U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME? - Green? with Lance Bangs

Episode Date: April 11, 2018

Director Lance Bangs joins Adam Scott Aukerman to discuss R.E.M.’s sixth studio album Green. They’ll talk about R.E.M.’s partial reunion in Portland, when Lance first heard of the band, and how Lance began to know the band and start collaborating with them. Plus, Scott and Scott tell us a little bit more about themselves on an episode of “Talkin’ Bout Me.” This episode is brought to you by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: REM).

Hey everyone, thanks for listening to R.U. Talk and R.E.M. Rimi. Before we get to that though, Adam and I want to talk about Lisa. Not our friend, Lisa Simpson, who we love. She's great. She's great. I really love what she had to say in a recent episode. But what we want to talk about is Lisa the Mattress Company. What is Lisa, Adam? Lisa is an innovative direct-to-consumer online mattress brand that is also socially conscious. That's right.

Much like the band Harry M. In fact, for every 10 mattresses that Lisa sells, they donate one to a shelter through their 110 program, which is great. Yeah, not to mention with a patent and universal adaptive feel, Lisa is designed for all types of sleepers. How do you sleep, by the way? I'm saying that because you're such a scumbag. Like, how do you sleep? I sleep upside down. Oh, good.

You're a vampire. Lisa, by the way, now has expanded its offerings to include the Lisa pillow. Got one of those. And I saw some logs on it. Blanket, the Lisa blanket, foundation, and frame. Try a Lisa mattress in your own home for 100 nights risk-free. That's too long, I think. Available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Germany online with free shipping.

This 100% American-made mattress ships compressed in a box right to your door. Or try it at the Lisa Dream Gallery in Soho, New York, and Virginia Beach, and over 80 West Elm stores. We're not saying try it at each of these places, like 82 places. No. You'd be insane. Get $125 off. Great. And a free pillow when you go to lisa.com slash REM.

That is L-E-E-S-A dot com slash R-E-M From Chronic to Collapse Town and Into Now respectively respectively, that is, this is Are You Talking R.E.M.? R.E.M.E., the comprehensive end. Well, encyclopedic compendium of all things R.E.M. Frankly, encyclopedic. One has to admit it's encyclopedic.

This is good rock and roll. Music, Kevin, stop turning down uh this is good rock and roll uh music i'll i'll be on the i'll turn it down from here thank you my good man uh welcome back to the show for another week this is exciting uh excitement is pulsing through my veins. That's right. Your veins are throbbing. Throbbing. You can see it from there. I mean, your temples, first of all, you're red in the face. And I'm assuming you're not embarrassed.

No. You know what that is? What is going on with you? It's excitement, and I can't keep it in. I think you're having a heart attack right now. Duh-ee. What if you had a heart attack, and all your last words were on a podcast welcome to the show for another week uh yeah gotta gotta introduce myself and gotta introduce

uh my co-host before we go any further you know me i'm your old podcast friend scotty b scotty b you know me scotty b and across from me is uh you know him from uh lincoln ship's prayer lincoln ship's prayer of course and morgan freeman movies the payment of dr ben's the payment of dr ben's uh scotty b over here hi hi everybody hi hi welcome to the show um We're gonna be talking about The band Well we're gonna finish up a discussion about the album We're gonna start and finish

A discussion about The band Drawing a blank Who's What are we talking about today? Hurry up Hurry up I'm drawing a blank. What are we talking about today? Har-iam. Har-iam.

Har-iam. Har-iam. Har-iam. They have an album. They have many. So I'm not saying anything controversial here. No. But they do have one album, and it's called Green.

Yeah. Bucoco dolores my friend make it rain um we're gonna be talking about green today and uh look quite honestly we had to end the last episode because it was just getting too long yeah uh and so we had our good friend uh on the show with us last week and we were like please will you return please please we were we were begging we were crying like dogs we were like please we love you come on come on we'll do anything you know what he said yes i couldn't He said yes. I couldn't believe it. Me neither. I couldn't believe it, but he came back all the way back here for another week. Yeah.

He went back to his home in Portland and flew down on his own dime as well. Not on my dime. Certainly. I'm not going to pay for this motherfucker. Yeah. I didn't even want him back. That's bullshit, man. But we got him back.

He's here to talk about the album Green as well. You know him from so many things. This guy has a CV of a person five times his age. I'm talking like- What's his CV? Resume. Have you never been to England? No, I've been to England. I didn't have to give anyone my resume you didn't give anyone your resume your cv while you were there supposed to do yes bro is that why i didn't get a job while i was there you didn't give anyone your cv no

oh adam you poor poor young thing um but he yeah he has the resume or resume, as I pronounced it for a good portion of my life, of a person five times his age, a 200-year-old man. I've heard of the 2,000-year-old man played by Mel Brooks. Yeah. But a 200-year-old man? Never heard of that. But this guy has the resume of someone of that age. It goes without saying that his name is Lance Banks. Hello, Lance.

Hey, guys. Hey, Lance. Thanks for coming back. Yeah. List some of the things you've done. What are you most proud of in your career? Directed episodes of a TV show called Better Things. It runs on FX.

Love Better Things. You hang out with Louis? of a TV show called Better Things. It runs on FX. Love Better Things. You hang out with Louis? Directed the final couple episodes of Portlandia. They're going to air.

Oh, that's amazing. And starting up a new TV show on Comedy Central with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle called The New Negroes. Love those guys. Baron, of course,

played... Why am I blanking on his character name on Bang Bang he was in like 20 episodes but our security guard did a Robocop episode with us

great great dude and that's and you created that show we are creating it right now you're creating it right now great what's it going to be like

it's going to be a half hour comedy stand-up show with music on Comedy Central. We did that show, The Meltdown, in previous years, and so it'll be a similar thing. You directed The Meltdown. Yes. Yes.

So this will be three stand-up performers, Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle hosting, and for each episode we'll make a sort of a music video collaboration between Mike Eagle and someone else. That's right. And so who else would it would it be with so we're gonna do one with uh danny brown we're going out to people like killer mike lizzo and yeah that's amazing well when i think of uh stand-up comedy and music in the african-american uh arena i think of you so that's great that you're involved um no it's great uh you yeah you were a big part of the meltdown so that's you have the experience necessary for that so and i'm big fans of those guys so that's incredible

um we're going to be talking about green uh coming up here uh before we do, I do want to sort of continue the discussion that we had last week about, we were talking about Lance here has worked with the band REM a lot, and I wanted to just sort of follow up on that of, we sort of cut it off around Green last time.

Did you do any further work with them down the road? Quite a bit over the years. Like throughout the 90s would help them and directed some music videos for the record that came out after Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi. Directed a documentary, then making that. And then would kind of continue to make pieces with Michael or direct documentaries or footage with them over the years. And would you consider them to be friends? Absolutely, yeah.

I still hang out with them quite a bit. Fantastic. And did they ever, was there ever a situation where they were like, you know what, I'm kind of tired of playing the bass or I'm tired of singing tonight. Let's get Lance to do this. Was there ever like one of these situations where like they were playing a big show in Amsterdam or something and they were like,

hey, Lance, do you mind singing this show or anything like that ever happened to you? No, never. That's really weird that that never happened. Were you there? Were you shooting in the room in Berlin when they had their final performance? I directed that, yeah. You did?

Yeah, so I'm one of the few people that was there for the final performance. Wow. And what song was the final song? Was it Discover? I believe that could have been the last one. I should check my notes and look up what song was the final song? Was it Discover? I believe that could have been the last one. I should check my notes and look up what they...

