Michael Stipe, I'm sorry I bothered you.
To Michael Stipe – An open letter of contrition.
Recently I’ve been hearing a lot of R.E.M., I came of age a fan, and although I was “hearing” A LOT of the act at the time, and enjoying it, the lyrical/emotional connection really wasn’t there;
The walls are built up, stone by stone. (There were a lot of stone walls in N.H.)
The fields divided one by one – (Right, between the walls…)
And the train conductor says, (Wait, there are no trains in N.H., WF train?)
Take a break Driver 8, (They usually don’t call that shit out over the loudspeaker, but I’m singing along here)
Driver 8 take a break (See the previous parenthetical)
We’ve been on this shift too long (and how brotha, but its still catchy)…
In general a poetic sound, but WTF? Lyrics more as a kind of a found art thing…”Hey I’m looking out the window of a train, oh they said something over the loudspeaker…” I’m sure there’s a story here Michael, I guess at the time I didn’t care to look it up, no Internet and such…Which is true for me about most musical history…Still now w/the Internet, although more lately, I’ve been looking, and w/the upswing in cool music docs, it’s much easier. I like movies. Like it would have been great to see “Control” in 1986…And now I have a guru pal I can just ask. Happy Birthday John! Although when we’re hanging out, I’m usually drinking, so my recall isn’t that great after…
Anyway, I dug you and your band’s music. So now I’m offering my story to the world (or the Internet world anyway) mostly to clear my conscience, and from the instigating vein; selfishly so that I go back to enjoying your band’s cuts from my high school and post high school years free of animus, guilt or spite…You personally; Feh… But I get it…And I’m sorry…So here goes: (more…)
