U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME? - Fables of the Reconstruction

Episode Date: March 14, 2018

Adam Scott Aukerman reconvene this week to discuss R.E.M.’s third studio album, Fables of the Reconstruction. They’ll talk favorite sandwiches and Back to the Future before diving into the 1985 album. Plus, we’ll hear how they both came around on Fables of the Reconstruction after initial struggles as well as an improved track sequence from Scott. This episode is sponsored by Spotify and Squarespace (code: REM).

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And remember, stream it to your smart speaker so smart it makes Einstein look like a dumb shit. From chronic to collapse, town and into now, respectively, that is, this is Are You Talking R.E.M. ReMe? The comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things REM.

This is good. Rock and roll. Music? Music? Music? Song. Outrage. Music?

Music? Music? This is music? Wait, is this what we're listening to? Is this music? Music? This is music? Wait, is this music right here? Is this music? You call this music? I'll introduce you in a second, but what would you consider to be music? What's the bare minimum?

You know what, Scott? I think that any sound, that's the great thing about being a human being is that – You're a human being? I am a human – did you not know I'm a human being? Show me your penis and let me just really figure this out. I love how you're miming it. Thank you so much. I have to mime it. You are a consummate professional actor, I have to say.

This is like watching Our Town or something. Well, it's like watching something. Huh? Huh? I think anything could be music, from the lowliest bullfrog croaking to a symphony orchestra. You know what I think could be music

and maybe the most beautiful music in the world? A leaf landing on the ground after falling from a high tree. Listen to that. I just wrote a song. And then. Mushroom cloud.

Nuclear destruction. Badoosh. Badoosh. Badoosh. That's the sound. That's the sound of music. What kind of tree is that, do you think? Yeah, I mean, I don't really know my trees.

Wait a minute. Let's go through the trees. Let's go through. Wait, is this an episode of Let's Go Through the Trees? I believe so. Hey, everyone. Welcome to Let's Go Through the Trees. This is Scott.

And this is Scott. And of course, we're talking about trees. Wait, is this an episode of Talking About Trees? I believe so. You must keep running the distance. Hey, everyone. Welcome to Talking About Trees. This is Scott.

And this is Scott. And today, we're just talking about trees. You know what we should do? We should, let's go through the trees. Wait, is this an episode of Let's Go Through the Trees? I believe it is. Hey, everyone. Let's Go Through the Trees? I believe it is. Hey everyone, let's... Go through the trees.

Let's go through the trees. Welcome to it. This is Scott. And this is Scott. And today we're just talking about trees. Oh shit, is this an episode of Talk About Trees? I believe so. Hey everyone, welcome to Talk About Trees. This is Scott. And this is Scott. And today we're just talking about trees, and I love them.

Me too. And I love talking about them. I love talking about them. They shoot up out of the ground. What else shoots up out of the ground when you really think about it? Nothing, except a landmine. That's why landmines and trees are in the same general family. Trees are the landmines of the earth.

They sure are. And you know what one of the great things about trees is? Is that it's something you can just look at. So little in nature can you just look at. You can just stand there and just look at it. Just look at it. Just check it out. And if you look at it long enough, it may do a little dance.

Oh, most definitely. You've seen trees do little dances, haven't you? All the time, Scott. Wow. Well, that's been Talk About Trees. This is Scott. And this is Scott. You must keep running the distance, don't you?

Good app. Well, I believe now we're back to going through the trees. Yeah, we're going through the trees. Let's go through them. What do we got? Pine. Pine, of course. Of course.

I can't think of anything. The Brady tree. The Brady tree? I believe that's a tree. The Brady tree? The Brady tree. Like the Brady Bunch? No, James Brady.

James Brady. Like the Brady Bill? Yes. They came up with a tree. They came up with a tree. They came up with a tree? They came up with one. Concurrently with the bill, there was a tree. They were like, should we do the bill or should we do the tree?

You know what? Let's do both. Let's do both and just see what sticks. I decree yes. And then it was a bill and a law. A bill and a tree. That's amazing. That is amazing.

The tree. All right. We've gone through them we'll see you next time Pine and Brady Pine and Brady see you next time bye

so now we're talking about trees and trees are great you know you know what I love Scott

tell me I love the fact that trees they have a smell they have an odor they certainly they do have an odor. It's not pleasant.

It's not a pleasant odor. No. It's disgusting. Trees stink. They generally stink bad. I wish we could cut them all down. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Just cut them down. Leave the stumps, sir. Oh, yeah. This is stupid stump. And we see the stumps just like receipts. Like, yeah, we cut that down. We cut that down. We cut that down.

We cut that down. You know what I like though? After they're cut down and there's a pitiful stump coming up out of the earth, come with a backhoe and just pull that stump up out of the earth. Pull the stump out. Yes, pull it out. And burn it.

Burn it. Fuck trees. I hate them. All right, we'll see you next time. Bye. You must keep running the distance, don't time bye so let's go through the trees yeah we got pine

I know there's such a tree as pine you don't know that? I do know that that's the one that I know for sure eucalyptus that's another one that's not a tree

it's not? that's a type of leaf gotcha oh the zeke tree That's another one. That's not a tree. It's not? That's a type of leaf. Gotcha. Oh. The Zeke tree? Zeke tree? Zeke.

Like Zeke? Like Zeke. Like Z-E-E-C-K and then a silent Y. Really? Zeke. Zeke? The Zeke tree. The Zeke. Zeke? The Zeke tree. The Zeke.

Yeah. T-H-E-Z-E-E-C-K-Y. Is there a space anywhere? The Zeke. The Zeke tree. The Zeke tree. The Zeke tree. All right, well, we've gone through the trees. Pine, not eucalyptus, and the Zeke.

Great. See you next time. Bye. Bye. All. Bye. All good eps. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. All good eps. That's a great way to start a show.

Sure is. Great way to start a day. It's morning. By the way, morning recording. I want to, this is, we haven't even introduced each other. This is a rare, rare morning recording. Yeah yeah usually it's at the end of our day at the end of the day we're uh we've taken off our ties we've rolled up our shirt sleeves but today we've just put on our ties yeah our shirt sleeves are all the way down and

buttoned tight like really tight really super tight ouch. I'm very uncomfortable with what I'm wearing. Why are your hands purple? Let's welcome everyone to the show. And before I do that, I want to introduce myself. This is Scott. And sitting across the table from me is my PNC, partner in crime. Ooh. You know him from uh Krampus we talked about it last step I believe and that's it that's it if you saw Krampus you got a pretty good idea who I'm talking to right now no not David Koechner not Tony Collette nope it's me how is Collette so Nope. It's me.

How is Collette? So rad. She's the best. She's amazing. What was that first movie she did about the wedding? Muriel's Wedding? Yeah. Yeah.

She played Muriel. About that woman, Muriel, who had a wedding? Yeah. You know him. Scott is here with me. I know you brought a long list of fans that you want to say hello to. So go ahead, run them down. I just wanted to take a moment.

Thank you for giving me the mic for a sec here. By the way, there's only one mic. Usually we're like little Steven and Bruce Springsteen. You hold the mic, and then I go like this, and I speak into it over my shoulder. Back to back. Yeah. We're over the shoulder boulder holders. Wait, what? Over the shoulder boulder holders?

I had a teacher, Mrs. Holder, in eighth grade and we called her Mrs. Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder to her face. What'd she think of that? Terrible. Yeah. Why? What kind she think of that? Terrible. Yeah. Why? What kind of kid was I? Yes.

So go ahead and say hello to all of your... Yeah. I just wanted to say hello to my friends. I wanted to say hello to my family. I wanted to say hello to my fans.

And hey, Scott, I wanted to say hello to you. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Very, very, very nice. You're welcome. I appreciate that. You're a very warm person. Thank you.

Like physically. Yeah, I'm burning up over here. You have a fever. I'm worried about you. Like, like physically. Yeah. I'm burning up over here. You have a fever. I'm worried about you. 104. If it gets to 105 while we're doing the show, please call an ambulance. Okay. I definitely will. How high are temperatures ever supposed to go? Like what's the- Only up to 111. 111 is the top? That's when you need to go to the hospital. I want you to call an ambulance, but then tell them to- To hold off, be on the alert if we get to 1-11. This one goes up to 1-11.