Discover, yeah. It's a song about the credit card company? They have one called Diner's Club for a while, I remember. Were there, sorry,

were there songs in that, like, Berlin session that were not released? Did they play longer than... They, all the songs that they performed live were ones that made it onto the album. Okay. Yeah. like Berlin session that were not released? Did they play longer than? They,

all the songs that they performed live were ones that made it onto the album. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. Those are great

versions of all those songs. Great sessions. Great versions. And they, did they all feel like this was it? They knew. Yeah.

I mean, I hope I'm not ruining any timeline for anybody, but they, they kind of knew that they wanted to make a record that they're all really fond any timeline for anybody, but they kind of knew that they wanted to make a record that they're all really fond of

and that wasn't just the kind of accelerate reaction to the previous one. Yeah, yeah. Okay, we still can write a range of different sounds and songs and it's not just all up-tempo guitar stuff. But they knew it was the best of what they were able to do as songwriters and make it in great studios and try a few new things and go out in that way.

But they knew much like Santa on Christmas Eve with all of his presents, they were about to wrap it up. Absolutely. Fantastic. Well, let's talk about the record Green. What do you say? Let's do it. This is where you first met them on the Green tour,

so no better album for you to be here during the episode of which. Exactly. Green, all right. Well, let's get to it. Green, coming out November 7th, 1988. November 7th. Election Day. Election Day.

Election Day. It's the day before Election Day, wasn't it? Or no. It came out in the UK the day before. Yes, Tuesdays in the States were when records came out, and Tuesdays are when elections happen, so I was right. Except about it was out in the UK the day before. Other than that, sure.

Look, I don't live in the UK, so I don't know why you would assume that I was talking about the UK, but okay, Lance, great. Part of the whole reason they went to Warner Brothers was so that it could be out in places like the UK. All right, fine, Lance. A day earlier than any. Exactly. Why don't I just quit? Is that what you're trying to say? You want to host this show? You fucking

host this show. Scott, Scott, it's okay. I'm just tired of this shit. Scott, come back! Lance comes in here. He's a big man. He knows the band. I talked to him the other night. What did Michael have to say? Which one? He wasn't there you know i went to buy this on the day it came out i was not old enough to vote so

i had plenty of time to go buy the new rem album after school okay well let's talk about what we were doing i was old enough to vote i had recently turned 18 i voted did you vote for bush of course and i was super stoked when that war happened fucking one um no it was my first my first voting uh for a president i voted for michael dukakis um he did really well he did he did great i was i was very happy with his uh showing um let's see this came out november 7th 1988 was not the first rem uh record that i bought on cd because that was eponymous three weeks earlier interesting eponymous came out three weeks earlier i in our last episode we uh talked about how i got i won a cd player at the office christmas party in 1987 uh office i was working at the la times i was a telemarketer selling the paper, just picking up random numbers.

It's a big gift in 1988. Yeah, I mean, it was hundreds. It was like a $350 item, and I won it at the Christmas party in the raffle. Were the adults who worked at the LA Times bummed that a teenager in the telemarketing department won the... No, because it was just the telemarketing. Wow, thanks, guys.

This is great. This was not a Christmas party with the reporters. This was just the telemarketing. Thanks, guys. Yeah. This is great. This was not a Christmas party with like the reporters. This was just the telemarketing. And they still had a CD player. I don't know. Yeah, it was weird. And by the way, I also was employee of the month. So it wasn't like I didn't deserve it or something.

Like I was selling a lot of papers. They must have really hated you if you were employee of the month. Oh, they hated me. There was a guy named Bill who worked there who we would do an impression of him because he would say, yep. So he would say, hello, this is Bill. I'm with the Los Angeles Times. Am I speaking to the head of the household? Yep.

Is he still alive? I hope so. He was a libertarian. It was the first time I ever heard of a libertarian and i was like are you doing this just to be weird bill what is this he was trying to explain it to me um tough to explain i remember one time we were we me and two other dudes worked there and we all went to high school together and uh we all carpooled and I remember my friend David, someone cut him off in line and he flipped him off in traffic.

I mean, not in line, although I guess traffic is sort of like a big long line of cars when you really think about it. So he flipped him off and the guy chased us all the way to the LA times. And when we pulled in, he pulled in right behind us, was like, hey man, what the fuck? You flipped me off. And my friend David,

big, big brave guy was like, oh no, I was taking out a cigarette and you saw a cigarette, not my finger. And the guy was like, you better fucking watch it, bro. What a waste of time for that guy. I know.

All he was going to do is acknowledge that you flipped him off. Yeah, I know. I don't know. People are crazy. I remember listening to Squeeze's singles record a lot, driving back and forth to the LA Times. Yeah.

So anyway, so I got a CD player. Eponymous was my first REM CD. That was the best of. We didn't base an episode around that. Scott talks a lot about Eponymous was my first REM CD. That was the best of. We didn't base an episode around that. Scott talks a lot about Eponymous. Eponymous was a big album for him. Oh, cool. Okay.

So Green was the second REM CD that I'd ever bought. I'd been used to buying it on album. Was it a CD for you or were you? I bought that as a CD, but prior to that, most things were cassette. Oh, you were a cassette listener. Yeah, me too. I was a cassette guy. And why is that? I usually wasn't at a house with a turntable.

I was usually in a parking lot with a Walkman. Interesting. Okay. You're a real parking lot guy. Yeah. That's a lot of your life. Yes, I've noticed. Do you still like to hang out at them? I still do quite a bit.

We have one downstairs. I hope you enjoyed it all right um so um so where what are you doing adam during uh when green comes out you're uh you're 16 or so i was 15 do the math here i was 15 and uh i went down. You got some pubes? I got some pubiruses. I went down to, what was it? The warehouse. Where? It may have been a warehouse. It may have been a warehouse. No, it wasn't a warehouse.

What the hell was that? It was downtown Santa Cruz, and I bought it after school. There was just not an interesting story about my buying the REM album. I was REM I was like 15 15 yeah I'd just gotten into community college uh I remember having an argument with uh someone in my poli sci class I think about why I was voting for Dukakis and I knew nothing about politics and I all I knew was like from stuff like like U2 and REM of just like we'll be, you know, vote for Democrat. Yeah, yeah. And I was just – I remember and I still think about this. I was arguing with him.

I'm like, two words, Dan Quayle. That's all you need to know. Such a dumb argument. No, it's actually a pretty good argument. Yeah. I mean like it turns out to be. But all I was doing of the dumb like, you know, he's a dummy. He can't spell potato.

You want someone like that in charge? You know, which is like not a real argument. Do you know who your coworker Bob might have voted for in 1998? Yeah, I was wondering who the libertarian was. It was Ron Paul in his first presidential run. It was. Were you aware of the libertarian? I mean, you worked for Greenpeace.

You were way more plugged into politics. Aware enough not to vote for him, but knew that he was running right yeah wow now he's just a trump like apologist which is great it's the worst what um i love love donald trump i i don't know what i'm talking about why i said that i was going to cypress college i I believe I was cast in the musical Evita at this point and was in rehearsals for it where I played the role of Magaldi, the singing raconteur that

Eva Peron discards early in her career. Was Madonna in this production? She was. She was doing a little warm-up. That's cool. Yeah, I was excited about the album, but... Very excited. ...because I basically just had Document,

but... Yes, on the previous episodes, Lance, he got into the band with Document. He had received it for Christmas of 1987. That's right. This is a mere 11 months later. You'd received Dead Letter Office and gone sort of backwards at this point?

Sort of backwards. Or Green was the second record you got? I think Green was probably the second, but this is where it all opened up for me, this album. And it still might be my favorite of their albums. I love Green. Interesting. And do you remember buying it, Lance? Yeah, absolutely.

I rode a bicycle after school to a... Parking lot. Yeah. And hung out there for three or four hours and then went to a record store. And it was like a long box CD and the orange artwork went all the way up and down. Yeah, the long boxes.

