R.E.M. released its first single—"Radio Free Europe"—in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. The single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records. In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio. Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.
By the early 1990s, when alternative rock began to enter the mainstream, R.E.M. was viewed by subsequent acts such as Nirvana and Pavement as a pioneer of the genre. The band released its two most commercially successful albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), which veered from the band's established sound and catapulted it to international fame. R.E.M.'s 1994 release, Monster, was a return to a more rock-oriented sound, but still continued its run of success. The band began its first tour in six years to support the album; the tour was marred by medical emergencies suffered by three of the band members.
In 1996, R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. for a reported US$80 million, at the time the most expensive recording contract in history. Its 1996 release, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, though critically acclaimed, fared worse commercially than its predecessors. The following year, Bill Berry left the band, while Stipe, Buck, and Mills continued the group as a trio. Through some changes in musical style, the band continued its career into the next decade with mixed critical and commercial success, despite having sold more than 85 million records worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music artists. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their first year of eligibility. R.E.M. disbanded amicably in September 2011, announcing the split on its website.
In January 1980, Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in Wuxtry Records, the Athens record store where Buck worked. The pair discovered that they shared similar tastes in music, particularly in punk rock and protopunk artists like Patti Smith, Television, and the Velvet Underground. Stipe said, "It turns out that I was buying all the records that [Buck] was saving for himself." Through mutual friend Kathleen O'Brien, Stipe and Buck then met fellow University of Georgia students Mike Mills and Bill Berry, who had played music together since high school and lived together in Georgia. The quartet agreed to collaborate on several songs; Stipe later commented that "there was never any grand plan behind any of it". Their still-unnamed band spent a few months rehearsing in a deconsecrated Episcopal church in Athens, and played its first show on April 5, 1980, supporting the Side Effects at O'Brien's birthday party held in the same church, performing a mix of originals and 1960s and 1970s covers. After considering Twisted Kites, Cans of Piss, and Negro Eyes, the band settled on "R.E.M." (which is an initialism for rapid eye movement, the dream stage of sleep), which Stipe selected at random from a dictionary.
The band members eventually dropped out of school to focus on their developing group. They found a manager in Jefferson Holt, a record store clerk who was so impressed by an R.E.M. performance in his hometown of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that he moved to Athens. R.E.M.'s success was almost immediate in Athens and surrounding areas; the band drew progressively larger crowds for shows, which caused some resentment in the Athens music scene. Over the next year and a half, R.E.M. toured throughout the Southern United States. Touring was arduous because a touring circuit for alternative rock bands did not then exist. The group toured in an old blue van driven by Holt, and lived on a food allowance of $2 each per day.
R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. AllMusic stated, "R.E.M. mark the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock." In the early 1980s, the musical style of R.E.M. stood in contrast to the post-punk and new wave genres that had preceded it. Music journalist Simon Reynolds noted that the post-punk movement of the late 1970s and early 1980s "had taken whole swaths of music off the menu", particularly that of the 1960s, and that "After postpunk's demystification and New Pop's schematics, it felt liberating to listen to music rooted in mystical awe and blissed-out surrender." Reynolds declared R.E.M., a band that recalled the music of the 1960s with its "plangent guitar chimes and folk-styled vocals" and who "wistfully and abstractly conjured visions and new frontiers for America", one of "the two most important alt-rock bands of the day." With the release of Murmur, R.E.M. had the most impact musically and commercially of the developing alternative genre's early groups, leaving in its wake a number of jangle pop followers.
R.E.M.'s early breakthrough success served as an inspiration for other alternative bands. Spin referred to the "R.E.M. model"—career decisions that R.E.M. made which set guidelines for other underground artists to follow in their own careers. Spin's Charles Aaron wrote that by 1985, "They'd shown how far an underground, punk-inspired rock band could go within the industry without whoring out its artistic integrity in any obvious way. They'd figured out how to buy in, not sellout-in other words, they'd achieved the American Bohemian Dream." Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate said, "They invented a whole new ballgame for all of the other bands to follow whether it was Sonic Youth or the Replacements or Nirvana or Butthole Surfers. R.E.M. staked the claim. Musically, the bands did different things, but R.E.M. was first to show us you can be big and still be cool." Biographer David Buckley stated that between 1991 and 1994, a period that saw the band sell an estimated 30 million albums, R.E.M. "asserted themselves as rivals to U2 for the title of biggest rock band in the world." Over the course of its career, the band has sold over 85 million records worldwide.
Alternative bands such as Nirvana, Pavement, Radiohead, Coldplay, Pearl Jam (the band's vocalist Eddie Vedder inducted R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), and Live, have drawn inspiration from R.E.M.'s music. "When I was 15 years old in Richmond, Virginia, they were a very important part of my life," Pavement's Bob Nastanovich said, "as they were for all the members of our band." Pavement's contribution to the No Alternative compilation (1993) was "Unseen Power of the Picket Fence", a song about R.E.M.'s early days. Local H, according to the band's Twitter account, created their name by combining two R.E.M. songs: "Oddfellows Local 151" and "Swan Swan H". Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was a fan of R.E.M., and had unfulfilled plans to collaborate on a musical project with Stipe. Cobain told Rolling Stone in an interview earlier that year, "I don’t know how that band does what they do. God, they’re the greatest. They've dealt with their success like saints, and they keep delivering great music."
