NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: DEPARTURE

  In the Popsongs Blog Ask Michael Stipe section, Michael describes this song as similar to Undertow and Low Desert in that "they're stopping time at the moment of death to see what happened." I think this song is a little less specific than the other two, but it's intriguing that Michael is touring the world and wondering what would happen if everything just ended. He also describes the song as a storm spinning out of control. It's a whirlwind of traveling for our lead character, but the repetition of being young forever and there being 'so much that I can't do' stand out and paint a portrait of hubris and humility. There's something charming about that last admission and if I were to ascribe these lyrics directly to Michael, I would pair the song with the WAKE UP BOMB and it's lament of the rock and roll lifestyle. Close to Eddie Vedder's 'I shit and I stink, come in join the club.'
  I remember hearing this song live on the Monster Tour and enjoying it, but not getting a lasting impression of anything but a good arena rocker. I've taken the 's' off the word come because Michael never completes the word (mostly because it's an excuse for him to bellow), which got me thinking the lyric could be 'hear it come,' which is intriguing. Also, I see no reason to change the consensus 'bad' to 'back,' but I always thought it was back and it almost sounds like he closes the 'ck' consonant a couple of times. Other things, William Greider was an economics journalist for The Nation who also wrote for Rolling Stone and ptomaine is another name for food poisoning, but was based on the ingestion of rotting smells ... not a very scientific theory, but super gross smells definitely make me feel ill.



DEPARTURE

Just arrived Singapore

San Sebastian, Spain

26-hour trip
Salt Lake City come in spring over the salt flats
A hailstorm brought you back to me
Salt Lake City come in spring over the salt flats
A hailstorm brought you back to me

Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

Departure godspeed

Bless his heart good lord
What a fuck-up, what a fighter
A free-fall, motorcycle, hang glider
Hung on the line like a, a poison spider
Win a eulogy from William Greider
A car crash, ptomaine, disposable lighter
A bus plunge, avalanche of vinegar cider
Free-fall, motorcycle, hang glider

Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

Bad

Bad

Go, go, go, go, yeah

Go, go, go, go, yeah

Go, go, go, yeah

Well everybody is young forever
There's so much to tell you so little time
I've come a long way since, uh whatever
Shit I still see that word and think of you
But there is so much that I can't do

Yeah
You will be young forever
There is so much that I can't do
There is so much that I can't do

Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

Bad

Bad

Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

(I'm carried away)
Here it comes

Bad

Bad

  Very easy song to play. Just a few chords, it's almost a break for the guitarist. 

DEPARTURE

Intro/ Break/ Verse

-Peter hits the 3 on the B string mostly apart from the sung verse. He also likes to end the riff line with open strings at times. Play with it to get the feel.

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

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

G|-0-2h-2-0-2h-2-0-2h-2-0-2h>4--0---|

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

A|----------------------------------|

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

Chorus

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

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

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

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

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

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

Middle Bridge

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

B|-4---3---4---3---2---|

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

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

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

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

NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: LEAVE

  If there is one song that tips the scales in favor of a new adventure for the band and this album it is LEAVE. Starting with a somber pre-song intro, the track then kicks into a repetitive, overdriven alarm that lasts for the duration of its six minutes. R.E.M. have a knack for producing long pop songs that somehow do not seem as long as they are, even though their songwriting can be repetitive (mostly on purpose). LEAVE is a song that after a couple of listens I was definitely in the camp of never really needing to hear the alarm again, but over time the sound gives some sort of comfort. Maybe its a bit of a distraction from this character who needs to get out of wherever they are. The lyrics seem to be saying that leaving what kept them down is a good thing, but the tone of the music paints a darker picture. The release at the end could be death, but I prefer to leave it open to interpretation. There is a wonderful mystique about change and transition that always makes big decisions a difficult choice; there is always a feeling that you are committing your old self to a sort of death. It is at turns sad, frightening, and bittersweet. Maybe death is that for this character ... but maybe they're moving to Michigan too.  There's part of me that wants all of these songs to be about how sad the group are to leave the comforts of recording in a studio and have to tour again.
  Eventually the song found its way into the movie 'A Life Less Ordinary' in a different version which I have also included below. The lyrics change slightly--Michael abandons the word believe in the chorus for one, which clarifies the song quite a bit--but the core is the same. I read somewhere that Michael wasn't thrilled with the album performance which spurred the revision, but the harder track has all of the R.E.M. signatures--guitar and bass take the lead while the lyrics and drums blend to the background. It's a good and thoughtful song that used to end the first half of the NAIHF, still does if you have vinyl or cassette, and feels appropriate in the context of the album.
 