I miss them. Me too. What a waste that they're not around anymore. All right. So it comes out on November 7th, intentionally put out on election day from what they said. That's right. They wanted to use the press cycle in order to get people out there voting

and to get their message of who to vote for out there. Hey, it worked on me. I voted for Dukakis. This was their first record for Warner Brothers, the Brothers Warner, as they say. They previously were on IRS, and they were considering, as we talked about, remaining with them. And IRS was a little bit bummed that they didn't stick around with them, but they went to Warner Brothers for a

huge payday for them, and complete control. That is very important, and then I believe they also got the rights back to their albums after a certain amount of years. It was like one of these deals where I was reading

anyone would have given them whatever they wanted because they were not only critically acclaimed, but also had that top 10 hit with the one I love. Yeah. My memory is that like Warner's wasn't necessarily like the highest dollar amount that they're offered, but guaranteed them the most. The most creative control.

And they had like Neil Young and all these artists. Yeah. So Neil Young was over there with the Prius and Husker Du had previously signed to them like two, three years before. Plus they put – I mean in just one year from when this came out or even like eight months, they're going to put out the Batman movie. Yes. Which is like huge. Huge movie. When I was a kid.

I mean the Batman poster everywhere. I'm sure REM knew something about that. I'm sure when they went by the Warner Brothers offices, they were like, Batman. Do you want to go in and look at Batman? And they ended up doing a song on the Batman and Robin soundtrack.

That's right. Was it that or Batman Forever? Winged mammal theme or something like that? No, it was Revolution. But isn't winged mammal theme like what they originally wrote for it or something? That's why they – Oh, I don't know. Because Batman winged mammal.

That was a B-side for drive, I believe. Winged mammal. Batman side. That's what B-side stands for. You know what? We actually have to go to a break. Okay. Yeah.

So when we come back, we will be talking about REM even more. Can you believe it? Oh, my God. Oh, my God, REM. Here we go. We'll be right back. Hey, Adam. Yeah.

You like comic books? Yeah. What's your favorite comic book? Mad Magazine. I'm trying to see if this is making the comic book nerd in me like furious right now. Oh, no. Freak Brothers. I love to the Freak Brothers.

Freak Brothers. I don't know though. Who makes that? Rip Off Press was the Freak Brothers. Freak Brothers. I don't know, though. Who makes that? Rip Off Press was the company. Cool. If I were to say, let me say one word to you, and you've heard of the concept of onomatopoeia, right? Of course.

Of course you have. You're a smart person. You would never not know what that is. Never. If I were to say one word to you, tell me what you think of. Snicked. Wolverine. Yeah,icked. Wolverine. Yeah, bro.

Wolverine. The Marvel madman himself, Wolverine. And this is cool. I was very excited about this. I knew about this months and months ago, and I was just sitting on this info for a while. If you haven't heard Wolverine the Long Night, which is Marvel's

first scripted podcast ever you are missing out now the first seven episodes are out and if you start now

you'll end up binge listening to the whole thing just in time for the finale yeah I mean if you start now

and we're giving you enough time for bathroom breaks of course we're not monsters you can always pause it and go take a leak. I got scared when I said the word monster.

If you like the first season of True Detective, it's a lot like that. If you did not like the second season of True Detective, like me, it's not like that. It's not like that at all. Follows two special agents investigating a string of murders in Alaska. At first, they suspect Logan. We all know that's Wolverine's name. A stranger with claws. But between a night-worshipping cult and a shady police force, things get more complicated.

The podcast stars Richard Armitage. He's incredible as Wolverine. And we got our good buddy Scott Adsit. He's incredible from 30 Rock, of course. We got our good buddy, Scott Adsit. He's incredible from 30 Rock, of course. And Otto Asando from Altered Carbon, plus more appearances from people like comedian Chris Gethard.

I don't know how he finagled his way into this, but if a nerd like him can be in this show, I don't know why they're not calling me. Marvel's Wolverine The Long Night is available exclusively on Stitcher Premium. To listen now, go to wolverinepodcast.com and use the code MARVEL at checkout to get your first month free. Snicked!

Yay! All right, we're back. We're talking about Green. We're talking about the band Hariem. Hariem. All right, here we go. Let's get into it. We're talking about the band Hariem. Hariem. All right, here we go. Let's get into it. All right, should we start going through these songs?

Jesus fucking Christ. All right, I will. All right, so this is the first thing that we hear when we put it onto our CDs. This is Pop Song 89. Hello, I'm sorry I lost myself I think I thought you were someone else Should we talk about the weather? Should we talk about the government? All right.

That is the first song, and then it goes on and repeats that 80 more times, I think. This is the first thing we're hearing. What do you think, Adam? This is your 15-year-old kid. This is the first song. What do you got? I thought it was really weird. I mean, it sounds so different from Document,

which is what I was kind of used to. I thought it was really weird and catchy. It didn't really sound like anything I had heard before. It's definitely poppier and had this slick sound to it, but it was also strange. Also, they're drawing attention to the poppiness by calling it Pops on the Ring. Yeah, it was clear that they were kidding about something. It was a lot like my favorite television show, Transparent.

Yeah. How about you? How about you, Lance? This was a song that they had actually played live on that work tour in the fall of 87. They did versions of this and Orange Crush and then that other song that never came out called Title that they did a demo of

for Green but didn't finish. Did that have vocals on it and stuff? It did, like kind of mostly just phonetic sounds. And then Orange Crush had pretty close to completed lyrics. It was close to home. It's weird that it's called

Pop Song 89 but they were doing it like in 87 it was cheeky it was a weird you have to admit like

on a personal level just as like a 16 year old at this high school in New Jersey at the time having like started to get people on board

with R.E.M. playing them the previous two records yeah when this one came out and that was the first song and it was a little bit like, the lyrics felt like deliberately simple words.

Yes. And like, he had almost like in a David Byrne conceptual way, like, oh, I'm going to do a song that is cleverly about, you know. Yeah. It was a lot like, it was like more songs about buildings and food in a way. So it was like. It's as pop song as you can be.

It wasn't the like, for like the borderline rocker knuckle dragging dudes, I'd try and talk into like, yeah. The one I love sounding kind of like a, like mysterious. Yeah. Yeah. Now this was just like,

you know, deliberately just this bouncy poppy. And then like a few songs later is stand. It was like, yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah. I should have like steered him into the replacements more than this one i was i'm i guys i just hold on fast forward to turn it inside out yeah i like

the orange crush yeah when i first heard it i liked it i was like uh i don't know i i i like pop music you know we talked about i grew up on like huey lewis and the news so for me it was kind of like oh they're going a little more pop. I was like into it. I definitely, just the whole record, I was like, yeah, I like this. We'll talk about further impressions of it as we go on. But it definitely is like a big, obvious song. It's almost like calling something, this is the most obvious song in a way. Yeah, I think it's funny. It's like a dissection of a pop song and kind of pointing out how dumb a pop song is, but at the same time making it an actual good song.

Over and over and over and over and over. Okay, this is the second song. This is Get Up. Sleep delays my life When does time go by? I don't know When does time go by? I don't know Sleep, sleep, sleep in hell Wake it up You've got all your life

But wait a minute Get up, get up, get up Okay. Okay. So this is Get Up. I love this. Yeah, this is one of my favorite songs of theirs. You guys talk about it. I love how just big it sounds.

And it's taking that pop song thing from the opening song and just crafting something new and weird and incredible. Yeah, and it feels so engaging and it doesn't feel like he's doing a cold, conceptual, cynical No. wry take on it. And I don't know if I'm spacing out on previous records, but I was conscious in these first two

that Michael is doing multiple layers of vocals of different parts rather than it just being Mike Mills and Bill Berry and other parts. So it's Michael's doing one line and then doing another vocal on top of that. It was to the extent that I didn't really even know Michael Mills' contributions in the vocals.

