This is a very beautiful song and a lot of fun to play ... that said, I frequently skip over it. It's really quite depressing. What makes it heartbreaking is the optimism of the child. The attitude of 'Hey, I can't play with you other kids, but gosh darnit don't feel sad for me ... I've gotten over it.' Plus the imaginary friend thing again ... I get the feeling Stipe was a loner growing up. This also contains one of my favorite lines: 'The sound, the smell of swing set hands.' Brilliant. Below is a live version of the song from YouTube that sounds like it was recorded during a wrestling match, as you can see it is Bill Berry on mandolin. Does this shatter the idea that it was Buck bringing the mandolin to the group? It certainly looks like it.
THE WRONG CHILD
I’ve watched the children come and go
A late long march into spring
I sit and watch those children
Jump in the tall grass
Leap the sprinkler
Walkin' the ground
Bicycle clothespin spokes
The sound the smell of swing set hands
I will try to sing a happy song
I’ll try and make a happy game to play
Come play with me I whispered to my new found friend
Tell me what it’s like to go outside
I’ve never been
Tell me what it’s like to just go outside
I’ve never been
And I never will
I’m not supposed to be like this
I’m not supposed to be like this
But it’s okay
(Hey those)
Hey those kids are looking at me
I told my friend myself
Those kids are looking at me
(They’re laughing and they’re running over here)
They’re laughing and they’re running over here
They’re laughing and they’re running over here
(What do I do?)
What do I do?
What can I do?
What should I do?
What do I say?
What can I say?
I said I’m not supposed to be like this
Let’s try to find a happy game to play
(I’m not supposed to be like this but it’s okay)
Let’s try to find a happy game to play
I’m not supposed to be like this
But it’s okay
Okay
This song was a lot of fun to figure out and in the beginning, silly me, I thought it was going to be easy. It's mandolin based, but don't let it fool you, the 12 string makes the song.
On a separate note ... I just listened to some of the Life's Rich Pageant remaster and it's like night and day. The bass and vocals are pulsing and the guitar is beautiful. A must! Okay, back to this tune.
This is the first song for which Michael Stipe added lyrics to the packaging, although the lyrics are not strictly verbatim as my version below is, there it is on the inside cover. It took many more albums for him to do the same which implies a profound attachment to the song. A meaning beyond the song. The band are really at the height of their powers here and I think they know it. The more I listen to this song, the more I liken it to 'Losing My Religion.' There is something about it's rhythm or melody ... they have a similar break, a similar lyrical end, and a similar beginning. 'Religion' is a far superior song of course, but I have a new appreciation for this song. I had kind of let it fall by the wayside and I was kind of dreading tabbing it, perhaps because I originally planned to tab the piano (which I decided against ... for now), or perhaps I was sick of it.
The power of the song on Tourfilm is punctuated by Michael banging a stick on a chair. However, is the act surrounding this song a little portentous? Can Michael here be perceived as thinking too much of himself and his status? He has the ear of the world now. Was he turning into Bono? Well, yes and no. There is nothing earth shatteringly new here from Stipe compared to say 'Flowers of Guatemala,' but there is an urgency. It's simply an inherent truth that we all need to look inside ourselves and break the walls that we have put up over time. Well, it rang true for me ...
WORLD LEADER PRETEND
I sit at my table and wage war on myself
It seems like it’s all, it’s all for nothing
I know the barricades, and
I know the mortar in the wall breaks
I recognize the weapons, I’ve used them well
(Freedom)
This is my mistake, let me make it good
(Freedom)
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down
(Freedom)
I’ve a rich understanding of my finest defenses
I proclaim that claims are left unstated
I demand a rematch
I decree a stalemate
I divine my deeper motives
I recognize the weapons
I’ve practiced them well
I fitted them myself
(Freedom)
It’s amazing what devices you can sympathize, empathize
(Freedom)
This is my mistake, let me make it good
(Freedom)
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down
Reach out for me and hold me tight, hold that memory
Let my machine talk to me
Let my machine talk to me
This is my world
And I am world leader pretend
This is my life
And this is my time
I have been given the freedom
To do as I see fit
It’s high time I razed the walls
That I’ve constructed
(Freedom)
It’s amazing what devices you can sympathize, empathize
(Freedom)
This is my mistake, let me make it good
(Freedom)
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down
(Freedom)
You fill in the mortar, you fill in the harmony
(Freedom)
You fill in the mortar, I raised the wall
(Freedom)
And I’m the only one
I will be the one to knock it down
I decided against tabbing the piano, but I went straight for the pedal steel guitar. The tuning is different and with the slide there are some other things going on, but the high strings are the most important. Remember that all of the sliding on the pedal steel is low and slow ... you really want to hear the transitions between the notes. The song itself is actually very easy to play, some traditional Buck picking, lifting the barre here and there, and some notes to mirror the bass.
