'Hollow Man' is a very short song. Their second single off the album starts slow and then builds from 1st to 5th gear immediately. The idea that you make choices for yourself and then before you know it you're someone you never thought you'd be is rife with potential, but the song always goes by too quickly for me. It's good, but it's never really impacted me one way or another--I've seen some rumblings that many people consider it a great song on a resurgent album. That's totally cool. Like most of Michael's later lyrics, this song can take on many social meanings. Now I think this song is in conversation with a world getting away from binary standards--the character finding themselves behind as the social conventions pass them by. Cool video by Crush Inc below, the opinion on the song above comes from a tangential interview where the designers talk about discussing the meaning of the song with Michael. Love the complicated mess line.
HOLLOW MAN
I've been lost inside my head
Echoes fall off me
I took the prize last night for complicated mess
For saying things I didn't mean and don't believe
Believe in me, believe in nothing
Corner me and make me something
I've become the hollow man, have I become the hollow man I see?
I see this echoing
You had placed your trust in me
I went upside down
I emptied out the room in thirty seconds flat
I can't believe you held your ground
Believe in me, believe in nothing
Corner me and make me something
I've become the hollow man, have I become the hollow man I see?
I'm overwhelmed, I'm on repeat
I'm emptied out, I'm incomplete
You trusted me, I want to show you
I don't want to be the hollow man
Believe in me, believe in nothing
Corner me and make me something
I've become the hollow man, have I become the hollow man I see?
I see
Not a lot to this song, part of it is piano only and the rest mostly chords and picking. There's a very Peter Buck bridge in there that feels 'Wolves, Lower'-ish which is very cool. Play along with the song to track the couple times he goes to the E chord out of rhythm.
The first single from ACCELERATE is a true change of pace type of offering, there are elements of all of the previous versions of R.E.M. and the song isn't a terrible introduction to the home stretch of the band's output. This was their last single to make the Hot 100 chart. The song is featured in a non-chorus form and called 'Disguised' on LIVE AT OLYMPIA, the band apparently found a chorus and a coda in the studio (and a re-titling by Chris Martin?)--although there's a recording of them figuring out the coda live in Dublin. The additions greatly improve the original version and give the song some importance. Michael has said this is an ode to Harry Houdini (and includes a quote in the liner notes), but specifically his posthumous seantic life which I can relate to specifically because I still recall having teenage seances and being freaked out. It's odd how this song specifically conjures the mood and feeling of my experiences, plus the opening lines paint a portrait of outsiders because, let's be honest, who's really interested in seances anyway--weirdos. The coda of the song nicely captures the feelings of discovery through naivete. I like the song overall, but the distorted guitar at the beginning is not my favorite opener--it matches the feel of the song when everything kicks in, but it is too garage band for my taste. I love the Mike backgrounds here, the 'Sweet Jane' style progression, and the homages the band pay to their past sounds--there are traces of MURMUR, DOCUMENT, MONSTER, and NAIHF banging around in here. No surprise, I like it!
SUPERNATURAL SUPERSERIOUS
Everybody here
Comes from somewhere
That they would just soon forget
And disguise
At the summer camp where you volunteered
No one saw your face, no one saw your fear
If that apparition had just appeared took you
Up and away from this base and sheer humiliation
Of your teenage station
Nobody cares
No one remembers and nobody cares
How you cried and you cried
He's alive he's alive
How you cried and you cried and you cried and you cried
If you call out ‘safe’ then I'll stop right away
If the premise buckles and the ropes start to chafe
Oh, the details smart but the story's the same
You don't have to explain, you don't have to explain humiliation
Of your teenage station
Yeah you cried and you cried
He's alive he's alive
Oh you cried and you cried and you cried and you
Realized your fantasies are dressed up in travesties
Enjoy yourself with no regrets, unh, unh
Everybody here
Comes from somewhere
That they would just as soon forget
And disguise
Yeah you cried and you cried
He's alive he's alive
Yeah you cried and you cried and you cried and you cried
(Oh you cried, and you cried)
(Oh you cried, and you cried)
Now there's nothing dark and there's nothing weird
Don't be afraid I will hold you near
From the seance where you first betrayed an open heart on a darkened stage
A celebration
Of your teenage station
Some intricate layering going on here and some chord changes that are subtle enough to not even notice upon first attempt. I never knew the intro and verse were different before tackling, all he does is hang on the Em the second time through. The lining up of the vocals creates some cool moments when he goes to the G chord. There are some rhythm changes, so if something is going strangely try playing along to the song or the instrumental on YouTube to pick up. There's more picking than seems apparent and I didn't note in the verse below, but it's standard Buck-fill. There's also an end fill I didn't post here, but it's essentially picking on the A chord to emphasize the final notes.
