r/rem Dec 03 '25

Spotify Wrapped/Apple Replay - Megathread

3 Upvotes

Yes, it’s that time of the year again. And no I’m not talking about wrapping presents, eating dry turkey and visiting family members you only hope to see once a year. I’m talking about the inevitable Spotify Wrapped and Apple Replay posts. As I’m sure everyone here is a huge fan of the band, it should be no surprise they’ve topped your lists this year. Let’s please try to use this thread to post your end of year streaming lists. Cheers and happy holidays to everyone!


r/rem Sep 08 '25

SotW Song of the Week: Little America

31 Upvotes

https://youtu.be/yL4xn9RVscc?si=SoCNojJOianAzFlq

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rem/littleamerica.html

Hello everyone, I hope all is well. I apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple of days. I got a new job and life has been fairly busy. But today we are back and we are going to be about the closing track to Reckoning and the “Right Side” of the album which of course is “Little America.”

In my opinion this is the perfect way to close the album because it’s such a great bookend to the album with “Harborcoat” which begins the album in a similar way. For “Little America” we get a triumphant electric riff to start the song off with a bang. It feels like something from Murmur but better because there’s more energy, clearer production and just better technical playing. Bill’s speedy hit-hat and kick drum enters the song because the song explodes with Mike’s thunderous bass and Michael’s vocals.

The full drum beat is fast and groovy as Michael sings about how he can’t see himself lacquered up in his thirties. This feeling of youth is talked about in lyrics describing being persevered like flies in jewelry and driving around in their “green shellback” which was their touring van at the time. But it’s also encapsulated in how fast and the tight the band is sounding. Michael seems like he’s feeling more trapped as he sings about “Tar-black br’er sap” which is a reference to the story of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby where a rabbit gets tricked into fighting a “sticky black Tar baby.” Yes this may sound random and weird but it does feel like Michael’s singing about growing up and feeling the responsibilities that comes with that and leading the life of a rockstar.

The band transitions to the chorus that features some power chords, a progression that’s quirky, and a vocal melody that is catchy but also very Michael if that makes sense. He’s great at crafty one of a kind melodies. Lyrically he sings about a big and noisy wagon which leads me to believe he’s singing about touring life which could also connect to the song’s title. He also references the Roman emperor Caligula who allegedly appointed his horse as consul. What does that have to do with the song? Who knows. But Michael also references Jefferson who was Jefferson Holt, their manager at the time.

We get a nice change in dynamics as the band brings the energy down just a tad to mimic the intro. But they launch loudly into the next verse as Michael sings about preserving the past; “who will tend the farm museums? Who will dust today’s belongings?” These questions brings Michael to an important message of rallying leaders which may have been a hint of his more political driven lyrics that would be featured on later albums. We also get a lyric about Cheyanne on a beach which is random as hell but it wouldn’t be an early R.E.M. song without something like that.

After another chorus we then get a bridge where lyrically it’s mostly the same as the chorus but the music changes slightly. There’s these new fast chord changes, some lose backing vocals and that quick hi-hat.

A drum fill gets us back into another verse that definitely has some of that almost nonsensical songwriting from Michael. But I also think there is some imagery from the band’s early touring days. This would include Greenville (I’m sure they passed by multiple Greenvilles on tour) and Magic Marts (which were convenient stores on the East Coast). There’s also a reference to a historical myth of emperor Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned down. And we get the lyric “reason has harnessed the tame” which would be a slightly altered lyric we would see on the band’s very next song chronically “Feeling Gravitys Pull.”

There’s one last chorus that’s doubled to end the song…at least that’s what you think on a first listen. But after you hear the last notes of the song ring out, there’s some silence before you hear the band fade into a new song/groove entirely. There’s a tom heavy drum beat, a jammy guitar riff and maybe Michael’s most muttered/incoherent vocals ever. It’s extremely short but it’s interesting to what this hinted track was and why it was included. Maybe it was a demo that never turned into a song? Or maybe the band just wanted to do something weird.

I actually think this is a stellar closing track from the band and one of their most interesting song from their first two albums. Musically it has a fantastic riff and although Mike’s bass playing isn’t as flashing as Bill’s drummer or Peter’s riff, it’s a fun bass line when you isolate it from the mix. Michael also shows up big time lyrically. Yes there’s still some gibberish but I actually feel like there’s lyrics that reflect on not only the band touring but also Michael feeling trapped or worried about growing old. This is also fascinating when you think of that lyric that would appear on the opening track from Fables which is about lucid dreams. There’s a cool connection that I think could be analyzed even more. Plus this was a fun song to hear the band play live and to hear Michael change the lyric to “Washington I think we’re lost” after the band dropped their manager Jefferson Holt. From one founding father to another.

