great ones
"Driver 8" and "Fall on Me" are two of their greatest, and every lifelong R.E.M. fan loves them.
Driver 8 and Don't Go Back to Rockville are my favorites
I am always going to love Document because of how that album showed what they were really capable of, but everything they would later do was evident in Fables and Pageant... I love the harmonies in "Fall On Me" so much. They're not trying to be the Beatles or the Beach Boys, they're just doing their own thing. Mike Mills backup vocals are always stellar.
Fall on Me - Hands down
My two favorites for sure. They are quintessential REM.
@@piershollott339 100% Mike Mills' backup vocals on "Fall on Me" are the hook of the entire song for me.
The secret sauce in REM songs was Mike Mills' bass lines. He never just mirrored the guitar chords...he was always playing some kind of counterpoint to what Peter was playing or Michael was singing. I would love to hear Rick do a video with some isolated REM bass lines.
And compare to JPJ
@ghost mall JPJ, like MM does a lot of counterpoint. I'd say MM is better at it but Jones does all the keyboard stuff and string arrangements. Mills is up there with McCartney and Jamerson in my opinion
yes, and his background vox, MM is the man!
@@Happyheretic2308 Great comment, you are spot on and it's been said many times if still not enough. Mills played the same role as John Paul Jones in Zep - they were both the best all-around musicians in their respective bands, multi-instrumentalists and the "secret sauce" essential to the songwriting and arranging. No JPJ, no Zep. No Millsy, no REM.
@ghost mall here's a fun fact: R.E.M. producer Scott Litt reached out to JPJ about arranging strings for "Everybody Hurts" and three other Automatic tunes: "Drive," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" and "Nightswimming." After hearing the demos, Jones happily obliged. Great crossover, not to mention Mills was surely listening to JPJ and zeplin as well back in those 1970s:) Cheers!
You are the Everything, for me. Off GREEN.
Just takes me straight back to being a littlun and falling asleep laid out, on the back seat of dad’s red Ford Cortina, driving back from a day at gran and grandads. The stars, aroma of the seats, the sound of travel and the engine..
Such peace.
That's lovely
One of their best, indeed
Same. Laid down on back seat of old Ford Escort Estate, no seat belt driving back from Aunties too late. Here's a scene you're in the backseat laying down, the windows wrap around you, the sound of travel and the engine...
My favorite as well
Love the lyrics all of Green is pretty classic actually
"Near Wild Heaven" has harmonies that give me the chills.
Great song
Agreed! This is one of my favourite of theirs.
Yes!
Mike Mills sang on this one. Are you saying you prefer hkm to Stipe?
Probably the best song on Out of Time.
"Fall on Me" deserved a mention. It's amazing in all respects especially the conversion of the vocals in the chorus. It's eerily nostalgic and utterly beautiful.
I was surprised nothing from REM's best album, Life's Rich Pageant, made the list.
Definitely, but if he included all the worthy songs, the video would be two hours long, which would be fine with me.
@@Tamburlaine2 100% their best album. So many good songs.
Was Stipe's favourite at some point...
@@Tamburlaine2 life's rich pageant is amazing. My all time favorite 80s record, at least
Love murmer too.
The days when Michael Stipe mumbled were epic
Might not be a popular pick, but Nightswimming is their best for me. Just simple, nostalgic, beautiful.
is the favorite song for many people i know
Love it, my favorite for sure.
My wife's favorite for sure.
Oh it's up with the best fir sure.
Cuyahoga
Anybody else love "Sidewinder"? It was their nod to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE is do bomb.
Great tune! I like how Michael laughs in the first line of the chorus after "Or a reading from Dr. Seuss"
Love it! It's so uplifting 🙂
Always been my favorite REM song (I continue to be surprised by that, but I just can’t stop loving it).
It’s also an intentionally upbeat song because they felt the album was coming out too somber all the way through and they needed an uplifting song to break it up.
Drive is my favorite REM song.
3 words: Fall On Me. R.E.M.'s greatest song IMO. Absolute perfection from start to finish.
Agreed - until I remembered Country Feedback - which betters even that
Yes
This was the song that started it all for me.
Agreed. If it weren't for Fall On Me though, it'd be Driver 8.
Absolutely! The second verse where Michael and Mike are singing separate lyrics with separate rhythms is one of the most enchanting parts of a song I've ever heard. Glad I'm not alone on this one
A couple years back I gave a listen to R.E.M.'s entire catalog and it blew me away. This band is one of the greatest bands to ever exist.
Nah, I someone on the chat say they are over-rated. lol
One of the greatest US rock bands. Maybe the greatest?
If you listen to their music from the early to mid 80s… peak indie rock. They really were one of the greatest indie bands to have ever existed.
the perfect square concert is really perfect, the place is a square in Austria but perfect, also the girls i saw there were perfect
i only knew the band when they released driver 8 or the LP fables of reconstruction then i bought the previous Lp´s and E.p.(murmur, if memory doesn´t fail me)
Try Not To Breathe and Night Swimming are phenomenal songs . I’ve always loved them both from the first time I heard them. Automatic For The People is an incredible album.
Night swimming got me through some really tough and stressful times in 2020. Used to listen to it before bed to help with my anxiety.
Find The River is the most wonderful thing they have ever done!
It took me a year of sporadic listening to truly appreciate Automatic…definitely a desert island pick.
@@dancarter482 I agree almost. It’s the best song on the record IMO.
100 per cent perfection and always loved Star Me Kitten so much too. The whole vibe of that album is utterly magical.
Top 5 all time band. “Fall on Me’ ‘Don’t go back to Rockville” plus So. Central Rain ALWAYS in my rotation.
Three of my absolute favorites.
