This would prove to be R.E.M.'s last song for IRS (unless you count 'Romance' and I don't). An odd way to close out an era and even an album. These days if a track like this finished a disc we would expect a hidden track. However, the song continues the 'fire' theme that runs throughout the album. Peter points out the song on the surface is about 'winos who used to live down the street from us.' While Michael ties the song to the entire album by saying it 'debunk(s) Fables of the Reconstruction.' Simply stated, the characters and legends from 'Fables' have morphed into these characters from the eighties in America who the system has forgotten and who have no say in anything. Going deeper it is an analogy for the underdog in America who used to be coveted, but in modern times through degradation and humiliation has become disillusioned and resigned to fate and the powers that be.
ODDFELLOWS LOCAL 151
Oddfellows local 151 behind the firehouse
Where Peewee sits to prove a sage to teach
Peewee gathered up his proof
Reached up to scratch his head
Fell down and hit the ground again
Firehouse
Firehouse
Why do the heathens rage behind the firehouse?
Where Peewee sits upon the wall to preach?
This boy and girl to gather pearls of wisdom
Falling from his mouth
Wash off the blood, wash off the rum
Firehouse
Firehouse
Oddfellows local 151 behind the firehouse
Where Peewee sits upon the wall to preach
This boy and girl to gather pearls of wisdom
Falling from his mouth
Wash off the blood, wash off the 151
Firehouse
Firehouse
Firehouse
Firehouse
Here, Peter just rocks out. The song seems to be formless, but there is very clear palm muting in the verse while he sometimes shadows the bass' walk up to the 'D' note. In the end, I've put the basics, but it is left open to interp on purpose. There is some crazy feedback in here as well ...
ODDFELLOWS LOCAL 151
This seems to be a lot of people's favorite song. Particularly on this album, but also overall. There's definitely a spirituality involved in the song. Lyrically it is very straightforward and easy to understand. The term king of birds is a Mayan folk legend where the quetzal is chosen to be king. He does so be deception and then arrogance. The roadrunner had helped him with plumage and was repaid with nothing, as the quetzal left the roadrunner naked and alone. This song seems to be more about a human character however ... someone buried in imagination and self discovery and confronted with the fragility of hubris and power.
KING OF BIRDS
A thumbnail sketch
A jeweler’s stone
A mean idea to call my own
Old man don’t lay so still you’re not yet young there’s time to teach
Point to point, point observation, children carry reservations
Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold
Leaves me cold
A mean idea to call my own
A hundred million birds fly
Singer sing me a given, singer sing me a song
Standing on the shoulders of giants everybody’s looking on
(Old man don’t lay so still you’re not yet young there’s time to teach
Point to point, point observation, children carry reservations)
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Leaves me cold
A mean idea to call my own
(Call my own)
A hundred million birds fly away, away, away
I am the king of all I see, my kingdom for a voice
Old man don’t lay so still you’re not yet young there’s time to teach
Point to point, point observation, children carry reservations
Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold
Leaves me cold
A mean idea to call my own
A hundred million birds fly away, away, away
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
Everybody hit the ground
A note: I do not play dulcimer. I have never even strummed one. Below is how I tune my guitar to mimic the dulcimer. What is clear is that Buck uses the Mixolydian Tuning which is D-A-D. Below, I tune my guitar to D-A-A-D, primarily because of the ease of keeping the D string at it's normal tuning and then using the still correctly tuned E-A-D to play the power chords. It's amazing to me that this is the first use of the dulcimer by Peter Buck as it fits right into his style of playing ... so many open strings!
KING OF BIRDS
Guitar
Verse
e|-0---0-0---|
B|-0---3-3---|
G|-7---0-2---|
D|-7---------|
A|-5---------|
E|-0---------|
Chorus
e|-3---3-3-3---2---2---0---|
B|-3---3-3-3---2---2---2---|
G|-4---4-5-4---3---3---2---|
D|-5---5-5-5---4---4---2---|
A|-5---5-3-5---4---4---0---|
E|-3---3-3-3---2---2---0---|
Middle Bridge
e|-7---7---7---7--|
B|-7---9---7---9--|
G|-8---9---8---9--|
D|-9---9---9---9--|
A|-9---7---9---7--|
E|-7---7---7---7--|
Dulcimer Intro:
Note: The sound of the dulcimer is very much a product of it's open strings, I have noted some of them here, but keep in mind you should be able to strum the entire board with each note.