That's a reference. Yeah, yeah, to Spinal Tap, the movie. I love that movie. The movie, not the band. Right. Welcome to the show. We're talking about REM. Exclusively.

Exclusively. And by the way, this episode we're going to be talking about... Oh, shit, I forgot the book. I got the book in the mail and i forgot to bring it i'm a moron i've been reading it too oh really i love it so much god wait did you already own it i did but i it's in storage yeah yeah okay so you've been so we'll finish reading it and then and then give it to me it's so good yeah okay i have called it crawled from the south okay great book and we about REM, and so does that book, and I look forward to reading it. I've been reading, of course, this talk about the passion and oral history. And today on the show, we're going to be talking about the passion literally.

I guess that doesn't make sense, does it? No. But the passion of REM. But we're going to be talking the entire episode we are devoting to fables of the Reconstruction. Classic REM record. It was my favorite REM record for a while. Weird. Before we get to that little business, you were saying hello to some friends. I want to say hello to some fans out there who wrote us a nice note.

I pass it on to you. Elizabeth Held, she and her brother sent us – well, she sent us a nice note about her and her brother enjoying the U2 show that we did and buying T-shirts on Christmas Day. I sent it to you. You're shaking your head. Can I see it? Yeah, go ahead. Anyway, it was very nice. Thanks to you for writing to us and we hope you're having a great day out there and have found what you're looking for. Elizabeth

Held and her brother. I can't remember her brother's name. That's awesome. Very nice note. Nice to't remember her brother's name. That's awesome. Very nice. Very nice. Note, nice to see my emails are getting through. What is going on with your communications? I don't know. They say in a war, knock out communications first, and it'll disable your opponent. And that's how I feel.

Someone has done that to me. That's how I feel when trying to get a hold of you, trying to schedule this show sometimes. Well, that's because once a potential group of days is thrown out, there are like seven things I need to go through to check if – Yes. To whittle it down. If you have time to do this. Yeah. Chief amongst them, probably your family.

No, no, no. No, no. Oh, okay. Sorry. What am I saying? What do you got at the top? No, no, no. No, no. Oh, okay. Sorry. What am I saying? What do you got at the top? No, no, no. That's exactly right.

Your commitment to God. Yep. I have to make sure I have time from praying to come here. Five times a day. Yep. To the West. I have a punishing praying schedule that I have to pry myself away from. Yeah.

Yes, I get it. Your life is more complicated than I. Especially during the holidays. That's right. You're listening to this in the future, but Adam and I are recording this during the holidays. Which holidays are these? This is like 4th of July.

Yep. 4th of July. And then hopefully this will be out by Labor Day 2019. Hopefully. We have no idea. Cross your fingies. Speaking of fingies. Yep.

You ever use those things to eat a nice sandwich? Yeah. Oh, man. They're good, right? I love a good. Listen, I've said it many times. You can ask anyone. I love a good sandwich.

I can ask anyone? Anyone. a good sandwich. I can ask anyone? Anyone. Anyone in the world? Anyone. Ask anyone. Like Macron? Sure. I said anyone.

I mean anyone. You mean anyone. Do you have his number? Yeah. Okay. Let me get it. Oh, okay. Let me call him up here.

Hello? Hello? Hi, is this... Macaron? C. Did you say C? No. Did you mean we?

We. Hey, does Adam like sandwiches? Si. Si, meaning yes? Si, me. Si, we. Thank you, bye. I don't want to talk anymore.

So, so you do. So what's your favorite type of sandwich um you know what strip all the bullshit away sure strip all like like just complete candor what is your favorite type of sandwich like put like give it to me from bread down sure from bread to bread what is scott's favorite sandwich i like my favorite is to take one slice of sourdough okay right and the most in my opinion the most sour of breads yeah well they start with a dough that has a sour flavor to it and they just go from there and they just they just work with it they're like hey should we throw this? Yeah, and all sourdough is exclusively made in San Francisco.

All sourdough. You can't make it anywhere else. No, no, no, no. It's actually illegal. Yeah, it's because of the proximity to Alcatraz, I believe. And all of the sourness, the spirits. The prisoners there were just so surly and sour. They always had sour expressions on their faces.

I mean, to be fair, they were in one of the hardest prisons to escape from. Scott, that's no excuse. Put a smile on your face. Right. Smile a little bit. Exactly. Don't you think all the world's problems would just disappear if we all just took a second to smile? What if we all just said, you know what?

From sun up to sundown, I'm just going to constantly smile at everyone. What a wonderful world that would be. Just take a minute and smile. Just take a minute and smile to every single person you come across. From the lowly cashier at a Walmart that you happen to be in.

I'm trying to imagine our listeners lives right what what other shitty things do they do um just just to like the the the the owner of a public toilet that he wants to give you the key but you have to prove that you're actually shopping there? The homeless guy that lives in your car. You. No, they rent it out. Oh, wow. That's a nice side business.

A little rental income there. So you start with the sourdough on top. Are we talking top? No, this is the bottom. This is the bottom. You go bottom up. I bottom up. When I make a sandwich, I go top up. Do you make sandwiches in an anti-gravity room?

Yes, I do. So the top piece of bread is floating. But it just rests on the ceiling and you go from there? Go from there. So, okay, so you got one piece of SD on the bottom. Got some SD down there. And then, you know, most people like to spread some mayonnaise, some ketchup, some cream cheese. But you're not most people.

No, I'm not. I'm me. And you know what I do is I take a little turkey sauce and I put it on there. What's a turkey sauce? Turkey sauce. You don't know what a turkey sauce is? I don't know what this is. No.

It's delicious. It's a sauce that you put on a sandwich. Oh, I got it now. Turkey. Do you really not know what turkey is? I really don't know what turkey is. We're stepping outside the bit for a second. What is Durky sauce?

Tell me everything. It's like a spreadable thing for sandwiches. Is it akin to another sauce? How do you spell it? Is it D-U-R-K-E-E, I believe? Durky sauce. So is this like, what is it they sell at Arby's? The horsey sauce, which is like horseradish.

Is this like turkey sauce is it they sell at Arby's? The horsey sauce, which is like horseradish. Is this like turkey sauce? Hold on a second. Does Arby's really have a sauce called horsey sauce? Yeah, because I think horse and radish, it's a weird word. Okay, but they don't want you to think of horse meat when they give you this sauce. You think they wouldn't be leaning into the horse part of it. They would call it radishy sauce but that sounds disgusting horsey like oh horsey oh i'm eating horse meat right now arby's is

arby's is weird yeah they're yeah they're a weird business i'm trying to think of that old there's an old arby's joke from like what's his name anyway uh so it it was great. So are you who? Mitch Hedberg? Anytime anyone says like, oh, there's this comedian who does a joke, it's always Mitch Hedberg. No, no, it's Mitch Hedberg. George Carlin doing his Arby's chunk? No. So then after the turkey sauce is on there.

I really don't know what turkey, what's it taste like? It's kind of a. Is it a meat-based sauce? I'm going to look it up. Meat-based sauce? Yeah of like a turkey sauce is on there. I really don't know what turkey, what's it taste like? It's kind of a- Is it a meat-based sauce? Or, I'm going to look it up. Meat-based sauce? Yeah, like a gravy. No, it's like mayonnaise with kind of a, it has some spice to it. It has a little bit of a bite.

It's really good. It's like, it's passed down from my waspy, you know. This is like, okay, turkey, okay, so it's a brand. It's like you calling ketchup Heim's sauce. No, no, no, no, no, no. It is a brand. Well, I'm sure it's a brand, but they have one thing that they do. Yeah, but you know what I mean when I say that?

Yes, I'm able to understand. You understand words? Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth? Do you understand the words? Now we're both just looking at our phones. Wow, Durkee has a homepage. Durkee has a homepage. Okay, yeah.

They've platformed. Oh, it's mustard and mayo. It is? It's like, yeah. Okay. Yeah, okay, interesting. So it's mustard and mayo. Got it.

It's odd to me that you've eaten this sauce your entire life and don't know what it even is. Well, I don't currently have any in my refrigerator. I'm just thinking about my top ten. Your top ten. Okay, got it, got it, got it. Okay, so turkey on the bottom.

