OUT OF TIME: TEXARKANA

There is a special place in my heart for this song.  The reason comes from when I used to bicycle, obsessively, while playing this album, also obsessively.  Somewhere around this track every time is where I get my second wind ... which I always actually thought of as my first wind, for as those of us know who exercise it is where your body actually settles in for the long haul.  There is something uplifting and pure in Mike Mills' performance.  His singing is always straightforward and while the correct key can be a challenge for him in live performance, in the studio there is no one who can match him.  It is his voice that has always provided the background to Michael Stipe and his deceptive clarity has always been perfect.  For instance, where Stipe has a way of warbling nonsensical phrases and lyrics in a forgivable way, Mills sings his gibberish clearly and we still forgive him for it as well as pine for it when it's gone.  To hear him take the lead means he has to be clear and it creates an entirely different dimension for R.E.M. here and in Near Wild Heaven and Superman.  In this song, Mills voice is the oasis.
  At it's essence this is another love song, or as I've said of this album, unrequited love song, to go with the rest on OUT OF TIME.  The reason this song stands out is because of the somber and bittersweet songs around it, and also for it's clarity and heavy orchestration.  It sounds heavily produced, it is, it was meant to be.  The reason it is called Texarkana is because the chorus used to be: "When I live in Texarkana, where's that county line, another county line."  Good thing they scratched that.

TEXARKANA

Twenty thousand miles to an oasis
Twenty thousand years will I burn
Twenty thousand chances I wasted
Waiting for the moment to turn

I would give my life to find it
I would give it all
Catch me if I fall

Walking through the woods I have faced it
Looking for something to learn
Thirty thousand thoughts have replaced it
Never in my time to return

I would give my life to find it
I would give it all
Catch me if I fall

All alone
Waiting to fall

Forty thousand stars in the evening
Look at them fall from the sky
Forty thousand reasons for living
Forty thousand tears in your eye

I would give my life to find it
I would give it all
Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

Catch me if I fall

  A very straightforward Peter Buck pick here.  I imagine he could play it in his sleep.  The fun parts are the strummed C chord that adds the D note for a C9 and the slide which is actually fairly sparse, but somehow makes the song.  You'll have to play along to the song to get the correct timing ... the second slide I have noted actually begins in the bridge before the middle bridge ... 

TEXARKANA

Bass Intro/ Fill

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

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

G|------------|

D|------------|

A|----0-2-----|

E|-0-3---00---|

Verse

e|-0-0-0-3-3------2--2--2-----|

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

G|-0-----0----------4--4--4---|

D|-2-----0------4-------------|

A|-2--------------------------|

E|-0--------------------------|

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

B|-0--0--2--2-0-3-3--3--3----|

G|-0-----2-----0---0--0--0---|

D|-2-----2-------------------|

A|-2-----0-------------------|

E|-0-----0-------------------|

Slide Guitar 1

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

B|-3>5<3>7-3>5<2>3------------|

G|----------------------------|

Slide Guitar 2

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

B|------------10<8------------|

G|----------------------------|

Chorus

e|-0--0---2--2----2--2--2--2---0---0--|

B|-1---3--3---3-0-3---3--3--3--1---1--|

G|-0-0--0-2-2-----4-4--4--4--4-0---2--|

D|-2------0-------4------------2---2--|

A|-3--------------2------------3---0--|

E|-0--------------2------------0---0--|

Bridge to Verse/ End

e|-0---2---0-2-0--|

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

G|-0---2---2-2----|

D|-2---0---0-0----|

A|-2--------------|

E|-0--------------|

Middle Bridge

e|----0--0--0--0---3--3--3------2---3---2---0-|

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

G|-2-2--2--2--2-0-3--0--0--0-x2-2---0---2---1-|

D|------------------------------0---0---0---2-|

A|----------------------------------2-------2-|

E|----------------------------------3-------0-|

Slide Guitar Part 2

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

B|-7-7<5>7>8---5<4>5-5<3---|

G|-------------------------|

End on D.