Most excellent South Central rain, pilgrimage, perfect circle.
"Feeling Gravity's Pull", "Perfect Circle" and "World Leader Pretend".
"Orange Crush" for me all the time. That wave of slighty distorted arpeggios on guitar plus that syncopated bass and easy to sing lyrics still their song that makes me wish to travel back in time.
As a straight ahead banger of a rock song, Orange Crush is one of my all time favorites. The bass and snare sounds are incredible.
Agreed!
Yep... definitely their BEST song!
Strong contender.
My neighbor who is a Vietnam vet broke down in tears when he listened to this song.
Totally…I was actually expecting to see it on the list.
I keep coming back to “Orange Crush.” The ethereal chorus which doubles in length on the final one with Michael going up another octave. I can’t even make out what’s being said in the chorus but the harmonies make you feel pain and sadness. Incredible.
Fireplace or King of Birds.
It's such a dramatic song, and every element of the band contributes to the tension. I love the incorporation of "Army sounds" into the bridge. Buck's picking is all over the scale with crazy jumps between notes - pretty amazing.
still my favourite album of theirs. "I Remember California" is the song for me that I just love and keep coming back to.
I was thinking either "Orange Crush", "Electrolyte" or "E-Bow the Letter."
I love that bass line.
My favorite REM song is Night swimming. The melody, the backing piano and Micheal stipe’s soulfully sung lyrics…wow it just gets me in the gut! So good!
"Don't Go Back to Rockville" is my favorite REM song, I think it combines the great jangly early REM with concrete lyrics (probably because they were written by Mike Mills, instead of Michael Stipe) . In particular I love the line "At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me"
That's a great song!
Always been my favorite song by them. Bought the album when it came out.
And I think I read somewhere that they couldn’t get the original arrangement to work so they played it more “countrified” almost as a send-up…but it worked so well!
This is probably my favorite REM song as well.
@@michaelrouthier8491 Im a sucker for countrifired rock songs.
My very favorite REM song is Fall On Me and my second favorite is Imitation Of Life. I feel that Mike Mills is an incredibly underrated bassist and is an awesome background singer.
Michael Stipes fav too!
Yeah not even a mention of Fall On Me?!
Mine too
Imitation of life is such a great song that I dont know if a lot of people even know of
I agree. When I first saw this video I thought Fall on Me was going to be his pick. I like their first three albums, and I saw them live 3 times in the early years. I don’t really care for their later albums, but Fall on Me is just a perfect gem of a pop song. Beato talked of a perfect melody, well to me this is it.
My favorite song on Automatic is "Find the River" occasionally I'll listen to it alone, and it's very personal to me where my mind goes to. Try not to Breathe is an amazing choice though.
Find a River is a beautiful, hopeful, healing song.
I think it’s their most beautiful song and on my top ten list, probably number one. Heard back-to-back with “Nightswimming,” you have two of the loveliest, most depressing songs ever written.
Find the River is a beautiful song
The Flowers of Guatemala is an incredibly beautiful song. Begin the Begin is a great, fun song.
Yes! Life’s Rich Pageant was my first REM album I bought, although I vaguely knew of them since the early 80s from “Driver 8” and “Can’t Get There From Here.” And the Chronic Town EP is one of my Top Ten all time favorites.
Here is my REM's 8 favorites songs.
- Radio Free Europe
- So Central Rain
- Driver 8
- Fall on me
- World Leader Pretend
- Losing my religion
- E-Bow The Letter
- Walk Unafraid (live version)
Great list
GREAT LIST!! 👍👍
Pilgrimage.
country feedback???!
You are missing some Automatic songs
For me the best REM song is ‘Nightswimming’ That simple piano and Michael Stipe’s haunting voice and emotion. Amazing song!
that oboe!
@@dice1296 Yes! The Oboe is amazing in it.
There's something eerily relatable in that lyric, I remember vacationing one time and looking at photographs while riding in the passenger seat illuminated by street lights and everything.
Nightswimming has always been my favorite song by them as well, perfection
Driver 8 is still one of my favorites!!! Graduated from high school in 82 and college in 86...REM was king...love them!!!
Driver 8 is my all time favorite followed by I could turn you inside out and So Central Rain
I love Driver 8 but think Beat City by The Flowerpot Men does the same thing only better
Love Driver 8 ... easily my top 5, maybe top 3.
sky blue bells ringing...
Great call out - love Driver 8 - still listen to it..
Best band of the 80s by a street. Favourite songs almost too many to count. Lifes Rich Pageant is sheer perfection. These Days, Fall On Me, I Believe, Cuyahoga. Fall On Me I think is their greatest song. If you listen to it, there are THREE vocal melodies. Who else does that? It's breathtaking.
fall on me is also one of their best songs ,i think after buying fables of reconstruction and later life´s reach pageant ,found it a great album ,I.R.S did had great productions in a time that each band sounded diferent from the other, mainstream albums were filled with high´s , i think i should refer to epic lp´s being so extremelly high on frequencies, the cds even more
"Talk About the Passion" and "Catapult" are two of my favorites of their early stuff.
Me too!
Me too! I love Pilgrimage too!
Murmur is still my favorite album
@@karenwebster2465 same here! Couldn't have picked a better list!
Love the bass and drum intro to "catapult"
REM is honestly such an insanely good band.
Greatest band of last 40 years easily
@@bellazoe1 U2?