LEAVE

Nothing could bring me closer
Nothing could bring me near
Where is the road I follow?
To leave it

Leave

It's under, under, under my feet
The sea spread out there before me
Where do I go when the land touches sea?
There is my trust in what I believe

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, leave it
Leave it all behind

Shift into dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
This shift into dream
It's charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
I suffer dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it
I know it well, ugly and sweet
I temper madness with an even extreme

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I say that I'm a bantam lightweight
I say that I'm a phantom airplane
That never left the ground

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
Leave, Leave it
Leave it all behind

Lift me, lift me
I dream a dream
I lost myself, I lost myself
Are they calling me?
I lost myself in sorrow
I lost myself in pain
I lost myself in gravity memory, leave, leave, leave

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, leave it
Leave it all behind

That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave it, leave it
Leave it all behind

Lift my hands my eyes are still I walk into the sea
Shift myself in a different place and leave it

I've longed for this to take me
I've longed for my release
I've waited for the calling
To leave, leave
Leave, leave

Leave, leave

Leave it, leave it


  There is so much going on in this song, but it's actually very simple to play. There's an e-bow on the lead parts, but it also sounds like there's a guitar mirroring the verse chords on e-bow. I usually play the power chords with the muted A-string, but it sounds fuller with the muted barre. It feels like on this track and the alternate recording that the band is already heading for the electronica of UP.

LEAVE

Can be played Capo 1, but you would lose some open string action

Pre-Intro (x4)

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

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

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

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

A|-1-3-4>11-9--1-3-4>11-8--|

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

Intro/ Fill (with e-bow)

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

B|-0-3-5-6>13-10<3-5-6>13-10/11/10---|

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

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

A|-----------------------------------|

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

Verse

I’ve added the x’s because I play barred, but muted

You could play straight power chords

Power chords muting the A string sounds cool as well

e|-x---x---x---x---x>x---x---x---x--x----|

B|-x---x---x---x---x>x---x---x---x--x----|

G|-x---x---x---x---x>x---x---x---x--x----|

D|-8---4---6---8---6>8---4---6---10-8----|

A|-8---4---6---8---6>8---4---6---10-8----|

E|-6---2---4---6---4>6---2---4---8--6----|

Chorus

e|-4---6---4---4---4---6---4---2---|

B|-6---6---6---4---6---6---4---2---|

G|-6---6---6---5---6---6---5---3---|

D|-6---8---6---6---6---8---6---4---|

A|-4---8---4---6---4---8---6---4---|

E|-4---6---4---4---4---6---4---2---|

Final Intro/ Fill (with e-bow)

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

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

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

D|-8-10-11>18-15-(x3)-8-6-8>10-12-8--|

A|-----------------------------------|

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

NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: E-BOW THE LETTER

  As the first single released from NAIHF, E-Bow showcases an inevitable collaboration between the band and Patti Smith-Peter remarked that it was surreal to be playing with an icon he had seen live in his youth. Michael has said he flat out stole most of his schtick from Patti and was surprised he was never called on it. The song itself is an atmospheric trip through a letter Michael wrote and never sent. Perhaps Patti's voice is there to balance Michael's self-disclosure, although he is careful enough to keep the character of the piece ambiguous, this feels like the beginning of a deeper and more personal lyricist, a songwriter not afraid to reveal what is bubbling underneath. The haunting use of the E-Bow compliments Patti's voice perfectly, particularly when she launches into the finale of the song. Personally I question the use of this song as the first single for this album, but marketability aside it definitely tells fans what they're in for-another departure for the band, or perhaps its a synthesis of the OOT/ AFTP era and MONSTER era. The track works so well within the context of the album it feels like a major revelation after UNDERTOW even though the album is just getting started.

E-BOW THE LETTER

Look up

And what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry, some of them they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this—4:00 a.m.—this letter

Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls, sweet-toothed, each and every one

A little scary
I said your name
I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash, and tin foil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas, whoever she is
This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrapped my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl as boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing

I don't get it

(I'll take you over. There. I'll take you over. There.)
Aluminum, it tastes like fear
(I'll take you over. There.)

Adrenaline, it pulls us near

It tastes like fear

(I'll take you over)

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink
Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly, and sweet.
Phone, eat it, drink
Just another chink, cuts and dents they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link
I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet, but is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown

And sadness and sorrow and who'd of thought tomorrow could be so strange?
My loss

And here we go again

(I'll take you over. There. I'll take you over. Take you there.)
Aluminum, it tastes like fear
(I'll take you over. There.)

Adrenaline, it pulls us near

It tastes like fear it pulls us near

(I'll take you over)

Look up

And what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry, some of them they surprise
I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, victory and sorrow
This smell thing

I got it

(I'll take you over. There. I'll take you over. Take you there.)
Aluminum, it tastes like fear

Adrenaline, it pulls us near

Aluminum, it tastes like fear

Adrenaline, it pulls us near

(I'll take you over. Take you there.)