Another solid second track. If you were to put an album of second tracks together you'd have: Pilgrimage, 7 Chinese Bros, Maps and Legends, These Days, Welcome to the Occupation, Get Up, Losing My Religion, Try Not To Breathe, Crush with Eyeliner, Wake Up Bomb, Lotus, I've Been High, Electron Blue, Man-Sized Wreath, and All The Best ... not a shabby album. All of these songs are great bridges into the albums they represent and they embody those albums solidly. I love this track, and during the Olympia sessions it's the one Michael is on the fence about. Really great to hear Mike say it's too soon to tell, because this song is perfect and besides it's super short. What have they got to lose? Michael has said this is a response to George Bush's honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the vapidness of those in power who cannot hope to fully grasp the struggle of those they oppress, but will take any opportunity to look like they can. It's unclear if the Bush thing is an example of what the song is getting at as there were a couple of times W used MLK, but his visit to the Memorial Library was in 2008 after the song was written--there was a first-term ceremony when a portrait was hung in the White House, so a precedent anyway. The song is a really catchy, easy to sing anti-war ode to apathy and short-sightedness. This is a great example of the metaphorical Michael, the one who doesn't care how you interpret lyrics, but if you dig deeper ... also, a pretty dope video.
MAN-SIZED WREATH
Turn on the TV
And what do I see?
A pageantry of empty gestures all lined up for me
Wow!
I’d have thought by now we would be ready to proceed
But a tearful hymn to tug the heart and a man-sized
wreath
Oww!
Throw it on the fire
Throw it in the air
Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care
Oh, give me some
Wave the palms, steal the alms, a fist in the air
A motorcade of benign strength shows the people that you
care
Owww!
Nature abhors a vacuum, but what’s between your ears?
Your judgment clouded with fearful thoughts
Headlights and a deer
Oww!
Throw it on the fire
(Throw it on the fire)
Throw it in the air
(Throw it in the air)
Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care
(Kick it out on the dancefloor)
Look at what I found
(Look at what I found)
Everybody look around
(Everybody look around)
Everybody looking like they just don’t care
Oh, give me some
Well, I am not deceived by pomp and odious conceit
But a tearful hymn to tug the heart and a man-sized
wreath
Oww!
Throw it on the fire
(Throw it on the fire)
Throw it in the air
(Throw it in the air)
You kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t
care
(Kick it out on the dancefloor)
Look at what I found
(Look at what I found)
Everybody look around
(Everybody look around)
Everybody looking like they just don’t care
Throw it on the fire
(Throw it on the fire)
Throw it in the air
(Throw it in the air)
(Kick it out, Kick it out)
Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don’t care
Oh, give me some
Give me some
Give me some
Great stuff here. A little riff which becomes the Middle 8 as well, cool chord progression, and look at this weird Db again ('Worst Joke Ever'). When Peter finds something he likes, he brings it back again and again. There's some other feedback stuff and backing tracks in the choruses, but they're pretty far back ... to hear those, you should check out the work Jo Ph has posted on YouTube isolating tracks. Didn't post below because I am reticent to go down the overlay rabbit hole.
There's something about starting an album with those riffs, think FOTR or LRP, AFTP and GREEN, even ATS. There's a signal here right off the bat that R.E.M. is not playing around, the pace is fast, the lyrics are in your face, the harmonies are solid and a little angry. This is a great song. In the booklet for the album, Michael has given us all of the lyrics which are mostly accurate--listen, it's his artistic intention and those lyrics have a copyright, this is the blog where I try to dig a little deeper. There are so many things to love about this song it's silly, I particularly like how Michael is being a little more forthcoming with his inspirations by crediting 17th century metaphysical poet George Herbert for the phrase of the title, even though it might not have been his actual quote, but part of a collection he put together. Still, it's good to have some reference. I also feel the chorus has a nice callback to the end of 'These Days' with choking on the bones that once were scattered. There's a sense that during this period the US is swinging away from Bush and I think that's where the energy comes from--it might be callous to attribute to much politically, but there was a feeling of hope in the air, and the feeling that the administration would be judged harshly in the future. The Bush gang look like angels now, they were not.
