Welcome.
I know. When Michael sings the,“whoa, oh, oh, oh oh.” part. It’s like a wow moment.
The song that makes me most emotional when listening to R.E.M. is somewhat surprisingly “New Test Leper” nowadays. It wasnt my favorite song when the record came out, but it takes me directly back to that sunny early autumn/late summer day with 14-year old me lying on the floor of my room and listening to the cassette i had just bought from a small record store long gone now, on my simple Sharp stereo. This song of theirs is most tightly wound to a place and time for me.
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Well I never heard/saw that before! I thought it was great 
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Wow
(I love Leave)
I liked You right away. Like everything is has to do with memories, like that. Not saying that is the only reason but sticks in my mind
That’s an awesome song
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Half a World Away. The song kept coming to my mind during the pandemic lockdowns.
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I’d not seen it myself until just a few years ago. This is the entire segment featuring R.E.M. That also includes an interview with Stipe and Bill Berry and a performance of “Pretty Persuasion.”
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Thank you! The rest of that was fun especially liked the interview. Maybe even more will surface! 
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In the event that you’re not already aware of it there’s tons of stuff here, some of it previously unseen until it was sent to Dave Thake (the site admin) to digitize…
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Thank you!! I have been to that site but couldn’t see a follow or like. But just now I saw something at the bottom said follow so I put in my email. I’ll make time to really have a look
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I’m feeling a bit sentimental tonight. Lost both my parents in 2015, four and a half months apart. They were both instrumental in developing my love for music and R.E.M. They didn’t always get it, but they always nurtured it.
Anyway, I’m listening to Out of Time. Near Wild Heaven isn’t really a favourite song of mine, though I like it a lot. But it is a special song to me.
I was 12 when I first heard Shiny Happy People. Liked it. Then I heard Losing My Religion. (I know it came out before Shiny Happy People but I heard it after.) That blew me away. Didn’t sound like anything I’d ever heard before.
Then Near Wild Heaven. I saw it once on a TV show. It didn’t get much radio play. Absolutely loved it. Tried to buy it but couldn’t find it.
About a month after it dropped out the charts, I came home from school to find the cassette single on my desk in my bedroom. It turns out my Mum had been hunting high and low for it and finally found it in a Woolworths bargain bin.
So it’s a special song for me because it reminds me of how special my Mum was. She didn’t always like the music I listened to, but she always made sure I was able to listen to it, whether it was trawling through bargain bins, or spending hours on the phone trying to get tickets for the Monster tour while I was at school.
What a gift, for a parent to give. Thanks Mum. Miss you.
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My parents never put down the music I was into even though I know it wasn’t always to their tastes. However, one evening long ago my Dad sat down with me as I watching Tourfilm. “Perfect Circle” was playing at the time. I don’t recall him saying anything but both my parents obviously knew I was a big R.E.M. fan. My guess is, he was trying to get a grasp on what made them so special to me.
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Tourfilm is pretty Special. I could listen to/watch that performance of You Are The Everything every day until I die, and never get enough of it. My mom was the only parent that tolerated my love of R.E.M. She would always allow me to listen to them in the car on road trips. Automatic For The People was the album Id play the most. I’ll never forget the only line in any of their songs she would ever sing along to was “Maybe you’re crazy in the head” from Drive. I’m not sure why that was the only line she chose to sing to, but that is one of many great memories I have of my beautiful late mother. I know my dad hated them. He never once showed any interest. In fact, I’ll always remember him making fun of Michael’s voice on Nighswimming. That, and many other things are what made my relationship with my parents very different.
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I never had any problem with my parents and my love of music no matter the artist. However, one of my brothers would change radio stations if an R.E.M. song came on. Not sure what that was about other than he knew I liked them. There’s nothing I can do about that and wouldn’t change it even if I could. I guess he derived some pleasure out of denying me my enjoyment of them. Same for another brother who insisted upon ejecting a mixtape I made of them that I tried unsuccessfully to play in my vehicle long ago. I always found their behavior immature in that regard.
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R.E.M.~Wolves, Lower
Whereas, Leave was different than anything else, at the time, this is different for a different time. It was the early 80s this time. They hadn’t even released their first album. This is an ep. Michael Stipe used onomatopeia, at the time. Meaning the voice was more of making sounds and being an instrument, than something that the person should interpret and analyze the words. Some of their early works were more sped up lullabies, than pop songs. In fact, Wolves Lower came from him reading an old version of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs (thus the “wolves at the door” line) and being fascinated with the older illustrations. Combined with the rest of the group, they brought about a new style that didn’t depend on the technical skill of a lead guitarist i.e. Peter Buck, but rather the guitar as a ringing melodic instrument that would go onto become the defining sound of R.E.M.
A dreamlike state…
In other words, they took us back to a time and place that never really existed, but we sure wished it had.
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Crazy (Pylon Cover) and First We Take Manhatten (Laughing Lennie cover).
- Two instances where I firmly believe the REM cover to be superior to the original.
With Crazy, they take a twee, jaunty art-rock song and interpret it through a Chronic Town-esque lens. The results are so incredibly haunting and oblique, that twice I’ve had friends ask what it was when i played it. Neither REM fans but but both loved it.
Manhatten is just such a slick and interesting cover that really elevates the song. Starting as a grungy dirge, once the drums and organ kick it becomes something else entirely. Both driving and and haunting, Michael’s multi tracked vocal harmonies are sung in such widely different styles but somehow work together incredibly. It might be my favourite example of Michael harmonising with himself. The complete about turn with Mikes uplifting interpretation of the chorus is a genius turn of mood and again, just works incredibly well. Sounds like it it could’ve been written by, well, peak early 90s REM.
Both tracks are essentially “REMified” in completely different ways and eras that elevate their versions above the originals IMO.
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I fully agree those are their two best covers, and way superior to any other version of the same songs. I can only add that, to me, “Wichita Lineman” and “Wall of Death” are closely tied in the second place.
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Absolutely agree with that. I’m a huge Glen Campbell fan and they really do Wichita justice. I also love the 2nd half of Wall of Death when the harmonies kick in and Michael really goes for it. I’d also personally add Academy Fight Song as well.
I’d say the 3rd tier is Sponge, Dark Globe, Funtime, Where’s Captain Kirk? and Arms of Love. All excellent interperations.
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“Sponge” and “Where’s Captain Kirk?”, definitely! I love those to pieces. “Arms of Love” is also really good, and let’s not forget “Love is All Around”. But I’m sure forgetting some other cover. (ah, “#9 Dream”, “Draggin The Line”, what else?)
I find it funny that the guys decided to release “Strange” and “Superman” as covers on regular albums and I don’t particularly like those and ended up loving b-sides much more.