Turkey on the bottom. Party on the top. You know what I throw in there after the turkey sauce, Scott, is I put turkey, ham, a couple of slices of salami, some lettuce. Some lettuce. Wait, crisp lettuce or like wilty gross lettuce? Wilty old warm lettuce. Okay, great.

Been in the sun for two days. Okay, got it. Then I take a slice of multigrain bread. Multigrain on the top? On the top. Or is this the middle? The middle. And then I put a big slice of meatloaf on top of the multigrain bread.

Oh, that sounds delicious. Big, big slice. How big? How big are we talking? Four inches thick. Four inches thick? That's a deep pan of meatloaf from Boston Market. Meatloaf.

Wow. This is not homemade meatloaf. This has meatloaf from Boston Market. Meatloaf. Wow. This is not homemade meatloaf. This has got to be from Boston Market. Boston Market. Have you ever had their meatloaf? Oh, yeah. I used to live next to a Boston Market and eat there exclusively. I think I knew that, and that's a total bummer.

But got to get that meatloaf on that bread. Got to get that loaf. Got to get that loaf. I mean, they call it a loaf. If they don't want you to use it as bread in a sandwich, call it something, call it like meat chunk. Right. You know?

Yeah. God damn it. Or meat eat. Eat this meat. Eat this meat. I think more food should have what you're supposed to do with it in the name of the thing. You know, I found a bumper sticker at a gas station

that just said, eat my meat on it once. I stuck it on my friend's car. That's like in and out urge. Yeah, he didn't know for a long time. I had a Austin Powers license plate frame that said, do you fancy a shag? And I put it on David Cross's car. It's the best. Yeah, some good shit.

Some good shit. That's a good sandwich. That sounds delicious. No, I'm not done. Oh good shit. Some good shit. That's a good sandwich. That sounds delicious. No, I'm not done. Oh, shit. After the meatloaf, what's on top of there? Put a bunch of just ground up Triscuits on top of that. I've never even thought about that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So then, but the rule is you can't let any of the ground up Triscuits fall off onto the plate. Or you have to throw the whole thing away. I think Triscuits should be called Trisketches. Me too. Let's do that from now on. It's just so emasculating to call Trisketches. Anyway.

What about you? Wait, you're done? That's it. What do you think? What grade would you give that sandwich? I mean, it's really good. It's very thick. We're talking, I mean, that sounds like a 10-inch thick Dagwood special.

Yeah. With Triscuits on the top? Yeah. It's inspired by Dagwood and his adventures with sandwiches. He's funny. Oh, he loves a sandwich. And he's always just trying to get some time alone with the sandwich. Just some time alone.

I mean, this is like you trying to get some time alone to record this show. Right. You know, like this show is the Dagwood sandwich of my life. Of your life. Yeah. So what would that make your sandwich? Meatloaf Triscuit Sandwich. This podcast, though?

Oh, this podcast is Meatloaf Triscuit Sandwich. Got it. Got it. Wow. I think it's great. I give it a D. Great. How about you?

What's your favorite sandwich, Scott? Or should we stop talking about this? I like a nice layer of mayo on the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then a nice layer of ketchup on the top, and then I'm done. Nothing else? Nothing else, yeah.

Just mayo and ketchup. Just mayo and ketchup. No bread. I don't like carbs. Yeah. Yeah. How do you eat it? Just, you put it on the floor. Yeah. Or I have Kulap put it on the floor like carbs. Yeah. Yeah. How do you eat it? Just, you put it on the floor.

Yeah. Or I have Kulap put it on the floor for me. Yeah, sure. And then she makes me sit. Yeah. And then I have to shake her hand. And do you have a bib? A bib.

Yeah. I mean, I have like a plastic napkin that I put around my neck. Right, not a bib. Not a bib, though. I'm not like a child. Sorry for that question. And then just lap it up. Oh, so just lick it off the floor?

Yeah, no hands. Yeah, yeah. Other than the bib, what else are you wearing? Pretty much just like a leather kind of strappy number with, I guess you would call it like my butthole exposed. So this is just the way you start every day. Yeah, this is the way I start. This is the way I finish.

Can I finish? Can I finish? That sounds great. It sounds really good. You got to come over for dinner sometime. No, thanks. Oh, wow. Okay.

things. Oh, wow. Okay. We're talking about REM today and we're very excited to do so. Before we do, we need to take a break. Are you ready for that? Yeah.

You ready for the break? Oh, yeah. You ready to take us to the break? Take us to the break! What are you doing? Okay, now you're playing air guitar. You have the tightest air guitar. I play close to the neck. But your frets, your fingering is right next to your pick hand. These are very high notes. This is like...

These are very high notes. This is very high. This is insanely high. Man, I wish that we had a camera. We could get a picture of this, but it's... Unfortunately, it's lost to the ages, and now you're playing low, and now... Wait, now you're like drumming while you're playing guitar.

I used to... I must have talked about this on a previous episode, the band Scooter and the Bee that I used to see. No. Up in Santa Maria, California, when I lived in Santa Maria. We would go to the Santa Maria Inn, which is the big hotel in town. Yeah. Because in the lobby during – between – we would get out of school.

Wait. Where's Santa Maria? Santa Maria is up by Solvang. Okay. Just a little bit north of solving so we would we would get out of school at 5 30 i believe and have to go back for rehearsals at seven so we'd have like an hour and a half right and the happy hour was between five and seven at the santa maria inn and if ordered a drink, and it could be any drink, like a Coke, you then got to go to this insanely big buffet that they had.

And we were always, you know. No money. No money. I subsisted. Lunch was always jack-in-the-box, the $1.50 deal, where you would get a taco, a cheeseburger, and fries and a Coke for $1.50. And then I would spend another $1.50 to get a Coke at the Santa Maria Inn. And just stuff yourself.

With all the sandwich stuff, it would be different every day. They would have a tri-tip steak on Fridays. Why did they come up with this deal? That's a terrible deal for them. I think it's for the people staying there or whatever to get them drinking or what have you. I don't know. But everyone at our college would go do this. Of course.

And they had a band that would also play, Scooter and the Bee. And it was two old dudes. and the guy singing lead was uh he he was also playing uh the i think it was the guitar it was either the guitar or bass he would play it with his left hand and sort of strum sometimes with the right and then also play uh trumpet with his right hand in between singing while he was playing the bass and then the drummer was playing with his feet and one hand as well as the, like a bugle or a trumpet or something like that with another hand while he was singing as well. And it was just these two guys playing standards. Between the buffet and Scooter and the Beat, it sounds like the greatest place in the world.

It was amazing. So for two years, I would go to this place every single day practically. And the waitresses would of course hate us oh yeah because we have no money we're tipping horribly we would try to tip

so that they wouldn't yeah and then after about two years I think they started a policy where you had to you had to have

like an alcoholic drink in order to eat or something like that still terrible deal for that terrible deal why don't they just like at least have it be only for the guests of the hotel yeah exactly yeah but instead all these

like you know stupid college kids how what did how did this remind you of because you were playing guitar while you were drumming it seemed like and so it reminded me of scooter and the b i thought you were it was going to be something about twirling the drumstick on adam by the way is twirling his right hand and then coming down while he appears to be playing with his penis was that a tommy lee thing twirling the guitar thing was he he can't be the first person to do no but i think he popularized it because that's something for a while every like hair metal band that's all yeah like in between hitting they would twirl the thing and i love it what about the gong he he sort of popularized taking the gong with him on tour and he popularized taking the drum set out

over the audience and turning it upside down yeah did you see that tour did you ever go go see them live no we're talking about rem did you see motley crew no i ever go see them live? No. We're talking about REM. Did you see Motley Crue? No, I've never seen that. I wouldn't have minded. I was never into that. I think they're okay. I like Guns N' Roses.

I remember once, and this is very similar to what we are experiencing on this show. I remember once I was driving with Brian Posehn when we were working on Mr. Show. And he was playing their first EP, and I like it, and I was jamming along with it, but he does this high note at the end of the first song on it, I think, this falsetto high metal scream, and it's just slightly under pitch, and I was making fun of that, and he got his feelings hurt. Really? Because it meant so much to him.

Like me and if you made fun of Fables of the Reconstruction today, it's going to hurt my feelings. Which we are about to do. We are about to do that. I will be making fun of Fables of the Reconstruction when we come back.