It tastes like fear it pulls us near

(I'll take you over. Take you there.)

It tastes like fear it pulls us near

(Oh, so sweet, tastes like fear)

Tastes like fear, pulls us near

(Pulls us near)

Near, near, near, near

(Over, over, over, over, over, over there

It pulls oh there)

I’ll take you there

I’ll take you there

I’ll take you there

(Oh, over)

I’ll take you there

(Over, baby)

I’ll take you over

(There, there)

I’ll take you there

(There, baby, oh)

  Not too terribly difficult here, just find the picking pattern and the primary guitar is a go. The e-bow is a little trickier, but the notes below should get you started ... lot's of fun to play even without the e-bow!

E-BOW THE LETTER

Intro/ Middle Bridge (Gm-Em)

e|-0---0--|

B|-0---0--|

G|-0---0--|

D|-5---2--|

A|-5---2--|

E|-3---0--|

Intro/ Middle Bridge (E-bow)

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

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

G|-7---4---|

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

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

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

Verse (Picked)

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

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

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

D|-2---5---2---4---2---5---2----|

A|-3---5---2---2---3---5---2----|

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

Verse (E-Bow)

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

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

G|-5-7-4-9-7<5-7-4-|

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

A|-----------------|

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

Chorus (Every other time through omit G Chord)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chorus (E-bow)

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

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

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

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

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

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

End on D2

NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI: UNDERTOW

  The first time I heard this song was during the MONSTER tour and I remember that the light show was fantastic--an underwater feeling that greatly enhanced the song. The key to most of the tracks on this album is the ever looming presence of the arena rock mentality. Most of the songs are written to fill the large void that is a coliseum or amphitheater, looming and theatrical during a concert, but thin in a recording which is subjected to multiple listens (although how great is it to scream 'I'm drowning me' at the top of your lungs when no one's around--answer: it's pretty great!). I remember the audience for UNDERTOW treating the song as if it were a play, mostly because it was toward the beginning of the concert after sing along staples, and sitting down for the first time in the set. The new tracks--because they were never heard before--became a break for the audience, unintentionally stalling the forward momentum of the live show. Don't get me wrong I like the song, but there is a weight to it (completely intentional) that brings darkness. This is an album full of the strains of travel and touring after most of the band suffered life altering medical experiences. During recent listens I enjoy the song more for its introduction to E-BOW than anything else, for its with this track that the album settles in for a journey with a band that was revisiting and reinventing the touring experience.
  As for the song, Michael introduced it as a water song during concerts, and during a blog Q and A refers to it as a 'moment of death' song, but lyrically because of the blatant religious references the best way to approach it is that it's a song about the opposite of a baptism; instead of a rebirth perhaps a redeath?  It reminds me of the Joan Osborne song 'One of Us' ... are death and belief linked? Like her song talks about coming face to face with god, does your final moment mean you would 'have to believe?' Or at least start being curious about the other side? Mike's background vocal is as always obscure (I alternated between self and soul ... and even 'I'm breathing asshole!' ... feel free to choose your favorite) and the below is the approximation of what you can holler at the top of your lungs.

UNDERTOW

I know what I wanted
I know what I wanted
I know how I wanted this to be
You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Walk up off the water
Leave it be
But this is not my dream, sister
It is cold in heaven and I'm not sprouting wings

I'm turning, me
I'm drowning, me

Brother, can you see those birds?
They don't look to heaven
They don't need religion they can see
You go down to the water
Drink down of the water
Fly up off the water 
Leave it be
But this is not my time, sister
It is cold in heaven and no one's coming after me

I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

You know I am tired
Cold and bony tired
Nothing’s going to save me
I can see
I can't say I'm fearful
I can't say I'm not afraid
I am not resisting
I can see
That I don't need a heaven
I don't need religion
I am in the place where I should be
I am breathing water
I am breathing water
You know a body's got to breathe

I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

(I’m)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me, yeah

(Breathing our self)
I'm drowning

(Breathing our self)

Me

UNDERTOW

Peter uses the Negative Strings on this one, sometimes strumming and sometimes picking.

Verse (Keep everything open strum after bass intros)

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

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

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

D|-7-9h-0-2-4-4>7-0---7-9h-0-4-2-2>4-0-|

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

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

Chorus

e|-0-0--|

B|-0-2--|

G|-1-2--|

D|-2-2--|

A|-2-0--|

E|-0-0--|

Bridge/End

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

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

G|-3-2------6-----6---|

D|-4-0------6-6-------|

A|-4---x3---4---------|

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