@@TainuiaKid1973 i was a U2 follower but after Pop(which i think it´s filled with great songs and diferent versions that were released on their cd singles were also very good sounding to me) they seemed to make a change on their way to make songs, there are some i like but only a couple of them and also was surprised when they release "No line in the horizon"it had several songs that i found really good but after it become their traditional new style again which i don´t like or understand their change in playing music,so i don´t find them U2 or R.E.M the best bands on the last 40 years but only two great bands in the sea of thousands of bands that were also releasing great songs, i´m not a fan of a band only ,i like several songs of diferent bands that might not had the same impact of this two great bands but also good songs coming out of a lot of good bands albums, i also enjoy a lot hearing live concerts which i remenber driving 3.500 km with a friend only to see for the first time U2 playing live in their unforgetable fire tour concert in barcelona,Spain
@@RUfromthe40s I struggled with U2 once they released Actung Baby, took 20 years before I liked the album.
R.E.M. had a shorter career. Oasis were great too. Metallica still do it. I like Shihad, a band from my country, New Zealand.
@@TainuiaKid1973 i remenber when the release of acthung baby ,i enjoyed a lot of songs but there were at least 3 songs that i never heard them, maybe because they stayed some years without releasing nothing one when the album came out one would expect a great work but at the first time i liked songs like the end of the world or blindness and ultra-violect , R.E.M is still giving concerts, at least is what i know, not that well informed and Oasis were a great band but because of the two brothers having fights they also had a short living but REM and U2 have a lot more LP´s released both started more or less in early 80´s and some years ago both REM and U2 released new albums, all bands that i followed but the last U2 albums are not for my taste ,only liked the "New line on the Horison"at least 3 or 4 songs ,since "how to dismantle a atomic bomb" i stop hearing U2 the change on style destroyd their unique sound ,don´t expect nothing good in the future also they´re getting old
Find the River is an often overlooked personal favourite. Vocal, Acoustic Guitar and Piano all get their place in the sun... Beautifully balanced.
I'd put that in my top 20 for sure, maybe even top 10. It's an incredible song, esp. coming right after nightswimming, which is also breathtakingly beautiful, arguably Michael's best vocal performance. But if you pressed me, I have to give a slight edge to Hairshirt from the Green album and Country Feedback from OOT over nightswimming, but those are my top 3, and Find The River follows it so, so well. It's an amazing album closing sequence.
Find the River is one of my REM favorites.
terrific. but i heard 'nightswimming' come on the car radio at dusk once...it was the first time i had heard it in ages, and it blew my mind. when that oboe comes in toward the end...holy ****
I always preferred it to Nightswimming.
agreed,for me Find the river is the best song,and Monty got a raw deal.
Some of my favorites:
"Perfect Circle"
"Feeling Gravity's Pull"
"Driver 8"
"You are the Everything"
"Sweetness Follow"
"Try not to Breathe"
Fall on Me has one of the greatest examples of counterpoint vocal arrangements (chorus) in pop music. I like their lesser known early songs, especially the dreamy, ethereal/psychedelic Flowers for Guatemala.
Most of the "harmony" is unison singing in different octaves, doubled and tripled, an REM staple.
Yeah, I was a little disappointed that Rick didn't dig into "Life's Rich Pageant". It's one of their best albums.
My 2 choices exactly. Was about to post this exactly. That is just their greatest album.
@@fusiliers it's their best album.
@@autk I hadn’t listened to the song for about 15 years, gave it a quick listen just now and you’re right about that unison/octave thing. Mind you, I was stoned most of the of youth listening to it, so…. 😂
During my time as a VP of A&R at Epic Records I tried to sign REM on two separate occasions, once in 1987 when their deal ran out at IRS (just after The One I Love came out) and a number of years later when Automatic For The People came out and their deal with Warner Bros was over. The first time I was quite disappointed that I wasn't able to however, As it happened in 1988 I signed their friends, The Indigo Girls whose debut LP with us produced by Scott Litt had REM playing on almost every track and went on to be nominated for Best New Artist Grammy and won in the category of Best Folk Record and ended up selling more than 3M albums. All told, they've sold over 15million LPs .
Cool. I was working at Tower Records when REM inked that mega deal with WEA.
@@ryanpatrickpreston The 2nd time I tried to sign them was when their WBR time was up. They were at their absolute peak and I along with label head, Richard Griffiths had one secret meeting with them at a suite in the Four Seasons Hotel in NYC. We didn't even tell anyone else at the company and the deal memo was under the name of The Roses( we wanted people to think we were trying to sign Guns and Roses) The deal was for one record and the advance would be $25,000,000. Just for the one record and then they would be free to go wherever they wanted to. It would've been a great deal for everyone. However, they turned it down and stayed at Warner's as they would gain control of their catalogue. A few days later Tommy Mottola found out about the offer that he knew nothing about and went absolutely beserk! lol
They were on two tracks off the self-titled Epic debut: Kid Fears (Michael Stipe doing the guest vocal) and Tried To Be True (the rest of the band). Peter Buck appeared on a couple of tracks off the album following it, Nomads Indians Saints, also produced by Scott Litt.
Losing My Religion was released in '91.
@@rogerklein1007
Losing My Religion didn’t come out until 1991 and it was on Warner Brothers. I think you mean their biggest hit on IRS which was It’s The End Of The World As We Know It.
“Leave” from New Adventures is hypnotic
I concur…
Could have be great until they dropped that goddamn siren thing into the track.
Night Swimming, doesn't matter how many times I hear it, still get chills.
so underrated, so perfect. can shut my eyes and it's a summer night 20 years ago....
The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago
My all time favorite.
Man, not a single mention of Life's Rich Pageant? Not just great songs on that album, but the whole album, opener to ending is amazing.
Love all of these songs. Brings back so many memories.
My kids, especially my 13 year old daughter, share my eclectic tastes in music and I'll catch her listening to a lot of the music I grew up with and still listen to today.
And this video just reminded me that I've not purposefully exposed her to REM. Something that I'll rectify immediately.
Thank you, Rick.