No, you can't do that. When we come back, we're going to be talking about it. This is Are You Talking R.E.M. Remy. We will be right back hey adam yeah hey scott, support for today's show comes from Squarespace. Hey, are you ready to start your new biz? I am. Yeah, I have several new business ideas.

Well, make it stand out with Squarespace. Okay, so I want to start a murder-for-hire business where we murder actors named Adam. Okay. So, you know, I'd love to start that. Maybe Squarespace could help me start a website where people could submit actors named Adam to the site, and then we could, you know, hire people to kill them.

Yeah. I, hmm. Mulling this over. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba--dee-doo-doo-doo. Boo, piccolo, piccolo. Figaro, figaro. Figaro. We found it. That's it. That's it.

Great. Well, you know how you can make your new business stand out? With beautiful templates created by world-class designers. Squarespace makes it easy to turn your idea into a new and unique Scott. Website. There you go. If you have stuff you want to put on the website, that's great. Or maybe you have a blog

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Although your computer is kind of a type of a box. That's true. Well, sometimes they are box-shaped. That's true. Sometimes they're circular. Remember those first iMacs that were sort of like, it got an oval in the back or something? You remember the first Macintosh ever in like 1983?

I don't. Did you have one? Did you have one? It was a triangle. Yeah. So all of the text was was you had to start with the letter a yep or i or something and then it was like a pyramid wow that's amazing said to start with a single letter word squarespace's analytics help you grow

in real time and there is nothing to install patch or upgrade ever although maybe you're dumb like, and you have a question. Duh. Squarespace's award-winning 24-7 customer support is there to help. They've won awards, unlike Adam. That's exactly right. So, Destiny is calling. It says you need a new website. Make it with Squarespace. Head to Squarespace.com for a free trial, and when you're ready to launch, use the offer code REM.

You will save 10% off your first purchase of a website or a domain. That is squarespace.com, offer code REM. God, I wonder how REM feels about them being the code. Can I tell you something? They love it. Yeah, I bet. Hey, podcast fans. Hey, Scott.

Hey. Oh, okay. Hello to podcast fans and Hey, Scott. Hey. Oh, okay. Hello to podcast fans and hello to you. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, did you know Spotify is making it easy for you to stream this podcast and many others like it on your mobile device, desktop app, and smart speaker? Open the app on your mobile device or desktop. Jazz it up a little. Click the Browse channel.

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Thanks, bro. Welcome back. Are you talking REM Remy? During the break, Adam and I were exchanging acting school stories. We sure were. Like a couple of real artists artists yeah real cool dudes my um turns out my final dance project was we were talking about our final dance projects mine was to an rem song to try not to breathe you're saying to breathe which which is from the automatic automatic right right right which we'll talk about when the automatic uh for the people episode comes out i'm sure indeed um

and mine was to michael jackson uh can't stop till you get enough segwaying into rock with you segwaying into a live card game yes i may have talked about this on one of my episodes of one of my shows before, but yes, it was the final project that got me disinvited from the school for being a smartass. And then I just showed it back up next semester and they said, well, okay. Just George Costanza style. Just came right back. This is Are You Talking REM with – no.. with, no, Are You Talking R.E.M. Rimi. Rimi. Rimi.

And we're talking about, this episode is devoted to an album in R.E.M.'s canon, which is somewhat underappreciated by some, perhaps overappreciated by others. We'll find out. The interesting thing is Adam and I, maybe this is interesting, maybe it's not, but you and I don't talk about these records before we just get on air and we start talking about them.

So you have no idea what I think about Fables of the Dark. Although I did say that I hadn't listened to it all that much last week. So I've taken the week and I have listened to it endlessly. So much so that Kulop last night was like, this R.E.M. show is going to be so much harder on me than the U2 one.

Oh no. And it doesn't help that it was this record, I think. But I've been listening to it a lot. So lots of thoughts about it. Let's go over some of the background of the record. It came out in June of 1985. That's right.

They recorded it in London. Sure. Livingston Studios. The United Kingdom. This kingdom has been united. Some people, just if they're running out of time and they have to say it in a hurry, they just call it the UK. The Hugh K. Hugh K.

This is pre-Brexit, by the way. Yeah. Yeah, this is before the Brexit vote. This is a couple years before. A couple years before Brexit. Mm-hmm. They are working with the producer Joe Boyd. Joe Boyd, a folk music producer

someone that worked with not exclusively but but yeah did a lot of work with Richard and Linda Thompson and Nick Drake the

Brighter Later and Five Leaves Left the two incredible albums he produced also produced Pink Floyd's Arnold Lane single really?

yes oh I didn't know that has been producing forever I can I can only imagine I don't know really the history of why they picked him other than a lot of times the record company will give you a list of people who are available who they'll pay for and you go through and go, oh, I like this person's records. I also think he was currently recording a 10,000 Maniacs record in the same time period.

And the band Harium and 10,000 Maniacs were good buddies. I think also they were looking to change up their sound a little bit. And when someone knew, and we're big fans of Richard and Linda Thompson. And so Peter Dollar Bill certainly is a big Richard Thompson head. Yeah. So they traveled over across the pond, as we say. The Atlantic Ocean. It's not a pond.

It's considerably bigger. No, it's a huge ocean. It's a huge ocean. I don't even know why I said that. To call it a pond is to just kind of alter the expectations of any traveler. I apologize. If you're Lance Armstrong and you're looking up there in space and you see the Atlantic Ocean, it's bigger than a pond. I'm sorry I've thrown you off. Or if you're Lance Bangs and you're just on a flight and you look down, you're going to see all ocean.

It's not just a pond. It's not just a pond. I really apologize for that. By the way, Lance, got to get you on the show. He was on our Hue 2 show. Fables of the Reconstruction came out in 1985. We were not REM fans yet, were we? No, I was focused entirely on Back to the Future

and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Back to the Future had just come out. How many times did you see back to the future in the in the summer of 1985 i think i probably and i have i talked about how i can i can uh tell you pretty much every movie i've ever seen like where i saw it what theater so can i it's and why is that and i can tell you what year any movie came out is this i love films i think it is hey everyone welcome to i love films this is scott and this is scott and we're just talking about films great films though love i love a good film here's a challenge for you, Scott. Can you name any year any film came out?

Post-1980, yes. Okay, let's try you. Sure. Downsizing. 1981. Exactly right. Thank you. Have you seen Downsizing yet?

I have. How was it? It's great. Good. I haven't seen it. This is I Love Films. We'll see you next time. Bye. A lot of comedians in Downsizing.

I would love to be in an Alexander Payne film. Yeah. He seems to really love to work with comedians. Are there a lot of comedians in Downsizing I would love to be in an Alexander Payne film he seems to really love to work with comedians are there a lot of comedians in it? yeah there are and in Nebraska Odenkirk's in it and Hubel's in Descendants oh yeah that's right

it's great Fables yes so Back to the Future I believe I saw it probably three times in the theater that summer yeah um i also had a souvenir magazine so did i i wonder if it was the same one i bet it was i bet it was where it showed like all the little easter eggs in it and the behind the scenes filming it was like a shiny magazine yes yes we have the exact i remember i i took a trip down to

la with my mom and like a family friend and i was in the back seat for that six hour drive and all i had was that now all you had was that all i wanted because i just read it cover cover cover backwards yeah yeah remember when you would read something that much and so intently yeah you know like comic books used to be that way like every panel you would just study everything in it. Nowadays, you know, when I'm reading, it's like, oh, okay, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Get me to Revelation. Right, right. Just burn right through the Bible. Just burn like every single day. By the way, I sent you – did you get this? Did you get my text the other day about the uh the the quote the little picture of the bono quote yes yes i did i read the psalms of david all i read the psalms of david all the time they are amazing he is the first blues man shouting at god why did this happen to me

but there's honesty in that too and of course he looked he looked like Elvis. If you look at Michelangelo's sculpture, don't you think David looks like Elvis? God, he gets it all in there. He gets every cliche right in there. What were we talking about? 1985. Oh, yeah. Back to the Future. Solely concerned with Power of Love.