I guess I listened to all of their records and assumed it was just Mike's type doing it because that was what I was used to with lead singers is them layering vocals like that. So it wasn't until later on me getting into the band realizing oh wow no the the actual classic sound is Stipe doing the lead and Mills doing the backup I think that is Mike Mills in right when the song starts it's just it's just harmonies happening all I mean it's incredible with headphones on listening to those harmonies that are don't stop through the whole song yeah i think that might be mike mills but

it's definitely michael steif going get up yeah exactly yeah and then mills does come back in after that to do a the part after oh yeah okay okay yeah you're right yeah it's cool um i remember live this was pretty amazing. It's definitely something that when I first heard it, I was like, yeah, this is good. I like this. It's also so simple and kind of just very obvious that upon repeated listening for me gets to be slightly annoying. Yeah, I mean it's so different from what they've done

before. You can hear all the lyrics. Once you've figured it out, I kind of am like, okay, I get it. Why are you just repeating it over and over a little bit? For me, this one's one of their more annoying songs to me, I think.

I don't know that it's something that I would put on repeat. It is for me. Although technically I like it. That's the problem. And when I first got this, I was like, I like this. I'm always happy to hear it. Me too. And I also was super reassured as a teenager when the song came on after Pop Song 89

that like, oh, there are still great sublime lyrics. They haven't lost their minds. Yeah. And so, I love the sleep delays in my life. I like dreams that complicate my life,

dreams that complement my life. I love all those things when they start coming. Yeah, it's cool. So, but definitely two very poppy, atypical of them songs

to start it off almost saying, hey, our first Warner Brothers album is a little bit different than yeah we're gonna go play arenas and these songs will fill them right now let's then follow it up by track three this is uh we mentioned it earlier they just played it up in portland this is you are the everything Sometimes I feel like I can't even sing I'm very scared for this world

I'm very scared for me This is a radio memory I'm very scared for this world, I'm very scared for me To miserate your memory Here's a senior in the backseat laying down the windows Wrap around to the sound of the travel and the engine All you hear is time stand still and travel you feel such peace and absolute stillness still that doesn't end but slowly drifts into sleep the stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen and they're there for you for you alone you are the

everything I think about Alright, very mandolin-centric. Is this the first R.E.M. song with a heavy mandolin presence? Yeah. I think I was reading that

what was the band? Maybe it was Camper Van Beethoven, yeah. I think I was reading that, what was the band? Maybe it was Camper Van Beethoven, I can't remember. It was like, I pretty much, I would play mandolin on all of our,

when we were touring together, I would play a mandolin and Peter Buck walked back and was like, what is that? And I was like, here, this is an electric mandolin.

I showed him how to play it and then boom, suddenly they're playing it all the time. So they had a dulcimer on King of Birds in the previous record, but this is the first mandolin. Yeah showed them how to play it, and then boom! Suddenly they're playing it all the time. So they had a dulcimer on King of Birds in the previous record, but this is the first mandolin. Yeah. It's a very pretty song. Yeah.

It's always been one of my favorites. I put it on mixtapes so many times for girls. It's crazy. And how did they react? Oh, I mean, I married all of them. You have several secret wives. Several wives. Yeah. That's great.

Yeah, this is just a classic. This is a R.E.M. classic. What do you think, Lance? I think it's great. I think it's like it suddenly unlocks the record

and makes you realize that they are doing this new thing where they have changed up the instrumentation and Peter Buck's not just playing guitar. Also, they were

switching instruments as they recorded this because they didn't want to do the typical. I mean, their first major label record, they don't want to do the typical thing that they've become famous for. So they're switching instruments. They're trying to do something different.

It definitely is one of those things where when I was listening to it, I think when I was listening to it, I was split because on my first listens, I was like, I like the poppy stuff. And then this one, I was a little like, eh, I was split because like on my first listens i was like i like the poppy stuff yeah and then this one i was a little like yeah i was a little cold on it yeah now coming back to the record uh like this is the first song where i'm like oh okay this is this is uh really good uh this will stand the test of time for me uh didn't they start out thinking one side would be acoustic one electric yeah and then they didn't have the song. They thought that they would do an entirely.

But they didn't have enough acoustic stuff, I guess. But they have like, what, three just this wrong child and hair shirt. And hair shirt, yeah. But I don't like when bands do that. What do you guys think of that? Do what? Do one side electric, one side acoustic. When does that actually happen?

Yeah. Well, like Fooo fighters did it so i don't know that one i don't know i guess i'm not into it um okay oh you know in high school i used to people would uh talk shit about rem i would play them this song and just go listen to the bass line and you're the everything oh mike mills is the paul mccartney of our generation there is no one who's a better bass player than this guy listen listen and then it wasn't until just like

recently that I realized that Bill Barry is playing bass Paul McCartney of our generation do you think anyone remembers you saying that and I think someone gave me shit about it in the last like 10 years really one of your old friends what did he say I think someone gave me shit about it in the last like 10 years. Really?

One of your old friends? Jay Deola, yeah. What did he say? Did he say this is – He said, wow, I was really impressed with the bass line, but I mean it was a little intense. I don't remember what exactly. He gave me shit about it. This is the third or fourth time you've talked about putting your headphones

on someone else and forcing them to listen to an R&M song. people on and play exhuming mccarthy for them just like is that have you ever heard anything that's this good you have to like you know that's great can you talk about uh singing this song you are the everything oh yeah i i used to sing it to my daughter for her to go to sleep. Seems like bad singing would make you stay awake. I know. I feel terrible for her. She would have nightmares every single night. Just screaming, waking up in a cold sweat.

That's sweet, though. Didn't you tell me as well that at a certain point she was like, Dad, can you stop singing? Yeah, she did. She did ask me to stop singing. But for a while, she was like dad can you stop singing yeah she did she did ask me to stop singing but for a while she liked it she liked it and that's what

that's what you're aiming for is those few years where that's right this is the next song this was a big hit this is Stand okay so um so let's talk about this yeah let's let's let's break it down i feel like

people who got so freaked out about stand but there's We Walk on their very first album. There's Can't Get There from here. They've always done these dumb pop songs since the very beginning. What is different about this one, do you think?

You think it's just in that it's just the same. It's in the vein of those songs. It's in the vein of and no one should have any sort of issue with it because it's exactly like that.

Well, anyone can have any issue with anything may i direct you to exhibit a the video for stand have you seen this in a while no i mean i vaguely remember it i mean right all music videos are annoying to some level Let me back this up just a little bit. But as a song, as a song, like, I didn't think it was any huge departure or any... They just put it out as a single and it became

a hit. Look at that dance. Now I read... I remember I loved this. I read Michael Stipe came to the video and said, I've come up with a dance, and not only have I come up with a dance,

but everyone is going to be doing this dance. And then in this book, by the way, the book that you sent me on iTunes, the writer, who is just obnoxious, writes that, and to his credit, several people sent him videotapes of them doing the dance. Lance, what do you think? What do you think about Stand?

I get it. I understand why people would be like, sure. It has that kind of deliberate modulation where it goes up. They do a key change twice. They do a big Broadway key change twice. And the lyrics are very direct and simple and bubblegummy. But it's a very fun song, and I like it, and I don't begrudge. I was more self-conscious about Pop Song 89 in some weird way

than I was about Stand. Maybe because it opened the album. Yeah. Stand was one of those songs where it became a hit, and people got really annoyed with it. And if it was playing in my car or something, I would always have to skip it so people wouldn't get. This is not one of the ones you would put headphones on? No.