My fave R.E.M. song is Flowers of Guatemala. Second is Superman.
My fave is probably These Days. Or maybe Begin The Begin.
I love Life’s Rich Pageant. Next to that my fave is Chronic Town !!
Yeah, I love I Believe and These Days
@@hankamania Begin the Begin is their best song by a country mile. Their later stuff got maudlin for me. They were the best at the beginning. Finest Worksong is another monster.
I've always been a huge REM fan, and Rick really nailed so much of what is so great about this band. The truth is it would be hard to pick a bad REM song, their albums were among the most consistently great since something from Dylan or the Beatles. And they did it over and over again, album after album. Just when you thought they couldn't get any better, they would come out with another level of artistry, another level of sophistication, another masterpiece. All while still sounding like themselves. Truly an amazing catalog.
I really hope the band members hear about this video and take Rick up on his invitation for an interview - I can't imagine it getting any better than that! Oh wait - that's what they DO - make you think it can't get better and then blow you away again. ;-) But seriously, that would be a treat for fans everywhere, especially with a guy like Rick who actually knows, loves, and respects the music.
Some one tell Berry Mill, Buck, or Stipe to do the interview. Someone on here must know one of them.
@@shinyeesiek3357 I would want Rick to interview Mike Mills. I believe he has the most insight into the music for REM. We would probably learn the most from him. No slight on the others of course...
@@shinyeesiek3357I’d be damn impressed if Rick scored an interview with Bill Berry :)
"Driver 8" does it for me. I was in art school at UGA during the early 80s and frequently ran into them in the department. I saw them many times at Legion Field and/or 40 Watt. Stipe would eat lunch sometimes at The Grill, a local joint, and was a pleasant soul. I sold a camera to Pete when I worked at a local store, part time, in Athens in 1985. I think I made $3 in commission....lol. I have several drawings of the lady featured in "The One I Love" as she was a frequent model in our art classes. Fun times that I never realized were significant at the time.
David, they were fun times indeed!!! REM sure added to our college EXPERIENCE 😂😂
“South Central Rain” is probably my favorite REM song. ❤
As a kid back in the day, I thought it was, "So" Central Rain (they way it appeared on the CD). Chalked it up to the inscrutable enigma of REM.
One of my favorite bands. So many great songs. I prefer the I.R.S. years, but they had great albums after that period too. I’d say Fall On Me, Find The River, Radio Free Europe, King Of Birds, World Leader Pretend, Begin The Begin, So. Central Rain, (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville, and Perfect Circle are amongst my favorite songs of theirs.
All great choices!
Find the River is an incredibly beautiful song.
Perfect Circle always makes me cry for some reason lol
So I wrote my list of favorite R.E.M. songs before I actually watched Rick's video. I absolutely LOVE Try Not To Breathe. Nice pick, Rick!
Why has nobody pointed out the obvious choice; Country Feedback. Absolutely incredible vocals and emotional intensity. No surprise it's Michael Stipes favourite REM song
💯
You nailed it. This is the only answer as far as I am concerned. That's nothing against the rest of the catalog. This is just one of my favorite songs by anyone.
Great to find someone on the same wavelength
@@markclaxton3143 Check out the live version on the Jools Holland special 1998. THE best version. Better than the album. SO much emotion.
correct
country feedback is the type of song that comes once in a lifetime
There is no "best" REM song. All are beautifully written and executed. Brilliance in every breath
I agree until the Green album. That’s where it’s stopped being REM and became stripes lecture tour
@@Nonononono12345-o disagree. Stipe's lyric became more political as his world-sense grew. REM as a band remain true to the music. As future albums demonstrate
@@jumpin1jumpin right. When he got full of himself, his lyrics sucked
@@Nonononono12345-o nah. The lyrics became more expansive, so less precise ergo more worldly and arguably better
@@jumpin1jumpin gotta disagree. But glad that you like the later stuff.
Their secret weapon was Mike Mill’s’ backing vocals. I love the Reckoning album, and got to see them front row on the Document tour in ‘87.
Me too! Front and center.
I've always wondered how far they'd have gotten without Mills's voice being able to harmonize with Stipe's.
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite is my favorite REM song. The upbeat tempo, the lyrics, the melody all just speak to me.
I am obsessed with everything about the Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight -- Loved it years ago, but recently came upon it ...and I cannot get enough. Even the video, so creative!
I always think Michael is challenging the listener to "Sing along with this one!"
I always loved that Michael laughs while singing at one point for no reason that I could figure out. It was like a happy little outtake that made it on the record.
@@swayback04He says..." Dr Zeus" instead of Seuss
Yeah, great song! 👍
My favorite REM song is "Me in Honey". Kate Pierson's voice just sends it over the edge for me, it's sp beautiful and sad.
One of their best grooves, my kids love that one. Good call.
I think I'm with you there. Definitely overlooked
Good pick. All immersed in the emotional realization.
“Baby's got some new rules, baby says she's had it with me…”
@@OU8I2 so much emotional pain expressed in so few words. Exploring the human condition and suffering, with music and lyrics.
Been watching Rick discuss great songs for years now and I don’t think I’ve seen him tear up from lyrics and melody. It’s a testament to REMs superb songwriting. They deserve the accolades now being given.
Speaking of perfect songs, Perfect Circle from Murmur was the song that made me an REM fan. Mike Mills' piano line, the haunting chorus and the slow build of the arrangement sold me on this great band.
Beautiful song and such a strange, circular piano figure with a melody that never really resolves. I guess interesting things happen when a drummer writes a song on piano haha
My all-time favorite song by them. Glad I’m not alone!
I wondered where Rick was going to land, but this was the song that kept coming into my mind. It was like a craving to hear it again. So fine.