Oh, man. In 1985, I'm just about to become a sophomore in high school. I was just about to become a seventh grader. You were a little boy who wanted to be a big boy. I remember I showed up for the first day of junior high school, seventh grade, with a skateboard, brand new skateboard with jeans. Did you skate? I was trying to take it up because of back to the future oh wow a jean jacket like marty mcfly's but it was a vest a stonewashed vest with the

checkered shirt that marty mcfly wore and i expected to show up on the first day of junior high celebrated because i looked like marty mcfly and it didn't end up going that direction. Did they say, oh, you're trying to look like Marty McFly? No one said a thing to me. They probably thought you looked cool, though. It's probably cooler than what I look like. Yeah, I don't know. I think I've talked about this before.

I bought a jean jacket, a light blue jean jacket, because my friend, whom I was just about to become close with in the september of 1985 because he had one yeah and uh i bought the exact same jacket and he was like why are you buying the dude but it just looks so cool yeah but he was my friend who had the fables of the reconstruction poster on the wall uh and he was the one who got me into rem but he was but he's the one who said oh no fables isn't all that good of a record well i remember when when i was getting really into rem and when they were on the cover of rolling stone for green uh bill berry in that interview said fable sucked i was like whoa and they were all talking about fables because up to that point, it was – the closest they've come to like a failure.

Right. Because it's kind of – Because they're the golden boys. Everything they do is wonderful. It has this kind of murky tone to it. It doesn't sound as great as murmur or reckoning. Let's hear a little bit of the first track here since we're getting into it. This is Feeling Gravity's Pull by Hariem. I feel somewhere just about every where I've been.

We've just seen where gravity is pulling me around. Feel back the mountains, feel back to sky. Storm of gravity into the floor. Some man-made kind of sky. Show me what I can do with it. Yes. So obviously, I'll give you my background on this record when I first got it. So I got, we've talked about on previous episodes. I got into R.E.M. with their next record, Life's Rich Pageant.

Yeah. And then I believe I then maybe got Document next. I can't remember. No, I think I got Life's Rich Pageant and then got all the early stuff. But I would get records on record. I would get them – if I really liked them, I would get it as a record because then I could put it on tape or I could do whatever I wanted with the songs on it. But if I was ever unsure about a record, I would look for it used. And quite often what would happen is I would find it cheaper on tape.

So this is one that I got on tape. And I would listen to it in the car and find a very – found this record to be very difficult to get into. Yeah. Especially on tape when you can't, you know, play whatever song you want to play or whatever. So I eventually just listened to the songs on eponymous, Can't Get There From Here and Driver 8, and never really came back to this record all that much. Because it's not good driving music either, really.

It's more of a pay attention. And if I had had it on vinyl, I would have paid attention to it in my room, I think. But instead, I just listened to it driving and never really listened to it. That song is very much like, to me, a statement of intent song, in a way. Like, we're changing it up. We're changing our sound, because that sounds

unlike any other R.E.M. song. It doesn't have the kind of the signature arpeggios and jingle jangle song. It's totally different. Totally different. Which for a third album is amazing for a young band like this

to change it up like that. I mean, they definitely, they recorded this in London where they said it was during the winter and it was very gloomy. Yeah. Peter Dollar Bill talks about

how he would have to take the subway to the studio, which is fine, but he would have to walk a mile to the subway in the snow with his guitar. Yeah. And just very depressing. They also talk about how they were not getting along all that much. They were like very sick of each other at the time. Well, they've been touring constantly for like five years.

Right. And they're just sick of each other. Apparently, they were all sick over there, not used to the weather. Homesick for Georgia. So many types of sick. Sick of it. Sick bodies. Sick of these songs.

Just sick. But also laying down some sick licks. Sick licks. So that's definitely, I can't say that I like that song. Really? Really all that much? As much as I go, okay, it's that I like that song. Really? Yeah. Really all that much. Yeah.

As much as I go, okay, it's a, I get what they're doing. Yeah. Of the songs on this album. Um, I don't know that I would listen to that for pleasure.

Well, I, I, I, I like it when the drums, it's my least favorite of all the songs on the album. And I love this album. So,

right. But it's not, it's not my least favorite. I think it's a, it's a smart first song on the album to, as a statement. So, right. But it's not my least favorite. I think it's a smart first song on the album as a statement, like you said. Right, yeah, yeah. The next song is Maps and Legends. Let's hear a little bit of it now.

This sounds good. It's not the bitch, it's still me It's not the bitch, it's still me Call the fake and close the knee On his own we'd rather be Where we ought to be And see what you can't, can't you see that? Maybe he's part of the legend Wait, chorus.

I know. We can't play the entire song. Maybe he's part of the legend We gotta talk over some of this. This is a Stone Cold classic. What do you think? Okay, I've listened to this a lot, and I had a lot of trouble getting into this record.

So did I. It took me a few years. Here's my issue. I think this record is improperly sequenced and okay i i i have come to appreciate this song it actually reminds me a lot of the smiths in a way which song this song uh the guitar playing especially which by the way peter dollar bill i think someone uh said that uh his guitar playing reminded them of the smiths and he got really upset about it, but then later was like, I don't know, I like the Smiths.

But at the time, he didn't want to be compared to anyone, I think. But I actually, the problem I have with this song is where it lies in the sequencing because it's like so minor key-ish and it comes right after a minor key, you know, atypical R.E.M. song. I just find the one-two punch of these two songs back-to-back as being very difficult to like. So I didn't really like this song all that much. And then a little later, I re-sequenced the record to be a little more like for my taste.

And I grew to appreciate it a lot. So labor-intensive process to get into a song. You know how I got into this? Because it took me a long time to get into this record too, but the way I got into that song and came to appreciate it is this live version from McCabe's Guitar Shop. Right, yeah, I listened to that recently. That's great.

Can we play that? Do you have it? Yeah. Okay, do you have the to that recently. That's good. Can we play that? Do you have it? Yeah. Okay, do you have the thing? Yeah. All right, let me give you... Here. Play it.

Great bit. Great bit. Doesn't get old. Years on. Still falling for it. God, your hands are shaking. Like, you're so nervous. I'm drinking this fucking iced coffee you guys have on tap here.

Yeah, it's a lot. Okay, so I listened to this as well recently because I was like, God, I can't get into the song. Maybe if I hear a live version, it'll— Did this help? Not really. What really cemented it was I just started listening to the record out of order. Well, listening to this version of it got me into it

because the melody is so clear because it's just guitar and him singing and I think there's some bass what are the other

guys doing I've never understood that like during a concert the guitarist and the vocalist go hey take a breather

during this song we're just gonna jam out it's like well fuck you well in in the on the work tour they came out at the

end and just i believe it was just uh peter buck and michael stipe would come out come out and do the encore well i think they did an encore together that's rude in my opinion because an encore is like we want the whole band back yeah and then two guys come out you'd be like no the others too yeah the other guys were backstage having a mai tai you know kicking back just kicking back okay oh wait that is not it okay good good stuff adam quadrero looking for a song. Can he find it? Do you have every R.E.M. song on your phone?

Come on, bro. Pull it together. That is not it. This is excruciating. Do they not have this fucking song on? It's on the Rarities, right? Yeah. There we go. There it is.

Yeah, you're right. Great. All right. No, no, no. Let's listen for a second. Call the fool in company On his own where he'd rather be Where he ought to be And sees what he can't see Can't you see that maybe he's caught in the legend you know what's interesting about this song is that it's um turndale is that it's um maybe these maps the chorus is minor key, and then the verses are kind of in a major key,

but it starts with the minor key chorus chords. So to me, it always seems like a gloomy song in a way. It is. Oh, it's a weird song. It's a weird album. It's a gloomy album for sure. But what's strange is I don't think that these two songs are really representative of the whole record

because I really like the majority of two songs are really representative of the whole record. Because I really like the majority of the songs a lot. Yeah. It's just these two right in a row are just like. A bit of a downer. Yeah. Unplugged. I love that song.

I get what you're saying about them being a little gloomy. I've definitely grown to like it. I like that they're gloomy. Let's listen to track three. This is Driver 8. This was Big Hit. Here we go. Here we go. Now this is interesting to me because it's also not the typical REM sound. No, that's kind of a new thing.

