AROUND THE SUN: THE OUTSIDERS

   The fact that I'm starting to imagine these songs conceptually in the context of an album Michael says is political is giving me new insight on what the band is trying to communicate. This is R.E.M.'s first album since the 2000 election in the U.S. They threw 'Bad Day' onto IN TIME as a sort of protest song, but on ATS most of the songs springboard from the discontent of the entire band and upon my writing this in 2018 many in this country are in the same place now as then. 'The Outsiders' is about revolution, which is a seemingly quiet revolution, but a call to push back nonetheless--the participants are 'scared of the storm' but use MLK's quote 'I am not afraid' (he spoke specifically about 'tension' and 'conflict') to carry on. And MLK is the perfect muse for an album that symbolizes the peaceful protest he embodied. The idea for the song came to Michael during a live Radiohead show he was at during the song 'No Surprises.' The small, invited crowd silently and reverently watched the show until the line 'bring down the government, they don't they don't speak for us' when they bellowed the line and 'The Outsiders' sounds like a companion track. Michael wants to be very vocal against the Bush doctrine, but the songs coming out are quietly forceful as opposed to raucous, he's much more interested in subversion. This is not DOCUMENT, at least not aurally, but thematically perhaps it's a relative. This is a song that gets derided by some fans because of its malaise, or Q-Tip's rap, or the production value, one post I read claimed to have posted the lyrics on a wall so others could have a good laugh. I've always liked the song and considered it a strong track, I love the bloops, I love the chorus, the rap--huge Q-Tip fan--and the tone really hits me in the gut. The lyrics are surely on the obvious side, but we are blessed with a prolific and forthcoming Michael Stipe here, isn't it what we always wanted? He's letting himself fail here on a grand scale, and maybe the track feels more like a soundtrack theme, but I get a lot of feeling out of it. I think it should've been a proper single. Note: the parenthetical phrases in Q-Tip's section are moments when Michael pops up. The first time sounds like a punch in to cover a recording error, but the second sounds like Michael jumping in and emphasizing.



THE OUTSIDERS

You took me to the restaurant where we first met
Knocked a future shock crowbar upside my head
I got caught with the stop of the tick tock tick tock clock
When you told me what you knew
Lost in the moment, the day that the music stopped, and I do remember you

Drawing patterns with a cork on the tablecloth
Promising volcanic change of plot

Where will this lead us?

I’m scared of the storm
The outsiders are gathering

A new day is born

I tried to tell you I am not afraid
You looked up and saw it all across my face
So am I with you or am I against?
I don't think it's that easy, we're lost in regret
Now I'm trying to remember the feeling when the music stopped
When you told me what you knew
Lost in the moment, the day that the music stopped, and I do remember you

Drawing patterns with a cork on the tablecloth
Promising volcanic change of plot

Where does this leave us?

I’m scared of the storm
The outsiders are gathering

A new day is born

Drawing patterns with a cork on the tablecloth
Promising volcanic change of thought

Where does this leave us?

I’m scared of the storm
The outsiders are gathering

A new day is born
The outsiders are gathering

A new day is born

The outsiders are gathering

{Q-Tip:}
A man walks away when every muscle says to stay
How many yesterdays? They each weigh heavy
Who says what changes may come?

Who says what we call home?
I know you see right through me, my luminescence fades
The dusk provides an antidote, I am not afraid
I've been a million times, in my mind, this is really just a technicality, frailty, reality, unh
It's time to breathe, time to believe

Let it go and run towards the sea
They don't (teach that), they don't know what you mean
They don't understand, they don't know what you mean
They don't (get it), I want to scream
I want to breathe again, I want to dream
I want to float a quote from Martin Luther King
I am not afraid I am not afraid I am not afraid
I am not afraid I am not afraid I am not afraid I am not afraid

   This is one of the songs Peter did not love playing live as its a little on the boring side. He did a lot of sub-pickup strumming live and kept the lead over the chorus low. I think they could've played around with the arrangement more, but some fans prefer the song live. The riff here is fun to play, and feel free to mess with the Em-D in the verse. I tabbed it pretty straightforward, but could be done with the Em in Dm position on the 3rd fret ... or even Am position up at the 8th fret with D on the 7th in A position. The key is getting those G-F# notes from the keyboard worked in. Also, the Bridge to Chorus repeats, it's the 'I got caught ... / Lost in the moment ... ' part. On the recording Peter only does the Low Chorus Lead to accent the beginning of the riff.

THE OUTSIDERS

Verse/End

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

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

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

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

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

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

Verse Bridge to Chorus

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

Chorus Riff High

e|--------10-12-12-10-12---12-10-----------10---|

B|-8-10-12----------------------12-10-12-12--12-|

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

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

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

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

Chorus Riff High Cont.

e|--------10-12-12-10-12---12-10-----------------|

B|-8-10-12----------------------12-10-12-10------|

G|-----------------------------------------12-9--|

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

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

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

Chorus Riff Low (2^nd Verse, 1^st and 4^th times through)

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

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

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

D|-5-7-5-4-2--|

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

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

Chorus Riff Low (2^nd Verse, 2^nd and 3^rd times through)

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

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

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

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

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

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