*_Perfect Circle is... perfect._*
That entire album is a miracle the playing may be somewhat amateurish but the songwriting and song structure are very complex in the production of it is both dreamy and haunting, a perfect album. I remember first picking it up in 1983 and marveling over its quality.
No song captures the essence and spirit of REM any better than Fall On Me IMO. Hauntingly beautiful and fully immersive in its REMness.
I have to agree with Fall on Me…Being from Ohio Cuyahoga is the next in line
Agreed. Fall on Me, Driver 8, Man on the Moon, and Rockville always put me where I want to be.
Yeah. Its a well crafted piece.
Yeah surprising this didn't get a mention. Phenomenal song
Agree. Immediately was my favorite upon release and it still is. Cut out that rectangular cd cover and taped it over my bed. They took themselves seriously but tried to be self-effacing to undercut themselves, just like I always do. Fall On Me is serious. It is heavy. The band marries an Americana soulfulness sound with lyrics that hint at the dark complexity of the land. No easy feat.
Rick, I know this vid is a year old, but my father died shortly after Automatic came out, my mother soon after. Try Not to Breathe, Sweetness Follows, Everybody Hurts and Find a River resonates so strongly with me. It was the right album at the right time.Truthfully Document is my favorite R.E.M. album, Automatic is a very close second. Congrats on interviewing Mike Mills, so good to see R.E.M. perform at the Songwriters ceremony.
❤
The One I Love and Finest Work Song! Best!
REM was the soundtrack of my college years. So nostalgic.
I get it, but I missed it. For me, it was the kinda nasal, annoying dude that sang Losing My Religion on MTV and eventually grew on me. I got their contribution to rock much later.
No love for What’s the Frequency Kenneth? I think Strange Currencies is definitely underrated.
Great you tackled R E M Next time The Replacements ?
@@themydnighthour you were a little younger then. The 5 albums prior were amazing. When everyone poored onto the Bandwagon , pun intended of loosing my religion its was a real eye roller 🙄, with the radio play all the sudden. We felt like we lost our private band.
@@herrent understood.
Been a massive fan since I discovered them at 13, going on 47 now.
My personal favorites are:
Let me in
E-bow the letter
Leave
Walk unafraid (live)
World Leader Pretend (unplugged 91)
Bang and blame
Strange currencies
The sidewinder sleeps tonight
Country feedback (live version from the Monster tour)
The one I love
Cuyahoga
Finest worksong
Man I miss these guys, the world can sure use some REM right now.
I agree completely with the live version of Walk Unafraid being better than the studio version.
Monster so underrated absolutely love that album
No one mentions Walk Unafraid as much as it should be talked about. It's a great song, much like Hollow Man.
Country Feedback may be my throw down favorite. Murmur fave album.
@@philyates7670 in my opinion they don´t have a best song but a colection of perfect songs, when they lost their drummer for health reasons ,i didn´t thought they would release a great album but not at first listening i notice but when seeing them playing indoors at the colyseum in Lisbon, Portugal a several hundred years show room ,i got stunned with "at my most beautifull" and as an extra ,Cameron Diaz was in a booth next to mine very close to the stage , she at the time was filming a movie about a girl that in the 70´s envolved herself with a german guy that was very left wing or no wing at all, he was anarquist(nothing related with the punk movement at the time) and put a bomb on a place that people died and she came to the south atlantic coast of Portugal that as lots of cliffs very high and she jumped to kill herself, i don´t remenber the name of the movie
“The Great Beyond” is the one that does it for me like that. Hits me right in the heart. I’m pretty sure it’s about watching a loved one die as well and when I hear it it brings back a moment like that in my life and I cry.
Yep, me too. Love R.E.M. and so many favourites but that one puts a lump in my throat and I get me misty eyed every time. Try Not to Breathe, Perfect Circle and Flowers of Guatemala always give my heartstrings a tug also. Lots of memories associated with this band.
love this song, i just wish berry had participated in it
Best song by far, can't believe it wasn't mentioned. Not only beautiful melody and harmonies, but incredible lyrics. I converted an extremely talented musician friend into an REM fan with "The Great Beyond" alone.
Same
I can't believe that, of all the many, many REM tracks, we share the same favorite. It made me so happy to watch this. I've never met anyone else who even mentions this as a standout track and I agree that it's absolutely their best. My mind is blown!
I've always thought "Can't Get There From Here" was their most underrated "hit". Unique open and "Thank you Ray" ending after the 4 slams. Classic Mills/Stipe vocal call and answer and IMO Buck's best main gtr riff of all time. Shows off Stipe's range, too. Intense bridge. Got it all.
Totally Agree. My favorite REM tune. The music is total excitement.
REM does my most fave song ever in my life SWEETNESS FOLLOWS. I noticed so by the fact that whenever it sounds every now and then, that organ, bigger than the universe, makes me close my eyes and just transports me outside my body, no matter if the song is 30 years old. Sweetness Follows made me realize a favorite song is not one you choose but one that causes this high, almost like the song chooses you
Agree! 😍🎶👌🏻
YES.
Also agree on this one. Haunting.
YES!
This song is amazing.
Near Wild Heaven is one of my top favorites. Clean jangly guitar riffs, melancholy lyrics, hits the spot
Beautiful, haunting song. Definitely a night song.
Love it… And Mike Mills vocals are beautiful. That plus Find The River…
'Try Not To Breathe' is one of my favorite cuts off of AFTP...beautifully played, produced, and mixed...a true gem in the R.E.M. catalog
The whole album is brilliant, songs about death that really get to you.
@paulsmallonthewall2208 absolutely..
Lifes Rich Pageant is an incredible album. "These Days" is an unbelievable track.