I didn't love it live either. It wasn't the strongest live arrangement. I don't think they did either. I mean, they never really played it after that tour. It was interesting because I threw on this record. I threw on this record, Lance, we talked in a previous episode, Adam and I, about how I loved R.E.M. and was so into them. And at a certain point, I remember never buying another one of their albums ever again. And I was like, I wonder why that is. I was trying to put myself in the headspace.

And I remember liking Green. And so I put it on this week. And I was like, okay okay let's hear green and i was really trying to track like what is going on because i saw them in uh march of 1989 at the forum here in la and i took this girl that i was dating i was date for some weird reason the only time in my life i was dating four women at the same time who all were – Four? Who were all in the same drama department. Wow. At college.

Jesus. I went to a party once. I remember I went to a party at someone's house, and all four of them arrived at the same time. Oh, no. And I was like, I got to get the fuck out of here. Too much drama. Literally. And so I took this

what are you doing? I don't know it was weird and I didn't like any of them how many other people were in that department? I don't know it's like you know

one 50 or one other person but no I didn't really like any of them and I took one of them this girl

I think her name was Jennifer I don't remember but I took her to this show in March and then I took her to a crowded house show at the Pantages in April of 1989. And I remember the thing that really bothered me about her where I was like,

I can't, I don't think I can hang out with her anymore. As both shows we went to, she was like, they're brilliant. She used the word brilliant over and over and over. Like she was British or something. And she wasn't,

she was from orange County. I don't know. It bothered me anyway. But so I was trying to track like, well, why did I, why did I stand? And it was British or something, and she wasn't. She was from Orange County. I don't know. It bothered me. Anyway, so I was trying to track like, well, why did I – It was a stand. And it was a stand. Honestly, it was like – I was like, what is going on? And I listened to the stand.

I was like, oh, this is kind of annoying. And then I watched the video, and it was – I think it's the video. Well, there was a period of time where it was everywhere. It was a big hit. It was a big hit, and that video was super annoying. I don't – see, I don't have a problem with it. I'm where you are. But it's so not representative of what you probably loved about the previous albums

that if that's what everyone's seeing and thinking, that this band that you drew on your notebook is, that it's like, wait, no. I see that video, and I see crunchy people that look like the people I grew up with in Santa Cruz. And so seeing that on MTV, I was like, all right, there's finally a video with people that kind of look like the people that look like the people I grew up with in Santa Cruz. And so seeing that on MTV, I was like, all right, there's finally a video with people that kind of look like the people. And that's the thing.

We were talking about Document. I was into – I did not begrudge them success. I wanted them to be successful, and I was like happy when One I Love was a success. I was like, that band I told you about, they're really big. And something about Stand, I went from being there at the forum in march of 89 to a few months later being like i don't think i'll ever listen to this band again i don't and i think it was just that i don't and i'm not like a snooty yeah like music because we've talked about like other bands that change their styles i just i go along with it like Radiohead, you know,

for Kid A. I was like, oh, this is great. I don't know what it was. I, I, it was a theme song to Get Alive,

which I thought was cool. That should make me like it more. I know. Because I love Get Alive. That surprised me. Me too. I don't know what it, yeah,

I don't know. I couldn't believe my luck as a fan that my favorite band and Chris Elliott. Yeah. My favorite comedy person were like melded into one thing at the time i love chris elliott i tried to get him on bang bang so many times really he didn't do it well you know i sent him a fan letter once oh really or a fan email i emailed him a couple of times and got got one back it was it was yeah it was nice um he's the best he's the best love chris elliott okay this is, so after that, this is the next song.

We're still in side one, the air side. To air is human. The air side and metal side, is that what? Yeah. This is Worldly to Pretend. I'm nervous. I sit at my table And wage war on myself It seems like it's all It's all for nothing

I know the barricades. And I know the mortar in the wall breaks. I recognize the weapons. I use them well. This is my mistake. It's great. I love this. Yeah, it's a good song. I think it's the classic R.E.M. sound.

Not your favorite? It's never been one of my favorites, but I do like the song a lot. It was just never one of my go-tos. Lance, what do you think? I loved it. This is probably the ones I connected with most on this record. I hadn't thought about it in a long time, but listening to it now, I remember at that era being,

this was the one that sounded the best to me, the production and the sound as a 16-year-old, whatever. I was glad that it was on a CD, which I thought sounded really clean and you could hear everything. This also was the first song that they actually included lyrics for. This is the only song they put lyrics in the booklet for. So almost saying like, these lyrics are

important. You should read these out of all of them. It's cool. It's like the classic R.E.M. sound, but it's really produced. This is some orchestration in there and some pedal steel. Sounds like he's on a stand-up kit. Yeah. Doesn't it? Like with brushes? Yeah, there's weird percussion in there and some pedal steel. It sounds like he's on a stand-up kit. Yeah.

Doesn't it? Like with brushes? Yeah, there's weird percussion in there. It's really good. And it felt to me at the time when it was like, why did they leave the cool small record label to go to the big Prince record label? And it was like, oh, I get it. If they can get a studio and do this instead of just a simple.

Banging it out. Yeah. This is the one I remember. Coming back to this record and listening to it for the first time this week, I was like okay, I obviously remember Pop Song 89 and Get Up and Orange Crush

and Stand but I was like, okay, I know those songs and I'm kind of tired of them, but what are the ones that I sort of remember and World Leader Pretendo is like, ooh, I like this and I like Hair Shirt. Those were the two that I was like, oh oh boy these are great uh this is the last song on side one this is the wrong child Sit and watch those children jump in the tall grass. Meet the sprinkler.

Meet the sprinkler. Walk in the ground. Bicycle cars, pin spokes, sound the smell, the swing set hands. I will try to sing a happy song I'll try to make an happy game To play Come play with me I whisper to my new family

This is a song about a child with an unnamed affliction Yeah. Who is searching for acceptance. Yes. Very pretty song. Lance, what do you think? I love it, yeah. You know, people who are cynical could say that it was maudlin or overwrought or whatever, but I totally buy into it.

It's mandolin is how you pronounce it. But I love it. I'm there for it. I like what he does vocally on it with the two different readings happening at the same time. Yes. That's what you were talking about earlier lance where he was layering yeah i was more conscious that like he michael himself is doing different vocal performances vocal lines rather than just having him do one and then mike mills do one then bill barry do one yeah right

i coming to it this week i didn't remember it at all um i couldn't i couldn't have picked this out of a lineup if you would. That would be weird to pick a song out of a lineup. It would be weird to see what this song looks like in a police station. I guess just the letters? I guess, yeah. Just standing up. The first time I heard it, I was like, ooh, bully. Kind of annoying.

I don't know what it is about the mix. Is it because it's falling into certain stereotypes like, of course, there'll be a song about a disabled child on the REM album? I don't even know if it was that. I think it's the mix of the mandolin being too loud and the vocals being super upfront. I don't know what it was but it's definitely something on further listens where I'm like

okay I'm more into it than I was on first listen it's a very like disjointed like you know a mandolin that you might assume sounds like it's not pretty it's not aiming to be pretty it's like a weird yes it sounds and just listening to it right there

particularly good headphones I guess I was and just listening to it right there, particularly good headphones, I guess. I was kind of listening to how you had nothing to do with this. I put these on your head. Listen to this. You're very welcome, then. The depth of the sounds they were getting, they're really using the studio here. All right, we need to take a break.

When we come back, we're going to go to the side two, the metal side. We will be right back with more Are You Talking R.E.M. Remy. They're laughing and they're running over here. They're laughing and they're running over here. Hey, everybody. This is Scott. And this is Scott.

And, you know, we've been doing this show for a while. And the one thing that we're concerned about is your bodies. We're concerned some of you are nude out there. We need you to cover your bodies and cover them now. Please. Okay? And look, I don't care about what you do below the waist. Like, let it flap.