d|-10---9---0-----0---5-7h>10-10-10-9-7---|
a|--0---0---0---4b----0-0---0--0--0-0-5---|
A|--0---0---0-------------------------0---|
D|--0---0---0-------------------------0---|
d|-7-0-------------------7-------|
a|-5-5-0-2p-0-4p-0-5-5-0-5-------|
A|-0-0-------------------0-------|
D|-0-0-------------------0-------|
d|-7-7-7-7-7-5-4-0--|
a|-5-5-5-5-5-0-0-0--|
A|-0-0-0------------|
D|-0-0-0------------|
“A thumbnail sketch …”
d|-7-0-------------------7-------|
a|-5-5-0-4p-0-4p-0-5-5-0-5-------|
A|-0-0-------------------0-------|
D|-0-0-------------------0-------|
“A mean idea …”
d|-7-0---------------|
a|-5-5---------------|
A|-0-0---------------|
D|-0-0---5b-4-0-2-0--|
“Old man …”
d|-7-0---12-10-9-0---|
a|-5-5---------------|
A|-0-0---------------|
D|-0-0---------------|
“point to point …”
d|-7-0--------------------|
a|-5-5---4-5p-0-4-0-5-5-4-|
A|-0-0--------------------|
D|-0-0--------------------|
“Standing on the shoulders …”
d|-7-0---------------|
a|-5-5---5p-0-4-0-5-0|
A|-0-0---------------|
D|-0-0---------------|
“Leaves me cold …”
d|-7-0----------------------|
a|-5-5-0-4p-0-4p-0-5-4b-0---|
A|-0-0----------------------|
D|-0-0----------------------|
That’s the first verse. All other riffs in the following verses are variations on these, so feel free to play around.Bend and pull off on the 2nd and 4th fret.Everything builds off of the chord on the 5th and 7th fret, so as long as you return there you’re golden.
End
At “Everybody hit the ground” the dulcimer focuses on the high d string.
This track pays very slight homage to the prolific and brilliant blues icon Lightnin' Hopkins, at least in name and in the almost cursory use of slide guitar. There is not a lot of point trying to figure out what the song is about, but there are a number of other delineations we can make to other R.E.M. tracks. For instance, the edited prayer at the beginning was first used as an intro to Murmur's 9-9. We also get another Patti Smith reference with the term 'birdland' which is also an NYC jazz club. We also get more wonderful imagery from Stipe with the lyric 'Close up hands silhouette' ... shadow puppets. The last delineation comes in the form of the shouted 'Crow' which resurfaces in live performances later at the end of 'Man On The Moon.'
I have noticed a number of lyric sites have posted the lyric 'Lightnin' won' instead of my 'Lightnin' one,' I like to think of the lyric as another travel/ train song. As in riding the rails, riding the lightning. I like to think of this song as a sequel to Driver 8 ... thus: Lightning 1. That's my reasoning anyway.
LIGHTNIN’ HOPKINS
When I lay myself to sleep
Pray that I don’t go too deep
Lightnin’ one lightnin’ one
Because it’s cold down gold down there
Crow!
Flat lands low lands on the track
Shows through water panned the track
Lightnin’ one lightnin’ one
Close up hands silhouette
Crow!
Lightnin’ one lightnin’ one
Hound bark on the track
Hound crow hold onto your hat
Lightnin’ one lightnin’ one
The low lands timberland badland birdland
This is another one of those songs that feels like Peter Buck was just rockin' out and it became a song. There is a line here for slide guitar, but don't feel that you have to get the steel guitar out as the addition of the slide is only to enhance the original guitar part. You can even throw in some manual slides during the chorus and get a similar effect. I've included all of the open notes in the verse and chorus as a reminder to play the song freely. It's not a picked riff and should be a little wild ... similar to 'Hyena.'
I'm always surprised at how short this song is. It seems longer ... that might not be a good trait. The group does not play the song live perhaps because of the saxophone, but more likely because it doesn't translate well to a live performance. In any case, I'd love to see them perform it sometime in the future, I think if arranged correctly it could really rock out.
Lyrically it's a really carefree ideal. Things are turbulent ... let's dance and burn stuff. It's basically the script for Footloose. It also makes me think about the origins of the word 'fireplace,' couldn't the creators of the English language be more creative than putting the words fire and place together? It's so mundane. Too descriptive. There's also inglenook ... let's use that more often.