While I'm writing this blog, Michael has an art installation called 'Infinity Mirror' at the Journal Gallery in Brooklyn and since I live in the city I went to check it out. The collection is very cool and presented nicely, and there are more than just photographs as I had originally thought. Maybe the most striking piece is a multi-colored glass table/cabinet of curios, sort of like a see through group of kitchy 70's tables stacked on each other. The shelves contain memorabilia like collectible magazines, photos of Patti Smith and David Bowie, and a couple of Young Marble Giants 45's to name just a few things. Overall it's very striking and lovely, but as I was taking it in my wife came up to me and said: 'I think he's here.' And he was. I'm not one to be starstruck, but I'm not immune to the power Michael's art has had on me and my life. I also don't ever want to be THAT person who gets in the face of celebrity, he's really just a person who had some breaks and furthered his art, expanded his voice. It currently seems R.E.M. was his vehicle to get to this form of expression. So when the moment presented itself I tried to not awkwardly--it was awkward--walk up to him and congratulate him on the exhibit. He thanked me and told me he loved my shirt, which was sincere to the point that my wife later told me she thinks he would've liked to have had it. I thanked him for the compliment and then also thanked him for all of the art he has imbued my life with (not in those words, but you know, intention), he responded by saying 'well, there's more to come.' I thanked him again and left, while walking down the street I definitely had a little freak out--then I saw the gallery was near the corner of Berry Street--and I was just glad for the opportunity to say thank you in person. The whole time I couldn't get the following song out of my head for I had just been working on it over and over, it's good to live well, it really is.
LIVING WELL IS THE BEST REVENGE
It's only when your poison spins into the life you’d hoped to live
And suddenly you wake up in a shaking panic, now!
You had set me up like a lamb to slaughter
Garbo as the farmer’s daughter
Unbelievable
The gospel according to who?
I lay right down
All your sad and lost apostles hum my name and flare their nostrils
Choking on the bones you tossed to them
Now I’m not one to sit and spin ‘cause living well is the best revenge
Baby I am calling you on that
Don’t turn your talking points on me, history will set me free
The future is ours and you don’t even rate a footnote
Now!
So who’s chasing you, where did you go?
You disappear midsentence in a
Judgement crisis, I see my in and go for it
You weakened shell
All your sad and lost apostles hum my name and flare their nostrils
(All you sad and lost apostles, choking on the bones)
Choking on the bones you tossed to them
Now I’m not one to sit and spin ‘cause living well is the best revenge
(I’m not one to sit and spin, but)
Baby I am calling you on that
You, savor your dying breath
I forgive but I don’t forget
You work it out, let’s hear that argument again, camera 3, go, now!
All your sad and lost apostles hum my name and flare their nostrils
(All you sad and lost apostles, choking on the bones)
Choking on the bones you tossed to them
Now I’m not one to sit and spin ‘cause living well is the best revenge
(I’m not one to sit and spin, but)
Baby I am calling you on that
Baby I am calling you on that
Baby I am calling you on
(Baby I am calling you on that)
(Baby I am calling you)
The riff on this one is not difficult, but it is intricate and does that rhythm change guitarists like to do when the drums kick in. In the first part of the intro below all he does is add an open B string before getting to the F# note on the high e, for the rest of the song he places the note on the second beat to keep in rhythm. The rest is pretty straightforward, I really like the interplay of the Bm with the end of the riff on the second guitar and the power of the D-A-E end of chorus. So basic, but pure. Also the distortion of the guitar works so well on these next two songs (definitely better than 'Supernatural...') than other places.
'Resurrected.' 'Refocused.' A lot of 'Re' type of words were thrown around when ACCELERATE dropped and everything that was said was true, the band went in and purposefully became a rock band again, but it's also a bit offensive and dismissive of their past ten years. Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin are entrenched here, the guitars are front and center, the riffs are again the focus of the music, and something new--Michael is very confident in his lyrics and I think that comes from the past three albums. The writer's block, the concept album, and the resignation of imperfection were a sort of trial by fire. In 1985, he said he didn't think the world was ready for him--sort of tongue firmly in cheek--but there was a grain of truth in his statement, less about the world at large and more about his own confidence. In the interview I've posted below, Michael throws out that they seem to be trying to make the perfect rock record--with all sincerity--which means they wouldn't know a great record they made, even if it MURMURed to them AUTOMATICALLY or gave them a DOCUMENT about it. He could be specifically talking about the three person version of the band and if so, point taken--from the past three albums you could put together the greatest album ever, but then there's all the other stuff. So here's another shot at it and the results are excellent, but even the band concedes it doesn't get where they want to go, to what they're capable of--it's close.