That album is the one that really set the hook for me.
O yeah, epic song
"I Believe" is the song that made me want to learn how play guitar.
I’ve listened to that album countless times.
These Days!!!!!!!❤❤❤
REM are one of those bands that you can't explain how good the albums are to people, yes the classics are good and most people have heard them, but the songs that never got radio play need more love.
I'm glad Rick explored the whole back catalogue.
Agreed, but I feel that way with almost all artists. The songs picked to be singles are usually picked because they're often safer pieces of music. You get some outliers, but singles almost never reveal the artist's true talents. Take Blur for example. Listen only to the singles, and you'd think they're a pretty good pop/rock band. Listen to their albums, and you'd realize how bloody effing weird they are... and it's brilliant!
Thankfully Sirius Radio plays some older REM from Murmur or Reckoning.
Michael Stipe described the band as an alternative band, who occasionally wrote hit songs.
DRIVER 8 is on another level - for the Beautiful melody which pulls us in. For free flowing notes which lift and twist & turn us along the track. For the vision inducing lyrics which suggest journey, loss, and possibility. Yet most of all, because of it's time & genre crossing character. Driving 8 is a song that could have been written on Woody's guitar as witness to the yearnings of the 30s, or played on the Woodstock stage as an anthem to all who knew of Wandering in the 60s. . . It deserves to be embraced by Nashville as much as the later Rockers. When some grandchild hears Driver 8 one hundred years from now, they'll be on the track of the Journey of America.
One of my favorite songs ever!! I love it so much that i covered it, as my second clip. Check it out, feel free to comment, hope u enjoy it! Cheers from Rio, Brazil!
I used to busk it on the streets of Athens, Greece
They really do have so many great songs. One which I think is among their greatest but least known is Find the River. Love that song. I plan to use it in the slide show at my brother's upcoming memorial.
Yes! Driver 8! Man I listened to that song thousands of times. Also love Mike Mills counter melody vocals!
"Half a world away" is one of my favorite songs.
Half a World Away,Swan Swan H and Losing My Religion - I play them all on acoustic guitar, my slightly different (but very similar) arrangements.
Oh yeah... SUCH a beautiful song
Great vocals
“Fables of the reconstruction of the fables” love that album and Driver 8 especially
100% agree with both
Good Advices could be my favorite REM song, but when combined with Wendell Gee, well, that is just too much. Green Grow the Rushes followed by Kohoutek ... just great. My favorite album.
Life And How To Live It and the ascending bass line in the chorus
The album that introduced me to R.E.M
Maps and legends, Old man Kensey
I agree with you and everyone in this thread. Definitely my favorite of their albums, although I love everything up through Monster end to end. That said, this is an album I've never stopped playing regularly since I got it the day it came out. Every song... the feels and lyrics, is to me a masterpiece. If I had to pick a favorite, though nearly impossible, it would be Old Man Kensey followed closely by Wendel Gee. But really, I can't imagine skipping any track on the album really. And what an opener in Feeling Gravity's Pull. Whew! You know you're about to go on quite a journey, and so I have time after time.
Simply brilliant all through.
Find the river is outstanding and beautiful.
Picking a favourite song is like choosing a favourite child
Ricks excitement and love for music is contagious. When he's smiling and bobbing his head I cant help but smile myself:)
You nailed it. His excitement for the music is infectious.
”Ohhh!"
Agree 100% ❤️
So glad you highlighted So. Central Rain and Driver 8. Those are two I play to this day. Fall on Me deserves a mention as well. Good stuff, Rick.
Life's Rich Pageant is one of the greatest albums- absolute desert island disk. You can pick several from that album. That's the album/tour that put them in 20,000 seat venues and there was no stopping them. From the blitzkrieg opening song Begin the Begin to the campy Superman finishing it, with melodies, haunting vocals, and pure genius in between.
it´s the album that made them change from I.R.S. to W.B.
Superman is one of my favorites!
@@carrie1163 it's actually a cover, i later learned
@@MrHobo71 thank you for the info.!
"Fall on Me" is my favorite R.E.M. song. I agree, that album is perfection.
“Belong” has always been a bit of a tearjerker for me. And the 50’s doo-wop-style backing vocals of “Near Wild Heaven” are just classic.
Love these two songs; what a great album
Great vocals on NWH. Mills Stipe and Berry all did vocals on that. I guess one of the few Berry was on (Fall On Me as well)
Entire album, difficult to choose.
@@briandiltsmusic Wendell Gee as well. And Try not to Breathe.
@@bertilknudsen didn’t know about Wendell Gee - and totally forgot about Try Not To Breathe! “you’ll never see” is Bill Berry now that I hear it.
REM and The Smiths in the mid 80’s were just so unique and cool. Love the alternative scene from then! Radio Free Europe made me discover REM, Fall On Me made me fall in love with the band…been a fan ever since!
Aloha. And the Cure.
Aloha. And the Cure.
“The children look up all they hear is sky blue bells ringing” One of my favorite lyrics of all time.
Fall on Me, South Central Rain , Talk About the Passion and Near Wild Heaven are my favorites. Tremendously underrated band these days
shiny happy people is maybe one of their most underrated songs ,at the time the B52´s was one of the best alternative bands and the voice of Kate Pierson sounds great with Michael Stype voice in the mix also have a positive kind of lyrics that with the music feels what´s great in this bad world it´s a great dance song at the same time very simple, just my opinion
Near Wild Heaven is almost a perfect song for me...like some beautiful chemical mixing of the Beach Boys and Byrds, but new sounding.