This is a new sound for them, but this is sort of the prototype i think for their commercial sound this is kind of like the one i love uh like this is like a prequel this is like phantom menace you that's right it's a star wars yeah this this is kind of a signature rem song in a lot of ways and it was a brand new thing for them at the time. This is one of my favorites. I think it's a classic. It's great. It's a great, great song. I would sequence it

a little earlier in the record. Would you have put it first? I would have put it second. Well, because I think that statement of intense song is like, I would honor that and I would respect it

of like, hey, shaking you up and going, this isn't your typical R.E.M. song. And put drive rates second. I would put it second, yeah. Oh, that's interesting. Because go into the hit off of like this, hey, we're doing something different, then go into it.

Yeah. Oh, that's actually a good idea. Thank you. I think that they have said they think it's badly sequenced. Oh, have they? I believe so. I haven't. And Up, I think, was the other one.

They weren't crazy about how they sequenced it. Interesting. Sequencing is really i've i've uh uh my friends in that band the vandals yeah uh for their last two or three records they would get my opinion on the sequencing sometimes and they i don't think they ever they would listen to what i had to say but i don't but sequencing is really it's incredibly important i i've re-sequenced it's we did it later for incredibly important. I've re-sequenced. We did it on it.

For Around the Sun, I've re-sequenced and pulled songs off for our Around the Sun episode. Okay, okay, we'll do that. There is a good album in there. We did that for the U2 record Poop as well. Or at least I did

re-sequenced it, if you recall. Oh, Poop, yes. And we re-sequenced our imaginary version of All That You Can't Leave Behind for Side 2. Yes, exactly. So that's fun to do, I think. Okay, this is the next song.

This is my favorite song on the album. This is Life and How to Live It. This is great. The kind of a return to the original R.E.M. in track four. Did you ever see them play this live, this song? No. Or maybe I did. Who knows?

Okay. Oh, it's over. Oh, no. It started again. This took me a long time to get into. Really? As well. This whole album, it hit me years later.

But this is... This whole album, it hit me years later. But this is... That's interesting that it would take you a long time to get into this, because it reminds me of Ages of You or classic R.E.M. kind of stuff. I just didn't... Because I had put the album aside for years, because I, like you, was like, I don't get this. Right.

I didn't dig deep enough. I got it. And then I was like, holy shit. Let's be clear. I understood it. Okay. I just didn dig deep enough. I got it. And then I was like, holy shit. Let's be clear. I understood it. Okay. I just didn't like it. Fine.

Fine. It sounds good. It's great. Is this the remastered one? Yeah, I think so. Sounds good. See, it sounds so much better now than it did back on those shitty tapes and CDs that we had.

That sounds like a classic R.E.M. I mean, that sounds like the... If that had been track one, everyone would have been like, R.E.M.'s back! Yeah, this is a great, great, great song. It's so fun live to see them. Yeah, love that song.

Okay, this is the final track on side one. This is Old Man Kenzie. This is my least favorite song on the record. Here we go. Here we go. Bow, bow. Yeah. yeah yeah let's keep listening to it but yeah let's talk over it but uh yeah it's uh this is This is about the writer Brivs Mekis. By the way, this is a concept record, sort of, about the South.

Yeah, and it's about storytelling. Storytelling. The first song, Feeling Gravity's Pull, is about falling asleep while you're reading. Michael Stipend has talked about how he was fascinated at the time with sort of the oral traditions of the South, fables like Uncle, is it Rebus? Yes. Uncle Rebus.

And Life and How to Live It is about a bunch of stories being buried in a house. This song does get there, though. This author, by the way, wrote a book called life colon how to live had it printed only to have all existing copies of it stacked in his closet yes and he used to tell that story while introing the song this song does get there though it has a change i think it's okay like it's fine it's just i don't i don't like it it's it's fine

my favorite either but there is a cool change. Okay. This is kind of interesting. Yeah, this is nice. But I think it's them trying something new, but maybe not totally being ready yet to make that change interesting. Again, the producer, Joe Boyd, says he doesn't think that he succeeded with this record because everything sounded samey. In this book, Talk About the Passion, he brings up with such a democratic band, none of them wanted to say, hey, turn me up louder in this mix.

So they all just wanted – They all asked to go lower, right? Yeah, they all asked to go lower. And so it turns into a very kind of samey sounding production where nothing is standing out. Yes. It took Don McGahn, I believe, as their next producer to really like push them to something else. We need to take a break. That's side one.

Side two is much more to my taste, I believe. Side two is amazing. Side two is really good. We're going to come back with that we will be right back with more are you talking rem remy we'll be right back hey everyone we want to tell you about this incredible thing going on. Marvel is unveiling their first scripted podcast ever, and it's available exclusively on Stitcher Premium. In Wolverine, The Long Night, you'll be immersed in a murder investigation that explores a string of mysterious deaths in Burns, Alaska. The series stars Richard Armitage as Wolverine,

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Welcome back. From the inside room, that's where we are right now, the studio, which is inside. Is it not? And a room. It's technically a room. Speaking of the room, you're in that uh disaster artist movie i did and uh quite a surprise to see my old buddy leading off the film with whatever he thinks about i'm gonna do i'm gonna do that now for all movies you're gonna introduce them i'm

just gonna talk about what you can expect from the movie right before it starts. It's like Arclight Stories, but before the movie. That's right. Has anyone ever stuck around for an Arclight Story? I don't know what that is. In the history. What is that? If you go see – sorry, this is very Inside Baseball. But if you go see a movie at the Arclight chain of theaters, which there's about five or something here in California.

I enjoy the Arclight very much. The Arclight is great. I always go see movies there. I enjoy the Arclight. The Arclight is great. I always go see movies there. But the person who introduces the film says, and stick around after the movie for our Arclight stories where the people who made the movie will talk about it for a while. It's like a two – they talk about it for two minutes.

Okay, yeah. Mostly with indies and stuff where they need people to stick around. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think anyone has ever done it. I've done those and there are people that stick around. No. I don't think anyone has ever done it. I've done those, and there are people that stick around.

When we went and saw Star Wars opening night, it was at the Grove, actually, Rian Johnson came in and intro'd the movie. Oh, that's nice. Surprised the audience. Really? It was awesome. And did he say anything cool about it?

Did he, like, spoil any of the surprises? He spoiled everything. And he said, fuck you, and he walked out. Fuck you, just flipped everyone the double birds. No, he was awesome, and it was so exciting. Why aren't you in one of those films? Star Wars? Yeah. I passed on all that stuff.

Yeah, that's too commercial. Yeah, I don't want to be a part of that. We're talking about Fables of the Reconstruction, a difficult record by REM standards. By the way, this is- Controversial record. But what's strange is it sold more than their previous record.

Yielded several classics. Several classics and also their crowd sizes got bigger. In this book, talk about the passion. A couple of people say who had been watching the band early on, including that critic, Robert Lloyd, they say this is around the time watching the band early on including that uh critic robert lloyd

they say this is around the time where the band became not for them anymore not not meaning oh this is not for me like they don't care for it meaning every time they had seen them live it had been a group of like-minded people anytime anything gets anytime anything gets popular this happens where suddenly you look around you're at a show, and there are a bunch of frat guys there. And they describe of like Robert Lloyd saying like, well, I went to see him in France and he was a bunch of like American frat dudes. And then I saw them somewhere else like Irvine and a dude peed in his cup right next to me. And I suddenly started realizing, oh, okay, this is not something that a group of like-minded people like anymore. It's now become bigger.

It's like every time I go to a U2 show, I'm like, oh, right. Oh, this isn't the tiny band that I remember seeing at the forum. Right. But I have actually from this tour, the Fables tour, I have – Which you did not go to because you were a little boy. I was masturbating at Back to the Future. At Marty McFly. I have a poster from the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium where they played in the town I grew up in.

And you are miming the dimensions of a poster right now. That's how serious you are about this. I have it framed, but it's from that era. It was like up on a telephone pole in Santa Cruz, and someone took it down and saved it, and I got it on eBay. It's pretty rad. Wait, so this person took it down, saved it, did all the legwork, and then you just swoop in with your actor money and buy it?

Swooped in and bought it and put it in a frame. You piece of shit. And Naomi does not like it on the wall. Where do you keep it? In my office. That's not – on a wall? Or does she make you put it on the wall. Where do you keep it? In my office. That's not – on a wall? Or does she make you put it on the ceiling? Right now it's not on a wall because we share an office.