That's your business. That's your business. Okay? We're not even going to look down there. But waist up, that's our business. That is our domain. We're making it our business. Yeah, of there. But waist up, that's our business. That is our domain. We're making it our business. Yeah, of course.

Waist up, neck down, that is where we live. All right? What we're trying to get to is we have new Are You Talking R.E.M. shirts in the store right now. Yes. Two different styles. Inspired by the album Monster. Jesus. Okay.

Now it's scaring me. Okay. Okay. And then there's an out of time shirt. Out of time shirt that says bro on it. We're proud of these shirts. Aaron did a great job in the design of them. And no, we're proud of these shirts and we love them.

And people can get them at Podswag and that's podswag.com slash REM. Is that right? Podswag.com slash REM. Buy your shirts. Go to a U2 show with them on. I don't know. Do whatever you want.

Walk around school in your clear backpacks and people will be able to see the back now. That's one good thing that came out of this. Unless there's a book in it. Okay, bye. Welcome back. This is Orange orange crush. Color me, don't color me. I've got my spine, I've got my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas. Coming in fast, over me.

uh-huh first single first uh i actually probably heard this before the record came out yeah me too yeah so immediately it was everywhere when it seemed seemingly i as far as i remembered it was yeah big hit yeah um they played it on the nightly news every single day. Yep. It was everywhere. Everywhere. In its entirety. It was in my grandma's house. Yep.

Playing 24-7. I like it. What do you guys, Lance, what do you think? I loved it. It felt like an extension of Document. Yeah. We were playing this live during that era, and it felt like a gnarly energy behind it and this is sound like a rock song almost like one i love in a way of like it's in that universe it was it i don't think it was like a big hit

no i mean it was a it was an alternative like introductory single and like got everyone's attention i remember hearing it for the first time and like seeing the video and being a little disappointed that it sounded so similar to what they'd done before even though i i loved it um but then once i got the album i got why that would be the first single was really smart for a singer and i love the song it's just very documenty but what i really love about the song is how weird it is it's a weird song it is catchy and everything

but it's also there's no real chorus the chorus is wordless it's just yeah it's awesome it's so weird

and it's a favorite like when they played this live up until the very end people went apeshit like this is a big

like you know it's an orange crush I love that it kind of favors Bill Barry's drumming. Yeah. And that the guitar parts are just kind of weird, slowly picked.

Yeah. It's a very weird song. I think it was born out of just a jam session where they were just fucking around and this just emerged. That's the best way

to write a song as far as I'm concerned, just a jam session. Just a jam session. Good old-fashioned American jam session. But I loved that they put this out first. It had that sort of video that the band didn't appear in.

It was all like Matt Mahurin. Yeah, just like sort of images. Yeah, right. It was cool. And then it was like, okay, so they're on Warner Brothers, but this is – Yeah, they're still weird. Yep. And then the single for it had a Sid Barrett cover, Dark Globe, on it.

Yeah, we'll be playing that a little later, yeah. Ghost Rider by Suicide. She was like, oh great, things I love, they're still... That Dark Globe cover, another mixtape. We're gonna play it! Well, I'm just talking about it. Another mixtape...

Were your mixtapes just all just R.E.M. songs? Essentially. You're just like giving people CDs. This is track two. This is Turn You Inside Out. This is after Orange Brush? Yes, sir. We're on the metal side of the record.

Oh, yeah. Divide your culture, girl, to taste I'm looking for to make a waste Of all the things I cannot taste And this is not the race they spoke of I believe in what you do, I believe in watching you It's what you do. It's what you do. I'm not even watching you. I could turn you inside out. What I choose not to do.

I could turn you inside out. What I choose not to do. Uh-huh. Adam, one of your favorites? Yeah, that's good rock and roll music. Good rock and roll music. Music.

Yeah, this was always from the first time I heard it, I was like, ooh, yeah. Did you want to turn someone inside out? Just for the sake of listening to the song, I heard it, I was like, ooh, yeah. Did you want to turn someone inside out? Just for the sake of listening to the song, I sure did. It got me interested in turning people inside out. You just reach into their throats. Yes.

Just almost like a sweatshirt. Particularly live when Bill Barry's drum kit lit up during the song. Do you remember that? I remember that. Do, do, do. It was pretty amazing. I'd never seen it. Do you remember that? I remember that. During the do, do, do. It just, it was pretty amazing. I'd never seen it. Do you remember that because it was in tour film?

No, because I remember seeing it when I saw them live. I was like, whoa. I don't remember the show. Oh, really? Because I took that, I remember I took that girl. We had seats in the very back. But she thought it was brilliant, I thought. She did.

So we were in the very very back row now um of the forum it was just oh it was such a drag being up that high and i remember like we we tried to go down maybe 10 rows and just sit in these empty seats i remember it so clearly this guy arrives after three songs just points at me and then gestures get out wordlessly points thumb get out and i was like okay all right yeah no problem uh because i was all ready to be like oh are these your seats are these you know that whole thing and he's just like point yeah gesture he knew what you were doing yeah exactly um so with these headphones there was some weird like oh yeah i think that's that guy keith LeBlanc who was in Tackhead,

like a weird New York. It was bizarre that he turned up on a REM record. He was like a New York City avant. He did some hip hop stuff. Oh, wow. It was like bizarre to have someone else appearing that the band didn't need. Yeah.

So you think that's what he was doing? I think that was like weird percussion thing. So it's like if they needed someone to play saxophone, whatever I get, adding someone else. Yeah, but just adding. It seems like Bill Barry could have just done the percussion. That's interesting. Is that just for the credit, you think?

Like to put his name on the record? I don't know, just to have someone around. Right. Someone else to talk to. What do you think about that song, Lance? I love it. Yeah. Yeah, it's great.

And live, that's when he he had the megaphone the megaphone oh yeah we were everyone stolen from we were talking about the megaphone the other day it became such a cliche uh where stone temple pilots would use it or i'm trying to think of other bands but uh uh even our our good friends and you too uh have used it uh but this was the first time i remember seeing it and going oh well that well, that's clever. He's using a microphone and singing into, or a megaphone singing into that. It's not a megaphone. What am I talking about? Is it a megaphone? Yeah, that's who

they call it, right? I'm thinking of the Mr. Show sketch, the megaphone. I'm thinking of the old timey. Which, by the way, that sketch, I remember, started as I saw Bob do stand-up, and he was just singing Break on Through to the Other Side as if he were a megaphone singer. He's like, Break on through to the other side, break on through.

And then he turned it into a sketch. All right. This is Hair Shirt. I am not the type of dog that could keep you waiting for no good reason run a carbon black test on my jaw and you

will find it's all been said before It's all been said before I can swing my megaphone Oh, the megaphone. There it is. Break on through to the other side Break on through

What do you guys think? I love hair shirt. Did you guys know what a hair shirt was? I learned because of this song. I already knew because of Catholic school. Oh, yeah. I mean, you learned. That's why you learned.

It is a, it's a, like a vestment. Is that what it is? Explain it because of Catholic school. It's something that someone that was self-flagellating, punishing themselves, thought that they could achieve spiritual redemption or openness by harming their physical body would put on a very itchy, coarse, uncomfortable thing that was pressing against your skin. I didn't know it was a thing, so I thought it was just two words that he put together. It was just like, hair shirt.

Hair shirt. Hair shirt. Oh, like, hair shirt. Hair shirt. Hair shirt. Oh, here's the song, Hair Shirt. What do you think of the song, Scott? I like this. Like I said, when I looked at the titles of the songs after not listening to this record in a couple of decades, I was like, Hair Shirt.

I remember liking that one. I like it. It's pretty. I think it's maybe one too many mandolin songs in total on the record. Listening to the record as a whole for me, 11 songs in a row, I would say. Take one of those mandolin songs out. I would maybe take The Wrong Child out. Yeah.