During his show at the 40 Watt Club in October 2018, Johnny Marr said: "As a British musician coming out of the indie scene in the early '80s, which I definitely am and am proud to have been, I can't miss this opportunity to acknowledge and pay my respects and honor the guys who put this town on the map for us in England. I'm talking about my comrades in guitar music, R.E.M. The Smiths really respected R.E.M. We had to keep an eye on what those guys were up to. It's an interesting thing for me, as a British musician, and all those guys as British musicians, to come to this place and play for you guys, knowing that it's the roots of Mike Mills and Bill Berry and Michael Stipe and my good friend Peter Buck."
Ages Of You
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, all along the range
Ages of you
Ages of you
[Chorus:]
Train pulls over hanging bridge
Conductor looks up, thinks
Out and down, hands stuck to the left
To the right, you should fall,
The horses just don't gossip anymore
[Chorus:]
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
The lyrics of R.E.M.'s song Ages Of You offer an enigmatic and interpretive narrative about the countless phases of life and the experiences that come with them. The song is divided into three different lyrical segments, each with its own message and meaning. The opening chorus talks about how one can unwittingly stumble upon things, such as a postcard, that will remain pristine and untouched in their memories. The second chorus describes a conductor of a train who seems to be lost in thought and cowers in fear of what would happen if someone fell out of the train on the hanging bridge. Lastly, the final chorus ends with a repetition of the first chorus, tying together the theme of the song which is that life is full of ages, all marked by different experiences and emotions.
The song is full of metaphors and imagery which can make it difficult to interpret the lyrics in a concrete and definitive way. The postcard, for instance, could be seen as a symbol for memories that one holds dear and preserved. The pristine indigo line could indicate the sky, which often represents freedom and possibility. The hanging bridge, on the other hand, could signify a precarious path in life that requires caution and mindfulness. The song's enigmatic and open-ended lyrical themes, as a result, leave a lot of room for interpretation and imagination.
Line by Line Meaning
Postcard stowaway within
Hidden feelings inside, like a postcard stowaway within luggage
Pristine indigo without
Clear blue skies without clouds
Banded ottoman as such
A patterned footstool, just like it's always been
Sofa seated one too much
One person sitting on a couch - suggests someone is missing
All along the range, all along the range
Throughout the duration of life, through all its ups and downs
Ages of you
Repeating the title as if highlighting the importance of the phrase
Train pulls over hanging bridge
The train stops over a suspension bridge, implying a sense of danger or instability
Conductor looks up, thinks
The conductor is deep in thought, something is troubling him
Out and down, hands stuck to the left
Confusion and disorientation - things are not clear, as if stuck to the left
To the right, you should fall,
Although it seems like you should fall to the right, you resist and stay where you are
The horses just don't gossip anymore
Things have changed, there is no longer talk or whispering the way there used to be
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BILL BERRY, PETER BUCK, MICHAEL MILLS, MICHAEL STIPE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Hendel Cwb
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
Ra-da-da-da-da
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
Ra-da-da-da-da
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Train pulls over hanging bridge
Conductor looks up, thinks
Out and down, hands stuck to the left
To the right, you should fall,
The horses just don't gossip anymore
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
All along the range, ra-da-da-da-da
Ra-da-da-da-da
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
El Geofrente
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, all along the range
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, all along the range
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Train pulls over hanging bridge
Conductor looks up, thinks
Out and down, hands stuck to the left
To the right, you should fall,
The horses just don't gossip anymore
Postcard stowaway within
Pristine indigo without
Banded ottoman as such
Sofa seated one too much
All along the range, all along the range
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
Ages of you
DaveAllenSpeaks
My fav version of this unique band ever.They were so amazing circa 81-86.
BazookaHorse
Murmur, Dead Letter Office and Fables of the Reconstruction are so amazing and then they kinda blew up around Green or Document IMO they kept putting out really great pop music (with the exception of the slightly over produced Out of Time which I still adore) until Monster, my personal favorite of all their albums despite being the most tragic really. R.E.M. are easily one of the top 5 American bands ever for me.
Lorenzo Cremona
one of R.E.M.'s finest
Andy Mann
I absolutely loved REM’s most elusive but inviting singalongs Those were happy days.
jbsamakis
So many great throwaway songs on this album
Mike
I love that they included the Chronic Town EP at the end of the album on CD
Dead Letter Office - A Tribute To REM
So fun to perform this one live!
Void 00
great to see you here haha
Al Wyatt
Similar pulsating bass line as in "Radio Free Europe." The soundtrack of college days. Fantastic, inimitable sound.
Mark Lynch
Love this song and one I have put on repeat many times