Oh, no. But I have to – because the art for this particular tour is like – what is it? A parrot riding a bicycle? Not a parrot. What is it? It's not the most pleasing to the eye. Speaking of pleasing to the ear, though, let's listen to the first track off of Side 2. This is a classic.

This is Can't Get There From Here. When the world is a monster Bad to swallow Oh Bad to swallow Kick a plate of toast Yeah, this got played on MTV and stuff. This is kind of a little college radio hit. This definitely was a song that I was aware of beyond not really knowing this record.

Yeah. This has never been a big song for me of theirs. I, because it was on eponymous, Right.

it was a big song for me just of like, because I maybe listen to eponymous more than the individual records sometimes. Okay.

Here's the chorus. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Some classic Mike Myers backup vocals. Pretty great. It's actually a monkey riding a bicycle with a parrot on the handlebars was the art for the tour, and so that's why it's not allowed up on the wall. I wouldn't either, honestly. Yeah, so that song was a little hit.

It's a hit, but they don't, do they, to you, do they seem to like it all that much? No, they never play it. They haven't put it on their best ofs. It wasn't on the last best of, right? Nor have they played it in decades. He's also doing like a voice in it. I believe in a quote I read he says he's doing five different voices in it.

Because he's kind of doing like a southern thing in it of like almost over-emphasizing a southern accent during singing it. So I don't know whether they feel like it's a novelty song or something. Maybe a little bit. The video too, they all look embarrassed to me. They're all kind of like, okay, yeah, this is silly. It's embarrassing making videos.

How stupid is that? This is the first one it felt like they were reaching a little for maybe some commercial potential. It's a commercial. At the end of the song we didn't play it, but there's a big little for maybe some commercial it's a commercial that at the end of the song we didn't play it but there's a big horn section that comes in he was saying that he michael stipend was saying that he was trying to describe to the horn players what he wanted them to do at the end with where it goes and he was saying no it's like louis armstrong and they were confused thinking he meant the horn sounds in a Louis Armstrong,

but he meant Louis Armstrong's voice. And so he was like, And then they finally got it, I guess. I don't know. There was no ending to that story. But I think I like it. I love that song. Yeah, it's fine.

I like other stuff on the record more. Track two. Oh, this is amazing. I like other stuff on the record more. Track two. Oh, this is amazing. I love this. Classic. Classic. This part reminds me of Seven Chinese Brothers. Yeah, I was just going to say, this could be on Reckoning. Yeah.

This is a beautiful song. Kind of an underpre- Like, they never really went back to it much in the later years. I really like it. It's beautiful. There were a couple of songs where I was listening to it at first. We should listen to the chorus. Nah.

Again, they're just not getting to the choruses quick enough. For our purposes. Yes, I know. For record purposes. They should make alternate versions for our podcast. Ding, ding, ding. Here it comes. Green girl,

the rush is good. Green girl, the rush is good. Green girl, the rush is good. All right. This is a song that Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs made a pact with Michael Stipend to each write songs about the genocide of Native Americans. about the genocide of Native Americans. Her song, Among the Americans, was on The Wishing Chair, which came out this particular year, produced by Joe Boyd as well. And this is his song.

This is about Native Americans? I figured it was about agriculture. They say that it's supposedly about migrant farm laborers as well. No one really knows what it's about, but that's what Natalie Merchant has stated. That's what she decided it was about. And, you know, I don't know. She probably knows better than I do. When did In My Tribe come out, like their huge record?

Was that 87? That's probably 87 or so, yeah. I remember listening to that a lot. Man, I was so into that. Marie Callender's when I worked there in 1988. Really? Yeah. You have it on like a Discman or something? No, I didn't have it on a Discman.

I don't know. How did you listen to it at Marie Callender? Like you put it on the system? No, I just remember like they had a lot of TV screens, and so I would see – they would play MTV a lot. What's the song that they duet on on In My Tribe? We will find that when it comes up a little later boy did i love ten thousand maniacs um i've tried to listen to them recently you know what album is

great is our time in eden that holds up quite well okay let's hear let's move on trek kohotech kohote, here we go. This is more of that sludgy production. But I feel it works much more here than Old Man Kenzie. There's a great melody in this one. Yeah. There's a great melody in this one. Yeah. This is referencing the Comet, Koh-O-Tek. They say it's one of the earliest R.E.M. songs about a romantic relationship,

using the comet as a simile for a lover who, like Koh-O-Tek, was gone. Yeah, I love this song. This is one of the ones that repeated listenings. I was like, holy shit, this is an incredible song. The chorus is really nice. And I think it's one of those ones that kind of pulls you out of sludgy, what could be considered to be kind of a bore. But I love that the melody and how beautiful it is is really buried, and you have to kind of find it. It's great. This is the next track.

This is Auctioneer, parentheses, Another Engine. Another train song on this record. Second train song on this record second train song what's going on with these train songs this is a fun song this reminds me of a cure record like from the cures first three records especially the demo version version. Another wife, another morning still. Mr. Tis, to the auctioneer. Another engine, another engine. I think it's a cool song. Me too.

I like it. It's awesome. Another one that took me a while to get into. Because it is, it's very much, I would say that song, Kahotek, Old Man Kinsey, and Feeling Gravity's Pull really kind of flavored the album for everyone. And that's kind of what gave the album its... But they're growers, they're not showers.

They are. Sort of like you in – All of my work. I've talked about it on the show before, that movie that you did the overnight. Yeah. How it was a response to that HBO show you did where they gave you a fake prosthetic penis. Yeah. And you were like, no, I want to show my real penis in a film.

That's right. So check that out. All prosthetics just for – Made exactly to size. Yeah. This is good advices. This is the second to last track on side two. Here we go. Oh. Again, a little sludgy, but a great melody.

It's so great. And then the chorus is really catchy and fun. But you notice some of the songs drive great. Here it comes. You can't get there from here. Oh, boy. Barry Smith's. Very Smiths This is super Hatful of Hollow

era Smiths Wow you really don't want to play these choruses Nope That's a great great song that takes

it's a really sweet song I feel like this Wendell G Can't Get There From Here, Life and How to Live at Driver 8 are these really poppy fun songs

that kind of get buried in the sludgier songs and that's what kind of, you know... It's almost like these are... The tone of the album that was pushed out there was this kind of sludgier,

tougher album. They sound like Peel sessions, like John Peel sessions in a way, instead of finished. Although I will say Driver 8 and Can't Get There From Here sound like singles, like purely polished singles with his vocals out in front. These sound a little like they went into a radio station

and had a guy going, I don't know. That's right. But this is the last song. This was weirdly, this turned out to be a single in England, I believe. This is Wendell, not really a single as far as I'm concerned, but a nice track to end the record. This is Wendell G. That's when Wendell G. Takes a tug upon the stream.

And held the line of trees. Behind the house he lived in He was rare to give respect But somewhere down the line he chose To whistle as the wind blows It's nice. Yeah, I like it. I challenge anyone to listen to that entire song and not get a little lump in your throat. Like of semen? Yes.

It's kind of foreshadowing what comes a bit later, like after the next few albums, what they kind of move towards in Out of Time and Automatic for the People. It's kind of like Everybody Hurts in a way. Yeah, or like Endgame or some of these kind of folksier tunes. It's a good old southern R.E.M. There's an interesting passage in this book that talks about how R.E.M. has three different types of songs. They have the

pretty ones, they have the poppy ones, and then they have the weird ones. We gotta get you a different book. I'll get that book to you. By the way, the next episode we'll talk about this book a little more. Let's hear some of the B-sides. This is crazy. This is a song

by Pylon, Athens, Georgia, contemporary. Love this so much. I like this more than the Pylon version. Yeah. I like the Pylon version. I just heard the Pylon version in a TV show, I think. I think it was in Halt and Catch Fire. Oh, interesting.

That you're watching that. On the verge of interesting. It's a good show. I hear it got great in the last seasons. I unfortunately watched the first two seasons. Scoot McNary. Yep. Great actor.