But I like this. Hair shirt apparently improvised. Really? Yeah. Did that from a suggestion hair shirt yeah they were actually at UCB

give me a profession rock and roll singer okay and two words hair shirt here we go one two

one two three four ding ding ding ding ding uh okay now we're getting to a song I don't even remember, and I've listened to this album several times this week. This is, speaking of remember, I Remember California. Whoops, no, this is Hair Shirt again.

Let's go to I Remember California. Yeah. All right. I remember this. I remember traffic jams. Older boys and girls. Never one of my favorites. Yeah, I got to live this shit, bro. What do you mean? These traffic jams you're talking about?

Yeah. I'm trying to escape from them by listening to R.E.M. Those lemons, limes, and tangerines. These bumper cars. I'm in bumper-to them by listening to R.E.M. What about those lemons, limes, and tangerines? These bumper cars. I'm in bumper-to-bumper traffic, bro. I think it's a little late in the record to have such a droopy. I don't know. What do you think, Lance?

I like it, but I can understand why people don't want to get through the whole thing. Yeah, you're not insane. You can understand rational human beings not liking something. I don't know. I think there was a period of time where I was like, ah, I got it. And I liked the song for a while. But now it's not one that I would go to. Yeah, in the pantheon, it's –

Which is fine. Were it to come up on Shuffle, you wouldn't skip ahead. I might you might or I would listen to it and be fine and play the 12 song set and they started this

yeah I'd be like what are you guys doing good guys can I talk to you for a second hey stop stop stop come here

can I talk to you I just paid you 14 million dollars to do this for my birthday party I need to talk to you. This next song, however, would be on that list. Oh, interesting.

This is, it's called Untitled, or it's called the 11th Untitled. It just doesn't have a title. It's just a blank space. But people call it- Untitled. But sometimes they call it the 11th Untitled song. I read that somewhere.

It's more commonly known as that. Yeah, I don't know. Just Untitled. And called Untitled because. I read that somewhere. It's more commonly known as that. Yeah, I don't know. Just Untitled. And called Untitled because, as Michael Sypes said, it was very hip at the time to put a song on. Like a hidden track. A hidden track. So was it called Untitled on the song?

No, it just had a blank space. It was number 11 and then it had a blank space. This is Untitled. Funky. That's Peter Buck Untitled. Fonky. That's Peter Buck on the drums. Fonky. This world has been This world has been

It's so away It's so away I stayed up late I stayed up late To hear your voice This light is here This light is here I stayed up late in the morning This light is here To keep you warm

This song is here To keep you strong I made this I like this. Yeah, I love it. It gets amazing. All I want to say All I really want to say Is I've never missed

All the things you say Keep me strong While I'm away somewhere Yeah, I think it's great. I kind of wish they put a title on it and put it earlier in the record, don't you? Yeah, I think it's great. I kind of wish they put a title on it and put it earlier in the record, don't you? Yeah, I mean, I like how it ends the album. It feels great, and especially for people that have just gone through all of, I remember California, it's such a nice.

Well, it's definitely like, hey, it's like giving a drowning man a lifeline in a way. I think it's like one of those classic rem songs where it has everything it's got the mike mills great about the back of the harmonies it's a simple very simple song they're pouring their hearts out there it's what's it about do you think i i can't get i can't place it exactly i just read recently you wrote it about how he has to constantly travel around. He wrote it about his parents. Oh, interesting. Early on when he used to go on tour, this is how he felt about saying goodbye to his parents.

Oh, that's nice. I don't know. I believe that was a direct quote. I don't think it's like bullshit or something. I love that song. It's a great song. You say you would put this on, this would be something

you would like to hear them, would they play it during shows? They've played it, yeah, but it wasn't like the most common. Right. I never saw them play it. It's fun. Yeah.

And again, it's funky. It's funky. Okay, so that is green. Let's go through a few of the B-sides just to hit them a couple of covers here to start off with and I believe

these were the first songs they even recorded for Warner Brothers before they did green I think but this is a cover of an Iggy Pop song this is Fun Time

again funky you mean they did this before green? I think they recorded this in... Like it was a test session or something. Oh. Yeah, this was on stands, I think. I mean, it was...

Famously played this song at their only show for Automatic for the People. I think it's a little too similar to the original. Yeah, I think it has a worse drum production sound than the original, and so it's too much high-end. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not incredibly into it. I was excited when I saw it. I was because i love that song yeah uh okay this is ghost rider this is suicide this is a suicide uh cover um

was this on pop song or on orange cross motorcycle hero on Orange Crush. Ghost Rider, motorcycle hero This sounds like one of their Christmas singles or something. Like just a loose... I like this. You know, we haven't talked about their fan club and how if you were in the fan club every Christmas you would get a record.

I don't think it's... At this point it didn't start in yet. Oh yeah, no, absolutely. I had it. Really? That's another thing I was doing with the band during that. Oh, yeah, no, absolutely. I had it, really? That's another thing I was doing with the band during that whole time period is I would work at the office and package the fan club singles with a woman named Michelle that was running the fan club. Oh, cool.

Were you in the fan club? I was, and I used to call, because you could call information, get the number for the REM office, and just call, and someone would answer the phone and go, REM, like at the height of their popularity, and I would call and just ask stupid questions. Excuse me, really? Can I talk to Michael?

Well, I called and I remember just being like, so my friends and I are making a movie and we really wanted to use Oddfellows local 151. I don't do TV. Yeah. How would we go about getting that song for the movie? They were really nice. A very important movie.

Yeah, but also I chose Oddfellows Local 151 so that whoever answered the phone would think I'm a real fan because it was like I remember California-ish song. Right. This is Dark Globe. This is a Sid Barrett cover right yeah okay oh where are you now now pussy willow that smiled on my sleeve

When I was alone You promised a stone from your heart My head kissed the ground I was half the way down Treading the sand please please lift a hand I'm only a person

whose armbands beat on his hands hang tall won't you miss me wouldn't you miss me wouldn't you miss me at all my head touched

the ground I like this this is um I think it's even I like it better than their Moon River cover it's like in the same vein as Moon River just uh it's one of those covers where they're not doing anything notably different with it,

but it's like, cool to hear them sing it. It's from the heart. Yeah. You believe them. Mm-hmm. You believe they actually sang this.

Yeah, I believe that. It wasn't like they put this out and they're like, we got some other band to play this. I believe that that's them.

Yeah. I love that they could do something like this and then not also be like, oh, let's write five piano songs because like, we can do that. it worked for this, but it wasn't something that they relied on as a cr and then not also be like, oh, let's write five piano songs because we can do that.

It worked for this, but it wasn't something that they relied on as a crutch. That's a cool song, too. I like that. I have Sid Barrett records, but I wouldn't say they're in heavy rotation in my household, so it's not something that I really know all that well. They were in super heavy rotation for me at this time, and so it was this coming together of one obsession with another. Like, oh, whoa, Artie's doing it. for me at this time and so it was this like coming together of like one obsession with another like oh whoa

like Artie's doing it because they put out like a FlexiDisc version of this with the issue of Sassy Magazine I remember that I had that yeah

and I lost it that's where I first heard Dark Globe okay whoa yeah and I feel like there's a chance that was before this

before Green came out I don't know if it was before Green entirely but like I think if this was on like the there's a chance don't know if it's before green entirely but like i think that if this was on like the there's a chance that the flexi was out before this b-side i'm not sure i see i had that and then lost it to time or whatever and didn't get that until like just automatic i found it yeah it just turned to dust in my hands just lost it to time no you misplaced it no i've like probably accidentally threw it away.