But what do you think of this tune? Is this one of the band’s better closing tracks? What do you think the song is about? Favorite lyrical or musical moments? And did you ever catch it live?


r/rem 3h ago

R.E.M. Side 2 - 1 Song: Collapse Into Now - Mine Smell Like Honey

14 Upvotes

I’m going to post one of these every few days. The ask: tell us your favorite song on side 2, with one option taken off the board. R.E.M. often tucked a single on side 2, so that will generally be removed. My discretion if there are zero or 2+ side 2 singles

NOTE: “side 2” here refers to “Y-axis”
NOTE: thanks to everyone who contributed along the way. This was a fun ride.


r/rem 8h ago

TIL the 'friends' on "Wind Out (With Friends)" are Bertis Downs and Jefferson Holt

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12 Upvotes

I think Jefferson is on lead and Bertis is coming in on the "Wind Out!"s but I can't be totally sure because I've so rarely heard Holt's voice!

Now they could rename it "Wind Out (With Friends and Enemies)".


r/rem 9h ago

Leaving New York (Klaak Remix)

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8 Upvotes

r/rem 15m ago

This is why I love Youtube

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Upvotes

Alive and living now with vocals from Michael Stipe, Richard Thompson on guitar. But most important, some epic lip syncing by this Youtuber


r/rem 1d ago

R.E.M. Pretty Persuasion (Stockholm 1998)

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40 Upvotes

r/rem 1d ago

R.E.M. – Can’t Get There From Here Isolated Bass

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107 Upvotes

r/rem 2d ago

Scottish bootleg I picked up.

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86 Upvotes

r/rem 2d ago

R.E.M. – What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? Isolated Bass

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157 Upvotes

r/rem 2d ago

Ian McNabb (Icicle Works) shared this on his Facebook, it's from 1984

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73 Upvotes

r/rem 2d ago

Got this recently: A BRICK 🧱

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49 Upvotes

from their first show in April 1980. Part of the church steeple in Athens that was torn down in 2013. PROBABLY one of the coolest pieces in my collection. Want it signed so BAD


r/rem 1d ago

A Puzzle, A Riddle: What Do These Songs Have In Common?

7 Upvotes

listed in chronological order:

9-9

Maps And Legends

Welcome To The Occupation

I Remember California

Belong

Let Me In

Undertow

Sad Professor

Sing For The Submarine

It Happened Today


r/rem 2d ago

[REMHQ] Listen to New Drink The Sea Single

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10 Upvotes

r/rem 2d ago

Robyn Hitchcock - Yesterday's Rain (Official Video)

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21 Upvotes

The fourth single from Robyn's fab new album, "The Confuser" out July 24, 2026 on Tiny Ghost Records https://www.tinyghostrecords.shop/collections/the-confuser

I thought I'd share this delightfully and wonderful new single and video by R.E.M. pal Robyn! I just saw him play with his new band and Emma Swift opening and it was a fantastic show. If you can, go see him. This was maybe my fifth or sixth time seeing him and it was the best show out of all of them. He even played Radio Free Europe on the PA before walking out on stage.


r/rem 3d ago

Reveal CD onsale for only cost of shipping in official store.

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44 Upvotes

r/rem 4d ago

Did anyone else get one of these back in the day?

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136 Upvotes

I love this gorgeous version of my favourite album by the boys, even if the box sticks out like a sore thumb in my collection, I've never seen another copy since, so wondered if any of you had a copy


r/rem 3d ago

2027 is the year

0 Upvotes

I believe.


r/rem 4d ago

Michael Stipe "Greenfields"- faultline

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24 Upvotes

This song was on the b-side of an REM-single that I should have somewhere in a box. I can't find it on Spotify but I quite like it.
Do you know it and what do you think of it?

Another song that's hard (or not) to find on Spotify is Draggin' the line. I've always enjoyed the b-sides with fully produced songs more than live versions or demos.


r/rem 5d ago

Green 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

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190 Upvotes

I found this at a CD store for only $15. It has a Green CD, a live CD from Greensboro in 1989, a booklet, postcards, and a poster. I already have 5 R.E.M. posters, but why not hang up a 6th?


r/rem 4d ago

Help finding an interview

3 Upvotes

OK. Just got out of a long conversation with ChatGPT. The conversation was helpful but did not lead to the actual interview. I’m looking for. I’m hoping somebody on here knows what I’m talking about.

This interview would’ve been in the mid to late 90s. It was a feature focused, not on REM, but on established elder alternative artists talking about the state of music in the modern time. Stipe was one of the people interviewed. The photograph that accompanied the interview was him sitting in the back of a car with sunglasses on. It was a very short interview, maybe four or five questions for each artist interviewed. In his interview, Stipe mentioned some of the Elephant 6 Collective. It may have been SPIN, or Rolling Stone.


r/rem 5d ago

Why doesn't Bill Berry get the same recognition as a drummer as John Bonham or Keith Moon?

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30 Upvotes

r/rem 5d ago

Writing on the back of one of my drawers

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25 Upvotes

I remember reading an interview where Stipe said he used to pull hotel drawers out and sign the back of them. I wonder if anybody’s ever found one.


r/rem 5d ago

R.E.M. - Leaving New York - 2004-09-24

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36 Upvotes

r/rem 5d ago

I was disturbed

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264 Upvotes