Great name, too. Scoot. Yeah. They're all great actors on that show. Can you imagine being called Scoot? Yeah, I can. Because I pretended to be him for three weeks when we were little kids. They didn't know the lyrics to this song,

so they called up the woman from Pylon to try to get some clarity on it. Really? They couldn't get a hold of her, so they instead just made up what they thought the lyrics were. We've got to hear the chorus here. It's so catchy. You're a big chorus guy I sure am that song leads off

Dead Letter Office so and of course I didn't know Pylon they mentioned you know Peter Dollar Bill mentions

it's a Pylon song in the liner notes but I didn't hear the Pylon version for decades probably yeah i just found it recently yeah um this is bad are we not gonna hear the chorus to crazy it's so catchy no we're not okay great what i mean if they don't if they don't get to a chorus in two minutes okay what am i supposed to do oh you know what we should play is Throw Those Trolls Away, which was like the great long-lost Fables song. Yes, although they turned it into a song on the next record, on Fables.

This is Bandwagon. This is another B-side. Come on aboard. I promise you we won't hurt the horse. We'll treat it well. This was always a favorite of mine in my teenage years. I love this song. I like it better than a lot of songs that are actually on the record.

Although he's doing that southern voice again, and I bet that they didn't want to put two songs where he's kind of, who knows what their mindset was. But if I were them, I would maybe go, you know, we already have Can't Get There From Here where he's doing the southern kind of thing. It kind of sounds like Can't Get There From Here. It sounds like there's kind of a sub-song. I like it.

Have we gotten to the chorus yet? This is about the Reaganomics and the Republicans and all that. That's what they're singing about. Which you love. Yeah, I'm a Republican. You're like a trickle-down guy. For sure. This tax cut, incredible.

Can I tell you something? I'm so into this tax cut. Me too. Come on, chorus. Adam wants to hear you. All right, good shit. All right, good shit. I got to say, on Fables,

we neglected to mention what a superstar Mike Mills is with all those vocals, and Bill Barry, all those backing vocals on Fables of Reconstruction. It's incredible. You know what? You know the part on

Can't Get There From Here where it goes, ah, right before? I always wondered who did that. I assumed it was Mike Mills, but I think listening to the demo, I think it's Stipe End does it, yeah. This is a really, this is a curiosity. This is a B-side.

Burning Hell, which, you know what? Is this from the Fables sessions? Yeah. This is like them attempting to do a metal song. It's, you know, sequenced properly in Dead Letter Office. I like the song. Yeah. But, like, just individually, it's... It's all right.

This is... Oh, okay. So those are all the outtakes. Well, you know what's interesting is the demos for fables are all like this is just they made they made the demos in athens with producer joe boyd before they went over to london yeah and they sound they like why go to london and re-record all these songs they're so they never describe why they went to london is it just because he lived there and had his studio there i guess and then joe boyd he talks about in this book he talks about how he didn't have the right

speaker setup at his studio like why go all the way to, he talks about how he didn't have the right speaker setup at his studio. Like, why go all the way to London and your producer doesn't have the right speaker setup? The Athens demos are so good and the songs are finished. Like, there's nothing really to do. You want to play the Trolls one? Yeah. There you go. This is a demo.

What song do they end up turning it into? I forgot. But this is Throw Those Troll song do they end up turning it into? I forgot, but this is Throw Those Trolls Away. Mm-hmm. Oh, is it I Believe? Is that what it turns into? Oh, it might be. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, this turns into I Believe. But I had never heard it until this special edition came out in 2010, I think. Or 2015. 2010. What? Nothing. Nerd.

Nerd. I had never heard this particular song until 2010, I believe. But here's the demo for Life and How to Live It. Okay. They didn't... These guys had these songs. It's so impressive. This is just them recording what they have.

That's so a demo. Right. But it's done. It's so good. This sounds actually a lot like the finished record, but that's only because it's a purely guitar recording until... Can you imagine coming up with this? It's so awesome.

I can never figure this out. Me neither. Do you like the... Turn it down. Do you like the demo better than the finished versions of some of these songs? I don't. I sort of like Auctioneer a little better as a demo. Oh, do you?

Yeah, but just because it purely sounds like early Cure. Here's the demo for Driver 8. It's just, they had all these like they must have been writing on the road because they these guys well that's i mean you know they've been writing they've been doing an album a year yeah at this point while touring constantly yeah um yeah because reckoning was just one year ago when this they're out. They're on pretty much a cycle of putting out a record every 12 or 13 months at this point. Here, give it back. Wait, I want to hear this demo of Auctioneer that you love so much. Oh, boy.

Listen to that. Beautiful. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The vocals are cool on it. it yeah like they took a stab at something whereas the uh the album version sounds a little like they didn't know what to do yeah give it back one sec i think the good advices demo is really cool too okay yeah see these are great and also hyenas on here which they save for life right they save yeah which i think was a good move um they also uh this year michael nope did not fall for it by the way

uh michael stipend went on tour with the golden palominos as a vocalist oh yeah that's right and put out three records or uh three songs on the Golden Palomino's. This is one of them. Not that great, I think. I never really found this. I bought these just because I read about them. Yeah, I don't know. We didn't even have to play them.

So can we talk about how I would re-sequence it? Yeah, sure. Okay. I guess. No, yeah, yeah. Feeling gravity's pull. I appreciate that being the first song of like, hey, let's do something different. I'd keep it there.

Then I'd go into Driver 8. Right. Then Life and How to Live It, follow it up with the song that traditionally does. But that's kind of the classic rem song as track three rather than the track four then i'd go into auctioneer um because it goes from major key to then a minor key one basically what i've done is i've made major key songs and minor key songs like alternate so it is constantly not getting into a groove of just minor key sludge uh then good advices. I would end Side 1 with Good Advices.

Then Side 2, Can't Get There From Here, Green Grow the Rushes, Koh-O-Tech. Then I'd go into Bandwagon and substitute Bandwagon because I like that better than the song I've taken out. Which song did you take out? I took out Old Man Kenzie, which I just can't get into. And then from Bandwagon, go into Maps and Legends, and I think Maps and Legends works really well

after a major key song like Onside 2. I think it works. It got me into Maps and Legends. And then followed it up with Wendell G at the end. That is – yes. I'm going to make a new playlist. Oops. I'm going to make a duty right here.

I'm going to make a new playlist. Okay. With mine? Okay. I'll tell you. Why don't we do this off air? Probably a good idea. Rather than go through it again?

So that is – how do we feel about it? As a whole? As a whole now. How do you feel about it? Because you said for a while it was your favorite. For a while it was my favorite. But since they broke up, I've shifted. It is one of my favorite. But since they broke up, I've shifted. It is one of my favorites.

But, you know, I don't really have... There isn't really an R.E.M. record that I wholly dislike. But it's... I mean, the songwriting is incredible.

I think I like it, I think, more than Re like it I think more than Reckoning maybe more than Murmur. Really? Maybe. I I love it.

I like the the previous three records that we've talked about Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckoning better but I I think there are some

great songs on it. I think the direction they are leaning towards which is kind of more – What are you eating? I'm starving, so all I could find are these gummy bears in my backpack.

And it's not great for an empty stomach. Are you a child? I know. Why do you have gummy bears in your backpack? They're the press juicery gummy bears I got for Christmas. I don't know. They're leaning towards sort of a more linear kind of... We'll see you next time.

This has been R.U. Talking R.E.M. R.E.M.E. Next time we're going to talk about fables. No, sorry. We're going to talk about Life's Rich Pageant. Uh-huh. Finish your sentence.

No. Okay, we'll see you next time. We hope you found what you're looking for. Hey, everyone, thanks for listening. Remember, the future is coming. Make it brighter with Squarespace. Squarespace makes it easy to turn your idea into a unique website. Showcase your work, blog, or publish content.

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This has been an Earwolf production. Executive produced by Scott Aukerman, Chris Bannon, and Colin Anderson. For more information and content, visit Earwolf.com. on hour-long conversations between me, Cameron Esposito, and some of the brightest luminaries in the LGBTQ family. Queery explores individual stories of identity, personality, and the shifting cultural matrix around gender, sexuality, and civil rights. Plus, it is fun.

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We've got celebs, people like Trixie Mattel, Evan Rachel Wood, Tegan and Sarah, the band, and the people, separately, on two different episodes. We also have activists and changemakers in our community. I think it's a one-of-a-kind show full of chats you have never heard before. It's identity, it's community, it's query. You can find Query every Monday on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.