Well, it's a flexi disc. They're sort of like Frisbees. A little piece of garbage. Threw in the garbage. Okay, this is the last B-side. This is Memphis Train Blues. You can tell it's about a train because they have a little choo-choo sound

here at the beginning. It's kind of interesting to hear, like, a bluesy song done on a mandolin. Do you think there was a band meeting where there was... All right, band meeting, guys. This would have been like an all-acoustic side of the record, but it meant that this song was on the album. Yeah, they're like, we cannot let Memphis Train Blues get on this record. Who's in favor of not going through with this acoustic side thing? Because this is the whitest thing

I've ever heard. What was this the B-side on? Oh, another B-side is the acoustic pop song 89. I did not bring that just because I don't want to replay a song, but yeah, that was a B-side.

And that is Green. Cool. Where do we leave it? How do we feel about it now? Adam, you say it's one of your favorites. It's one of my favorites, but my favorites of theirs change, but it is one of my favorites of their records.

And Lance, where are you on it? Super fond of it, love it, because of experiences with it and associations and time of my life, whatever, but objectively, I love other albums more. I returned to it again, and the first time I threw it on, I was like, this is a pretty annoying record, and now I've listened to it five times or something this week and i i definitely like different songs on it um out of everything up to this point i don't know i might like it better than document even because we

talked about last time that i don't really i remember liking document a lot and then when i came back to it for this episode i was like i don't remember any of these i think side two really kind of stains that album for you. Side two is kind of bad on document. So, so I might like it better than document. It is, uh,

it is interesting because now we are at the point in the show and you and I discussed this when we started doing the show. I kind of want to hijack it though and play some of those demos. Oh yeah. Do you want to play some demos? But, uh, we are at the point,

go ahead and get those ready. We're at the point, Lance brought, uh, some, uh, green demos, which have never been released. Um, I don't know. but uh we are at the point go ahead and get those ready we're at the point lance brought uh some uh green demos which have never been released um i don't know i guess you stole them uh uh you're a thief um but so we're at the point in the show adam and we talked about it when when we decide to do this sure where i have never listened to the upcoming albums in their entirety so you've never listened to out of time in its entirety i've never listened to that i've heard i've i've heard i've probably have heard the songs i know some of the songs very well yeah uh but we're at the point where i did not buy any of

these records when they came out and automatic for the the people. I did not buy that. Monster. You didn't get Monster. When they came out. Later, years later, I went back and got them. I just did the old court trick to Lance. So I am going to be listening to these albums for the first time now and giving you my assessment of them more as a music fan now.

And what I require is 100% honesty. Great. I'll give that to you. I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it because I maybe forward to it because uh i maybe unfairly did not uh give them a chance after stand and i i was maybe too mean and yeah oh no you're in for a treat but i think they're are you gonna have a treat for me next time every every week from here on out treats if i'm a good boy yeah all right what uh demos do you have here this is a demo of a song

that was called the last REM song and this is an instrumental demo that they did my understanding is that they felt like

it was too much of like an archetypical like this is what REM sounds like kind of song oh interesting they were deliberately

trying to make this new record sound different okay so oh this is okay because I like the classic REM sound, so maybe I'll like this,

excuse me, a lot. So let's hear it. I'm going to, sorry, I'm going to jump back to the beginning. Oh, sure. Weird you didn't start there, but okay. Instrumental?

Yes, instrumental. So maybe we'll get to the next change up and then go to a different song. Sure. I want to hear the chorus. I love this. Yeah. You should get a computer. I know. Got him. Yeah. I wish they did something with it.

They gave it to Lance. They sure did. And we're playing it. We are R.E.M. and we're here to play A fun, fun song in a funky way We can come up with lyrics to it. I think Scott just did. Let's put it out ourselves. R.E.M.

All right. I'm going to play a song called Great Big. Great Bake? Big. Big. Great Big. Big. Great big. So this, I think, turned into the sort of electric version of Drive. What's that turn down? I can't hear you.

I think this turned into like the electric version of Drive. Oh, got it. Which is on Automatic for the People, is that right? No, they just played it live. The electric version of Drive is sped up. Oh, got it, got it. Yeah, funkier. Because Drive is a slower song?

Yeah. Got it. This is a song we're about to play called Title, which they were playing live during the work tour in the fall of 87. And they did this demo, but they didn't complete it as an album track for Green. Again, sorry, let me get back to the beginning. Oh, this is the one that sounds a little like Bang and Blayin'. Yeah. I'm going to play an early version of that 11th Untitled song that we all liked. Ah.

One, two, this is how we do it. It's funky. Oh, interesting. Interesting. Playing the vocal melody there. I noticed they didn't really use that kind of keyboard. No. Do-do-do-do-do. That's interesting.

Oh, they used to hear. That's interesting. Oh, they used to hear her. That's cool. Yeah. It must be so hard to get an instrumental like this and go, God, what do I sing over this? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like, what do you think he does?

Just like sit around in the shower going, Well, apparently he would drive around with the cassettes and just come up with melodies and lyrics. Man, to be in that car. And I was. You were, really? Later records. Was there ever a song where he was just singing around

that ended up on a record that you? I feel like parts of it did, like around that album up, but it's not like I I was there when he ripped. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You ever see that movie Up? Yes. Yeah. It's pretty sad at the beginning, don't you think?

What movie was that? I don't remember. That Pixar movie Up? Oh, I saw that. Yeah. Cartoon. It's pretty sad, right? It is sad.

If you wanted them to live. That's true. I mean, I guess I was rooting for those two. But you were watching it and you were kind of hoping they'd die. Like both of them. I want to watch the kids, not the old people. Yeah, come on. I want to watch those dogs I saw on the poster.

God, get these oldies out of here. Yeah, you're right. You're right. Kind of a happy beginning of that. Well, that're right. You're right. Kind of a happy beginning of that. Well, that's green. And this was a pure pleasure. An extra long episode. Lance, we couldn't think of anyone better to do this with than you.

Yeah, thank you for coming on there, Lance. Yeah, this was great. And next week we're going to be doing Out of Time. Do you mind giving that back to me? Don't do a bit with it. We're going to be doing Out of Time. Do you mind giving that back to me? Don't do a bit with it. We're going to be doing Out of Time, the first R.E.M. record that I do not know. And they're most popular.

I don't understand how you were alive during that era and just missed that album. I look forward to Adam playing Losing My Religion. I know. No, of course I know that song. I know all the singles from all the records. I just don't know. And I know some of the album tracks probably because I bought them all.

Half the world away. You don't know? Do you know? I don't know. I know the Oasis, Half the World Away. When they started playing Texarkana. No, I do know that song. And we'll talk about it in the next one.

I'll tell you why I probably know that song. Can't wait. This is, to take us out, this is a song where if you were a friend of Adam's back in the 80s, you would most likely get headphones put on your head. Lance, thanks for being here. We'll see

you next time. And we certainly, certainly, certainly, would your friends like this part about the typing? Yeah, I'd be like, just hold on. Just wait. Wait. We certainly hope that you have found what you're looking for.

Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Hey, guys. It's Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham here. If you haven't listened to Womp It Up, we've got all brand-new episodes. They're airing weekly. Chances are there's about 20,000 episodes for you to listen to on your drive. We've got some of the best comedians in the biz on playing amazing characters.

Casey Wilson. Rob Hubel. Paul Scheer. Jason Manzoukas. Mary Holland, Nick Kroll, Ryan Husky. How about Andy Daly? And that's just to name a few. Please join us every week for a new episode of Womp It Up and watch as the Wamplerverse expands before your eyes. Hashtag turn around. This has been an Earwolf production.

Executive produced by Scott Aukerman, Chris B me, Cami Esposito and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Queery You can sit in 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. We have had some incredible guests. Emmy winner Lena Waithe? Yes, definitely. Congressman Mark Takano? You bet.

L Word creator Eileen Shakin? Yes. President and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis? We definitely have. 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 change makers 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.