For me, this album came out of nowhere. I had recently moved to NYC and was trying to make ends meet, so I definitely snagged the album when it came out, but apart from the first few tracks it didn't particularly inspire me--I missed them live which I now kick myself for. I think the dark edges of the album chafed the life I was living and I kind of needed the supportive R.E.M. instead of the distorted guitar version. I was glad for the new direction the band was taking, but I wrongly thought they'd be around forever. This album and COLLAPSE are the perfect companion pieces for the end of a career and for that I am grateful, but I had sort of dropped out of the loop--not really because of ATS, but because it had been awhile since an album had dropped they became less of a priority. I was more into the new Interpol or Spoon albums anyway--and here are a bunch of almost-50 year olds trying to convince us they can still rock. Here's Jacknife Lee, at the suggestion of The Edge, to slam this thing together, they tried the songs out in Dublin--which became LIVE AT THE OLYMPIA--and recorded in three weeks in three different cities, including Athens. Since we're at the end of the Bush years, Michael still has a lot to talk about, a lot of anger and focus, a lot of vitriol. The bad news is it seems to lead to shorter songs and the entire album clocks around 32 minutes which is Weezer-esque. Probably could've worked 'On the Fly' or 'Staring ...' in there somewhere, but I'll get to those after this album. I really love the artwork as well, Michael details this in the clip below but it's a bunch of his photographs of cities collaged together to make one big city of the future. However, one detail is missing--on the cover R.E.M. for the first and last time on a cover are billed as REM without the dots. Stylistic oversight? Unrelated: When they became a three piece I immediately associated the initials with the leftover band members, they became--in my head--peteR mikE and Michael.
Since I've already gone through CIN when it first came out, this is my final official release to transcribe. I'll cover OLYMPIA and Non Album Tracks (NAT) after and then go back through and fix a bunch of stuff that is definitely wrong or misguided--maybe I'll even take a crack at bass lines. Also, if you're following this live this one might take some time to get through, you might want to officially follow the blog so you get updates, I'll try to do a track a week but who knows. If you're in the future, you're in luck ... unless the shit has hit the fan, in which case ... sorry, I tried, some of us tried.
I didn't think John Norris was still around in 2008:
Here's where Michael throws 'Catapult' under the bus:
The first of R.E.M.'s two titular songs is somewhat out of character. Michael claims the song is open ended and cloying on purpose and is a response to growing pessimism because of the direction the US was taking at this time. The advice rings even more hollow during the Trump era. But he's onto something, it can be hard to hold on when all of your beliefs regarding the goodness of humankind are challenged. The bad news is the advice here is simplistic and condescending, well-meaning sure, but how about some actionable advice. If we take this as a character sketch, we have to assume this person is often met with eye rolls at this advice, which might be why the song itself is maligned--but one could argue this reaction is the song's intention, plus a coda is tacked on to further the complacency. It's an optimistic refrain with dark intent, dark consequences. There are some cool moments here, the coda is lovely, the line 'Hold onto this boy a little longer' is a nice callback to the untitled 11th song from GREEN, and I do wish the followers would lead--it's the sentiment that the people who would become politicians are the exact people who shouldn't be politicians. Also, 'Give me a voice so strong, I can question what I have seen' is what everyone who is surrounded by injustice desires and is nicely put here. Posting the live version below because there is no complete version of the song online (which is telling), the only YouTube clip ends before the song is over. This is one of those songs I think only die-hard fans would regard and bother to dissect.
AROUND THE SUN
I want the sun to shine on me
I want the truth to set me free
I wish the followers would lead
With a voice so strong it could knock me to my knees
Hold on world 'cause you don't know what's coming
Hold on world 'cause I'm not jumping off
Hold onto this boy a little longer
Take another trip around the sun
If I jumped into the ocean to believe
If I climbed a mountain would I have to reach?
Do I even dare to speak, to dream, believe?
Give me a voice so strong
I can question what I have seen
Hold on world 'cause you don't know what's coming
Hold on world 'cause I'm not jumping off
Hold onto this boy a little longer
Take another trip around the sun
Around the sun
Around the sun
Around the sun
Around the sun
Around the sun
Let my dreams set me free
Believe
Believe Na, na, na, na, na na
(Na, na, na,
na, na)
Na, na,
na, na, na
(Na, na, na,
na, na)
Na, na, na,
na, na, na
(Na, na, na,
na, na, na)
Na, na,
na, na, na, na
Na, na, na,
na, na, na Pretty straightforward chord-wise, Peter does a nifty switch in the verse, but keeps a pretty nice tight progression otherwise. The coda is mostly orchestral on the album, but the chords below will guide you through it. Just for fun I've tried this at a CHRONIC TOWN type of dance pace and it's kind of poppin'. AROUND THE SUN
Verse
e|-0---3---2---2---|-0---3---2---0---|
B|-0---3---3---2---|-0---3---3---2---|
G|-1---0---2---2---|-1---0---2---2---|
D|-2---0---0---0---|-2---0---0---2---|
A|-2---2-----------|-2---2-------0---|
E|-0---3-----------|-0---3-------0---|
Chorus
e|-3---2---2---0-------0---3---2--|
B|-3---3---3---2-------1---3---3--|
G|-0---4---2---2-------0---0---2--|
D|-0---4---0---2-------2---0---0--|
A|-2---2-------0-------3---2------|
E|-3---2-------0---x3--0---3------|
Transition to Coda (Last time through hold on the F
chord, end on D)