@@surfohio absolutely. A beautiful melody tinged with a bit of melancholy
Great selection. Would add Cuyahoga
@@RUfromthe40s how can rem songs that were singles and charted hits be underrated. Thats not what underrated defines. I loathe the use of that word. Naked “manns chinese” is underrated. The Toadies “when im awake” is underrated.
“Nightswimming” is nothing short of a masterpiece. Maybe the most vulnerable lyrics since “One More Try” by George Michael. Stipe really knocked it out of the park.
Check out UK band, Gene, and their cover of Nightswimming. It's an excellent song--both versions.
@@cejannuzi Cheers for that.
The Jools Holland Later version is the best bar none…
@@DailyMailHACK-dq4ql I’ll second that.
I prefer "Daysleeper"!
The great thing about REM is that they got better and better. So many bands hit it hard with their first album and then struggle to hit that high again. REM had such a stirong and gradual development that allowed the fans to grow with them. Such a great journey for the band and their fans.
THE Frank Lampard?!
This
I completely disagree.
ur getting sacked very soon mate
I don't think they got better and better, they peaked around 92, in my opinion.
This was a personal one for me. I was in a REM coma for about 2-3 years. The late 80s to early 90s. Impossible to pick a favorite, but "Talk About the Passion" is a top 5.
Same
Me too! I was in college at Ga Tech in the late 80's. Went to Athens many times for the music scene. Talk About the Passion is a definite fave.
As someone who was a huge fan back in the 80's, and saw REM 4 times (the first was on the Life's Rich Pageant Tour, which I still feel is their best album), their best song, in my humble opinion, is Fall On Me, with Driver 8 being a close second.
Fall on Me is my favorite too 👍
Driver 8!
"Leave" is my favorite. Probably the most heartfelt.
Mine too.Hit me like a brick.
@@Mahatma618stellar song.
Mine too
@@Jim.Furachurch New Adventures is the one I like.
Great song!
Always thought R.E.M were a step above when it came to song structure. Many of their songs have opening riffs that return later in the song (like Driver 8) multiple verse sections A and B, pre choruses and post choruses, bridges, key changes and modulations. They were much more sophisticated song writers than most of the 80s/90s alternative rock bands.
They really came up with fantastic bridges, even when they were really short and simple. The bridge on What if We Give It Away for instance makes the song, elevates a good song to a whole other level.
To me they were the best of the so called "alternative rock bands." It's
like you say here their song structure,
talented playing, Stipe's provocative voice and ways. R.E.M. songs had some artsy complex themes too. They were big on college radio outside of Atlanta.
They developed a huge following back then, when they first started out!
Driver 8, Pretty Persuasion, Talk About the Passion, Cuyahoga and Lotus from Up are all songs that have an opening riff that returns half way through the song. Supposedly Peter Buck got this technique from a song called "Couldn't I just Tell You" by Todd Rundgren. The Beatles have several songs that do this too like Paperback Writer, DayTripper, I Feel Fine, and Hey Bulldog.
Very fine band in what was to me a pretty “dead” period-I never liked the ‘80s musically even though I was in school. Yeah, there was Bowie and squeeze. But I was a ‘70s guy and late ‘60s. But I really always liked REM
Always enjoyed them..
Automatic for the People is a great album. It’s been a favorite of my wife and I since college days, when it was new.
That's my favorite!
Ignoreland, Monty Had A Bad Deal, Sweetness Follows ... three of their best, & that's saying something.
Great album;
weird flex to brag about having a wife though.
@@diogenesagogo Ignoreland is really underappreciated
Loved it at the time but for me it has aged really badly and sounds dated,whereas Out of Time still sounds fresh
Fall on me has always been a fave of REM fans 💕 Exquisite 3 part harmony and incredible lyrics
Came to basically say this.👆🏻
Yes! Interweaving vocals and lyrics, no flash-bang, no grind and roar, almost meditative.
True!
Fall On Me was my first REM song, _knowing_ it was by REM, and fell in love. A little while later, I realized I'd heard Radio Free Europe & Driver 8 a few times each, 2 or 3 years before '86, but didn't know who the band was, just really liked the songs.
I had a similar experience with the Psychedelic Furs, with Love My Way & Ghost in You; liked the songs in '82 or '83, didn't discover who the band was until a few years later.
Surfing the radio dial will do that, I guess. 😊
Mine too. I also love the "South Central Rain," which has a similar vibe.
Man on the Moon sounds so sad to me. It hits me straight in the heart all the time. So amazing...
As a long-time REM fan, It's my opinion that their greatest ALBUM is Lifes Rich Pageant. I think lyrically, it is REM's best work. Musically, the band was playing at their peak performance. I also think the album was produced very well. Beautifully balanced arrangements and Stipe's voice is not mixed too loud or muffled under the instruments. Given that, in my opinion, Begin The Begin is my favorite REM song on that album followed closely by Fall On Me, These Days and I Believe...🙂
The whole album is just on a different level than anything else. Cuyahoga does it for me. So freaking good.
Great album and songs!
@@ekimp252 Great song, yes!
They brought in Don Gehman (Mellencamp's producer) who worked hard to convince Stipe to enunciate more and to become less cryptic in his lyric writing. To be honest, I'm rather fond of Stipe's poetic word pictures which prevailed from Chronic Town to Fables.
Agree, Pageant is their best
Try Not to Breathe is my favorite. It digs into emotions.
automatic for the people one of their best albuns as an whole
Agree with you 100 %. Try not to breathe is a masterpiece. Moving and sad yet beautiful.
After all these years, “Fall On Me” is still my favorite song of theirs; the three part harmony still blows me away. But one of my favorite aspects of R.E.M. is how they can take a routine album track and transform it live. “Walk Unafraid” and “Let Me In” are two great examples. Good songs made amazing live.
