GREEN: GET UP

Earlier in the blog, I brought up how R.E.M. does a great job of picking second songs for albums.  'Get Up' is no exception.  The song is a perfect gateway to the rest of the album in a way that 'Pop Song 89' is not ... in fact the first song is a bit of a red herring.  The first song of 'Green' seems to say get ready for a bunch of pop songs, whereas 'Get Up' darkly explores the blurred line between dreams and reality.  The track sets up an album that is extremely dark and moody and angry.  The next couple of tracks attempt to stifle that tendency, but by the time 'I Remember California' rolls around we are back into a somber state of mind.
  So according to this song, what is the bigger mistake: Living too much in the dream world, or not enough?  Imagination is important, but so is dealing with what is actually going on around us and not living in a blissfully innocent state.  This song and 'Stand' seem to be a literal call to people of the world to do something about anything. 
  A note about the middle bridge.  At one point in recording, Bill Berry had a dream that the band needed '12 music boxes all going at once' for the song's bridge.  Afterward he felt that it 'worked pretty good.'  As far as the lyric 'laying pine' I assume this is Stipe's play on 'sawing logs' to refer to sleeping.



GET UP

Sleep delays my life
(Get up, get up)
Where does time go?
(Get up, get up, get up)
I don’t know, oh
Sleep, sleep, sleepy head
(Get up, get up, get up)
Wake it up, up
(Get up, get up)
You’ve got all your life
(Way up ahead)
(Get up, get up, get up)

Dreams they complicate my life-a
(Dreams they complement my life)
Dreamtime-a

I’ve seen you laying pine
(Get up, get up)
I’ve seen you laying pine-a
(Get up, get up)
Life is rough, ough
(Get up, get up, get up)
I’ve seen you lay it down
(Get up)
(Down)
With the loving kind
(Get up, get up)
I know life is hard, hard
(Where now to turn?)
Where? Now. Where to turn? Where to turn?

Dreams they complicate my life-a
(Dreams they complement my life)

Dreamtime-a

Dreams they complicate my life-a
(Dreams they complement my life)
This time with no escape, I wake up.
(Get up, get up)
(Dreamtime-a)
Get up, get up
(Dreamtime-a)
Get up
(Dreamtime-a)
Get up, get up, get up, get up

This is a fairly simple song musically.  Fun little chord changes, some feedback, some slide and you can really rock out to it.  The slide below is extremely light as with the last album.  Also, Buck these days does not barre any chords, and plays most of the verse up at the second fret ...
GET UP

Intro/ Chorus

e|-0---0----0---3---5---|

B|-0---0----0---3---5---|

G|-9---8----9---4---6---|

D|-9---9---10---5---7---|

A|-7---9---10---5---7---|

E|-0---7----8---3---5---|

e|-0---0----0---3---6---|

B|-0---0----0---3---6---|

G|-9---8----9---4---7---|

D|-9---9---10---5---8---|

A|-7---9---10---5---8---|

E|-0---7----8---3---6---|

Slide on Second Half of Chorus

e|---------------------|

B|---------------------|

G|-7>9-----3>5---------|

D|-7>9-7>9-3>5-3>5>8---|

A|-----7>9-----3>5>8---|

E|---------------------|

Verse

e|-xx-55-xx-55-xx-55-xx-33-55-xx-55-xx-55-33---|

B|-xx-55-xx-55-xx-55-xx-33-77-xx-77-xx-77-33---|

G|-xx-66-xx-66-xx-66-xx-44-77-xx-77-xx-77-44---|

D|-xx-77-xx-77-xx-77-xx-55-77-xx-77-xx-77-55---|

A|-xx-77-xx-77-xx-77-xx-55-55----55----55-55---|

E|-xx-55-xx-55-xx-55-xx-33-55----55----55-33---|

Middle Bridge

(All Feedback)

e|---------|

B|---7--7--|

G|---7--7--|

D|-7--7----|

A|-7--7----|

E|---------|

End

Hold Bb

A