AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE: DRIVE

  The dark mood this song creates is really unlike any previous R.E.M. song.  It can be likened to the tone setting track "Feeling Gravity's Pull" from Fables of the Reconstruction, but the orchestration takes this piece to another level.  Not many of R.E.M.'s album openers were also the first single, but Drive and it's accompanying video make for a haunting introduction to this next phase of the band.  In the video, a crowd surfing Stipe is grabbed and rolled around by hands while the rest of the band plays on ... in black and white no less.  Somewhere along the line everyone gets soaking wet.
  The song itself is a sort of homage to David Essex's "Rock On" which was a glam era hit, featuring minimal guitars and percussion, with a plea for kids to start rockin'.  Stipe also credits Pylon's "Stop It" as the group yells "Hey kids!" over a highly repetitive song.  Make no mistake, Pylon heavily influences the band.  The song itself, takes a different tack from there by creating an ominous narrator seeming to call for anarchy among the younger class.  Where the former song "Rock On" seems to tell kids it's okay to think of Rock music as wholesome with allusions to James Dean and Elvis (two not very wholesome characters), and Pylon's tune seems to call for an end to that kind of rock, Drive pushes kids forward.  The song's reference to "Rock Around The Clock" is not a plea for a good time, but almost a threat ... a challenge.  Who cares what happens?  Just do what makes you feel good.
  Let's not forget that this is music in the wake of Nirvana, an explosion that changed everything and sent shockwaves through the industry.  Every band felt it.  And while R.E.M.'s response was not to jump on the wagon immediately (let's wait an album), Drive seems to be a response to the almost anarchic culture Nirvana ushered in.  "Nobody tells you what to do" indeed.
  Incidentally, "Ollie, ollie, in come free" is a very old children's game chant.  It has been passed down generations and likely began with "All ye, all ye, outs in free" or "Allez, allez, outs in free."  An appropriate garbling from a passed down phrase that was changed to be more rhythmic.  Sounds like something Stipe would do personally, too bad history beat him to it.  His tendency to clip his words in delivery makes this a difficult song to discern at times, but the song itself is simple.  I've included the official video here as I think it encompasses the feel of the song perfectly.  I love it when they throw him ... and the look on Peter Buck's face.

DRIVE

1, 2, 1,2,3,4

Smack, crack, bush-whacked
Tie another one to the racks, baby

Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby

What if I ride? What if you walk?
What if you rock around the clock?
Tick-tock

Tick-tock
What if you did? What if you walk?
What if you try to get off, baby?

Oh

Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby
Oh

Hey kids, shake a leg
Maybe you're crazy in the head, baby
Oh

Maybe you did,  maybe you walked
Maybe you rocked around the clock
Tick-tock

Tick-tock
Maybe I ride, maybe you walk
Maybe I drive to get off, baby
Oh

Hey kids, shake a leg
Maybe you're crazy in the head, baby

Ollie ollie
Ollie ollie ollie
Ollie ollie in come free, baby

Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby

Smack, crack, shack-a-lack
Tie another one to your backs, baby

Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby

Maybe you did, maybe you walked
Maybe you rock around the clock
Tick-tock

Tick-tock
Maybe I ride, maybe you walk
Maybe I drive to get off, baby

Hey kids, where are you?
Nobody tells you what to do, baby

Hey kids, rock and roll
Nobody tells you where to go, baby

My Baby

Baby

  Peter Buck has outdone himself on this album.  The amount of simple overlays on each track are substantial and really create a nice pastiche of sound.  This song has a couple of guitars.  I have tried to be as clear as possible, but with the ending pick, I combined what is going on.  It's tricky to play as he adjusts the timing to squeeze in the transition riff, but it sounds good.  For the lead, the reason you have the open chords at that point on the fret board is for the distortion it offers when it rings out.  Pretty sweet when you hit it right!

DRIVE

Verse:

Guitar 1

e|---1--1--1---1-------1--1-------------1--3-|

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

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

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

A|----------------x3-----------------------2-|

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

Verse:

Guitar 2

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

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

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

D|-0-----5-3-0----------------|

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

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

Chorus:

e|-1--0--3----0----1--------------|

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

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

D|-3--2--0----2----0--------------|

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

E|-1--0--3----0-------------------|

Lead:

Chords: C-Dm (x2)

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

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

G|-14-12-10-0--0--0--0---0---14-12-10-0-10-0--|

D|---------12-10-10-12h-10-----------12---12--|

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

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

Lead:

Chords: C-G-Dm  

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

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

G|-14-12-10-0--0--0--0---0--0-2-0------|

D|---------12-10-10-12h-12-------3-0---|

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

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

End Distortion:

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

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

G|-9---9---0---2----|

D|-9---9---0---0----|

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

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

End Pick:

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

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

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

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

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

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