Stellar list, Rick. You really can't go wrong with this band. My two faves are Talk About the Passion and Don't Go Back to Rockville. Also love how Night Swimming is constructed -- two completely different melodies (piano and vocal) mashed together perfectly.
So many great songs come to mind. My favourite is Find the River. A perfect final song to a perfect album
Talk about a song that makes me choke up.. Every. Time.
This song has made me cry so many times.
Kurt's song gets me every time. "Let me in" and Michael's favorite song "Country feedback" are simple musical daggers. "Find the river" gives life struggles a silver lighting. My brothers favorite band.
My mother in law passed away recently at 93, she got Covid and was having a really hard time. She was a diabetic and she had the choice to stop dialysis and she did. I leaned on Try Not To Breathe heavily in her final days. A truly honest and genuine song.
Sorry for your loss. In my thoughts while I listen to it for the first time.
Wow, what a brave choice she made. I'm sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss, this also happened to my Father. Your statement is just so familiar I had to comment.
Was in my head recently, genuine spiritual song, great to see it brought up, been meaning to listen to Automatic again.
Sometimes a song can be a life guide . “You can’t always get what you want , but if you try sometimes you just might find , you get what you need .” Thank you Rolling Stones .
"What's the frequency Kenneth" is one of my favorites. I didn't expect it on this list due to the litany of iconic REM songs. Yet, it just strikes cord with me.
Me too
Me too. The most perfect guitar sound ever
Me too!!! It's my FAVORITE REM song!
Love this song…
Didn't love it originally but wow it grew on me over time. Good call.
"Low" from Out of Time. Its mysterious and hauntingly beautiful. The vocal harmonies are amazing, and it is tinged with the quiet melancholy that suffuses the whole album.
Spot on
I like "Low", but what about "Half A World Away"?
@@natet5959 Low is a great song. Half a world away however, is one of their greatest.
Low, Country Feedback, and Half a World Away are the best on this album! Can you believe there are people who like REM's music that they've heard who don’t even know these songs exist?
It makes me upset
Yeah, that's a song at first you're like it's boring... But's it's supposed to be, and then you want to hear it again and again, the album is too happy it needed it. Great song.
You are the everything from Green blows me away every time
"Fables" was such a great record! My favorite? "Green Grow the Rushes." Breathtakingly beautiful song, and so wonderful to play.
Yea! and Kahoutek as well, SO cryptically beautiful and melancholic
So, I'm not the only one :)
I learned guitar playing along with the first 4 albums.
Love "7 Chinese Bros.", "Electrolyte", etc. etc. But my favorite one is "Perfect Circle". The background melody is just too good and complements the vocals beautifully.
Wendell Gee is one of my favs.
When the banjo kicks in - goosebump time. Yeah, that’s right, banjo.
If the wind were colors
If the air could speak
Soecial shout out to Disturbance at the Heron House
Gonna miss you Booooy
Yep the banjo gets me on that one too lol
Love that song too!
Automatic For The People is my favourite album of theirs. There is not one song on it that I skip. Try Not To Breathe is amazing. And Find The River is sublime.
I got into R.E.M. recently after avoiding them on the radio for a long time. The songs that finally convinced me were "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and "Radio Free Europe".
Their indie '80s stuff is fantastic and doesn't get enough attention. I was actually listening to the Chronic Town EP earlier today! "Wolves, Lower" and "Gardening At Night" are extremely underrated.
Recently discovering their early stuff is addictive. Carnival of Sorts is incredible. All about the mood!
I went through that after Automatic For The People came out. I'd ignore-hated REM for years before that, but I bought AFTP and then went catalog diving and found Life's Rich Pageant. Cuyahoga is fantastic and I'm surprised Rick didn't mention it here.
What's the Frequency is, at least imo, a really, REALLY underappreciated gem of a song.
Their videos were also groundbreaking. Gardening at Night and the complete disregard/apathy for lip syncing on The One I Love. The losing my religion video is pretty cool too.
LOVE "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?"!!!
To me, Automatic is their best album. Nightswimming is so vivid that I can see it in my mind effortlessly. Find the River is my favorite song on that album. It is just a beautiful piece of work.
Find the River - absolutely love that song, a gem I agreed
I agree. “Find the River” came to mind as one of the best when Rick mentioned “Nightswimming.” Guess I’m a sucker for bergamot and vetiver.
Nightswimming! My favourite and you never heard it used anywhere.
Rick- I appreciate you doing this on REM. They are an iconic band that doesn't get a lot of attention in mainstream music. I didn't know you loved them so much. They are the reason I got so into music back in the 80's.... Loved that you included Driver 8 too!
Thank you for spotlighting REM. One of the great bands of all time. Beautiful songs.
Thank you, Rick! You reminded me how much I love REM, and I’m going to go listen through all their albums. ❤
I grew up in Athens and attended the University of Georgia (which the members of R.E.M. dropped out of in 1980) in the 1980's. The music scene in Athens was outstanding during that time. R.E.M. remains one of my favorite bands of all time. Another great song that many people don't know about is Nightswimming.
Would you happen to be a WSP fan as well?
I don't know any REM fan that doesn't know Nightswimming
The music scene in Athens is alive and well!
@@Rob-fd6siwide spread m f’ing panic baby
How about Drivin N Cryin? Very underrated.
My 3 favourite R.E.M. songs weren't mentioned. "Fall On Me", "Electrolite" & "Cuyahoga". But there are so many great ones to mention anyways. One of the best catalogs in rock and roll history! 🙌🎶
Cuyahoga is def top 5 for me, a song I always go back to, and having lived near the Cuyahoga River all my life, the song's vibe captures the area perfectly
@@BennyT_3434 Awesome! 👌 The song sounded great when they played it live too. 🙌🎶