As I've said before, this song is where I come into the story. I was of course a fan of MTV back in the day and how could this song escape notice?! It was ubiquitous and catchy and then the theme to one of my favorite TV shows everything was working out for me to discover the band. Alas, this was the era of the Cassette Single. Whoops. All I had to do was cough up $3 (Yikes right? Songs are $1 now) and the song was mine along with Memphis Train Blues which I also loved. So why didn't I buy the album? Money was the chief concern as I was too young to have any. But, you might say, how did you afford Rhythm Nation, 1814? Well I just did, okay? Shut up. I can't say why I didn't buy the whole album. I thought Stand was great, but I was still more into dance music at this phase. Not to worry, in one short year, I would own both Green and Tourfilm and the rest would be history. In fact, Green and Eponymous were my next R.E.M. purchases thanks to my friend Seth.
So under Warner Bros, the band found a much wider audience and this song, admittedly very bubblegum akin to groups like The Monkees, was a huge part of it. It's almost a big joke song. They had never written songs as elementary as Stand and Pop Song 89 right? They were selling out! Ahem. We Walk, Second Guessing, Hyena, Finest Worksong ... I could go on. Although, the sound of this sort of simplicity was starting to sound too easy and too slick. The songs are still great, but there are more tracks, more piano and keyboard filling. The thing to remember here is that for every Stand with layered tracks there is a Wrong Child or Hairshirt. The band is definitely rebelling in a way that made them feel that Out Of Time could've ruined their careers and that Automatic For The People would end up being their pinnacle.
Lyrically, this song is kind of simple. Yet the line about wishes being trees is brilliant and if we break the words of the song down to their basic level there is a hidden agenda of standing up for what you believe in. It's inspirational in a way. Mixing the directions of NESW to the direction your life is taking is pretty cool stuff. We also revisit the work theme from the previous album with a nod to diverting your attention from the job to what is really important.
There are some differences here to what you find online. Including putting parentheticals around overlapping lines, translating the last high pitched squeals in the last chorus ... which might be done using a mouth box ala Peter Frampton.
STAND
Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before
If you are confused check with the sun
Carry a compass to help you along
Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head (head) is there to move you around, so
Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before
Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around
If wishes were trees the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, season is calling
Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before
If wishes were trees the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, reason is calling
Your feet (feet) are going to be on the ground
Your head (head) is there (there) to move you around
So Stand
(Stand)
Now face north
Think about direction, wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand
(Stand)
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t
Stand in the place where you live
(Now face north)
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven’t
(before)
Now stand in the place where you work
(Now face west)
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven’t before
Stand in the place where you are
(Now face north)
Stand in the place where you are
(Now face north)
Your feet are going to be on the ground
(Stand in the place where you are)
(Now face you)
Your head is there to move you around
(Now me)
So stand
This song took some time. It's not the real reason I haven't posted for so long, but I wanted to do the song justice and really sit down with it. The thing to remember here is that the d and g strings are the key in the chorus. Once you hit the 'A note' on the g string, you can do everything by sliding on those two strings. It took a few listens and a couple of live versions to hear the sliding up to the 6th fret before the B chord, what gave it away was when the lyrics don't repeat in the chorus after the lead. You get a good listen to the slide. Also, in the key changes don't worry too much about the picking as he goes straight to barred chords. I was trying to do this fancy thing with an F7 shape up the fretboard and then I listened closer.
Also, with the lead, he is obviously using a Wah-Wah Pedal. What I have below is a mix of the real and extended notes he is playing. It's not too bad of a lead considering he came up with it in an hour ... allegedly while the rest of the band was on a lunch break.