OUT OF TIME: HALF A WORLD AWAY

Hello all,
  So the posts have been few and far between.  The good news for me is it's because I've been professionally busy.  However, it has taken me some time to give OUT OF TIME my full attention.  I believe that it is also because there has been so much posted about OOT and AUTOMATIC that I don't want to take the songs for granted.  I have some differences between what is posted and what you can find in professional tab books or online and in going back, I can assure you that I have by no means finished with the previous albums ... I am looking to update the tabs, lyrics, and comments frequently ... this is just the beginning.
  In HALF A WORLD AWAY, the story is bittersweet.  Someone is far away, someone is yearning and destitute, and someone is resolute.  This song is a bit confusing as recorded as it contains many of the Stipe tics of previous songs and albums, the Unplugged version may be a more definitive rendering of the lyrics, but below is what we hear on the album.  "Along" vs "alone", "haul" vs "fall", "High alive" or "I lied" ... so many choices, but below is a combination of what is heard and what is said.  Most of the above by the way are moot points, as always Stipe brings that knowing, raw emotion, and the worst part is I don't think he even has to try very hard to do it.
 

HALF A WORLD AWAY

This could be the saddest dusk
I’ve ever seen
Turn to a miracle
High alive
My mind is racing
As it always will
My hands tired my heart aches
I’m half a world away
Here in my head sworn

To go it alone
And hold it along
Haul it along
And hold it
Go it alone
Hold it along and hold

Oh, the lonely deep sit hollow
Half a world
Half a world away
My shoes are gone
My life spent
I had too much to drink
I didn’t think
And I didn’t think of you
I guess that’s all I needed

To go it alone
And hold it along
Haul it along
And hold it
Blackbirds backwards forward to haul and hold

Oh this lonely world is wasted
Pathetic eyes
High alive
Blind the tide that has turned the sea
The storm it came up strong
It shook the trees
And it blew away our fear
I couldn’t leave it here

To go it alone
And hold it along
Haul it along
And hold it
Know it alone
And hold it along
And hold

Go it alone
And hold it along
Haul it along
And hold it
Blackbirds backwards forward to fall and hold

Oh, and this could be the saddest dusk
I’ve ever seen
Turn to a miracle
High alive
My mind is racing
As it always will
My hands tired my heart aches
I’m half a world away

Go


  Musically, this song is really about the mandolin and harpsichord.  A lot of what has been ascribed to the guitar is really mandolin and to the mandolin, the harpsichord, but I have attempted to weed it out.  Also, listen to the song for where the hammering takes place.  He doesn't do it in the intro, but it's there during the song.  Also, keep in mind that between all verse chord changes there is an open string strum as Mr. Buck has been known to use in transition.  Hell, it's Rock and Roll 101.
  And for the love of Pete, start every verse coming after the first chorus from the 'G' chord ...

HALF A WORLD AWAY

Verse

e|-0---0-0--0---3---3-3--3---2---2-2--2---0--|

B|-1---1-1--1---3---3-3--3---3---3-3--3---0--|

G|-2---2-2--2---0---0-0--0---2---0-2h-0---0--|

D|-2---0-2h-0---0---0-0--0---0---0-0--0---2--|

A|-0---0-0--0---2---0-2h-0----------------2--|

E|-0---0-0--0---3---3-3--3----------------0--|

Chorus

e|-1---1-1--1---2---|

B|-1---1-1--1---3---|

G|-2---2-2--2---2---|

D|-3---0-3h-0---0---|

A|-0---0------------|

E|-0---0------------|

End (Am-D-G)

Mandolin

E|-0---3---2---3-2-0---0--|

A|-0---2---0---0-0-0---2--|

D|-2---0---0---0-0-0---2--|

G|-5---0---2---2-2-2---0--|

E|-0---2---3---2---3-2-0--|

A|-0---0---0---0---0-0-0--|

D|-3---0---0---0---0-0-0--|

G|-5---2---2---2---2-2-2--|