FIREPLACE
Crazy, crazy world
Crazy, crazy times
Crazy, crazy world
Crazy, crazy times
Hang up your chairs to better sweep
Clear the floor to dance
Shake the rug into the fireplace
Crazy, crazy world
Crazy, crazy times
Crazy, crazy world
Crazy, crazy times
Hang up your chairs to better sweep
Clear the floor to dance
Sweep the floor into the fireplace
Hang up your chairs to better sweep
Clear the floor to dance
Throw the chairs into the fireplace
Hang up your chairs to better sweep
Clear the floor to dance
Throw the walls into the fireplace
Upon first glance, this might look tricky, but it's really about the power chords and dissonance. The most fun part of this song is the opening break/end riff. Just pure Buck messin around and comin up with something unique.
What can I say about this song? It's so simple it's brilliant. There's something about the production level of this song where everything R.E.M. falls into place. The enigmatic vocals, the background and harmonies, the picking of the guitar, the lead guitar, all of which further the intensity of the song. This is perhaps R.E.M. at their peak (one of many). It was also their first official hit song reaching #9 in the US.
The video for the song is another great addition and includes the band in performance and also portrait-style at the end. Michael Stipe is depicted in various ways, as a character and as a band member in the video. It was directed by Robert Longo, an artist who dabbled in video direction for a while.
THE ONE I LOVE
This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love
Fire
Fire
This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love
(Love)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own, now)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own)
This one goes out to the one I love
(Love)
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love
(Love)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own, now)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own, now)
Fire
(Comin’ down on your own)
The key to this song is the riff and I've really grown fond of Peter Buck's inventive endings. Another thing I've noticed with this album is how Buck and Mills really play off of each other, they meet at the beginning of riffs and go off in different directions. It's quite nice actually.
This is easily the band's most infamous song. I remember I first heard and saw this song on MTV. The video, if you don't know, is an abandoned and ripped apart trailer with random crap a young kid is sifting through. What he's looking for is a place to rock out and play with his board. I was immediately hooked. While this isn't the song that first grabbed my attention it is the one that pointed to their brilliance. It's a fairly simple song musically.
Lyrically, it is a mash up of ideas and words from Michael Stipe's writing mind. Discarded lyrics, snippets of memory, etc. Almost impossible to sing with numerous overlapping lyrics, the vocal line seems seamless. This stream of consciousness is a semi tribute to Patti Smith, as well as marking Stipe as more of a poet than a lyricist. He has attempted to write more stream of consciousness lyrics since, but nothing quite succeeds as well.
A couple of notes: Vitrionic and Cinerate are not words. In his rush, I believe he is going for vitriolic and incinerate. You try to say automotive incinerate that fast. Also, Lenny Bruce is mentioned twice ... speaking of stream of consciousness. The Lester Bangs reference is an actual party Stipe went to for the journalist in which there were cheesecake and jelly beans, plus Stipe had a dream that he was at a party with a number of folks with the initials L.B.
IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT (AND I FEEL FINE)
That’s great
It starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, don’t misserve your own needs
Feed it up a knock, speed, grunt no, strength
The ladder structure clatter with fear, fight, down, height
Wire in a fire, represented seven games
In a government for hire in a combat site
Left her wasn’t coming in a hurry with the furies breathing down your neck
Team my team reporters baffled, trump, tethered crop
Look at that low plane
Fine then
Uh oh, overflow of population, common through but it’ll do
Save yourself, serve yourself, world serves its own needs
Listen to your heart bleed
Don't meet with the rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright, light, feeling pretty psyched
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine
Six o’clock TV hour
Don’t get caught in foreign tower
Slice and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock it in uniform in book burning, blood letting
Every motive escalate, automotive cinerate
Light a candle, light up boy to step down, step down, watch your heel crush, crush
Uh oh, this means no fear, cavalier, renegade steer and clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(Time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine
I feel fine …
Me
Me
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine
The other night I drifted nice, continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line
LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce
And Lester Bangs’ birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam, bug neck, right?
Right.
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(Time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
And I feel fine
It’s the end of the world as we know it
(It’s time I had some time alone)
This song is great fun to play if you do it right. Plug in and have a blast. There is definitely an emphasis on the bending of the 5th fret of the b string, if you don't add that, the song becomes bland. It makes the song.
IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT (AND I FEEL FINE)
