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."
Exhuming McCarthy
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're honorable more honorable than me
Loyal to the Bank of America
It's a sign of the times
It's a sign of the times
You're sharpening stones walking on coals
Sharpening stones walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
Vested interest united ties landed gentry rationalize
Look who bought the myth by jingo buy America
It's a sign of the times
It's a sign of the times
You're sharpening stones, walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
Sharpening stones, walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
Enemy sighted, enemy met, I'm addressing the realpolitik
Look who bought the myth, by jingo, buy America
"Let us not assassinate this man further, Senator
You've done enough
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
We're sharpening stones, walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
Sharpening stones, walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
Enemy sighted, enemy met, I'm addressing the realpolitik
You've seen start and you've seen quit
(I'm addressing the table of content)
I always thought of you as quick
Exhuming McCarthy
(Meet me at the book burning)
Exhuming McCarthy
(Meet me at the book burning)
The lyrics to "Exhuming McCarthy" by R.E.M. touch on themes of power, privilege, and manipulation. The first few lines set up a comparison between the singer and another person who they find to be more beautiful, honorable, and loyal to the Bank of America. This line suggests that the other person has achieved a degree of success that the singer has not, and that this success is in some way related to their loyalty to a powerful institution.
The chorus, "It's a sign of the times," suggests that this success and loyalty are not unique to the singer's comparison but rather a broader trend that is characteristic of the era being discussed. The line "Sharpening stones walking on coals to improve your business acumen" implies that this success has come at a cost - that the other person is willing to endure hardship and pain in pursuit of their goals.
The second stanza introduces some additional elements to the mix, such as vested interest, united ties, and landed gentry. The line "Look who bought the myth by jingo buy America" implies that those with power have successfully sold the idea that loyalty to specific institutions or ideals is necessary for success.
The bridge of the song introduces a quote from lawyer Joseph Welch during the televised Army-McCarthy hearings in the 1950s, in which he admonished Senator Joseph McCarthy for his tactics of accusing people of disloyalty without evidence. This line suggests that the themes of manipulation and power that the song explores have a long history in American politics.
The final lines of the song, "Meet me at the book burning / Exhuming McCarthy," are a call to action for those who reject the status quo and seek to challenge the dominant narrative. The phrase "Exhuming McCarthy" implies a desire to dig up the past and expose the lies upon which power is built.
Line by Line Meaning
You're beautiful more beautiful than me
You possess more physical beauty than I do
You're honorable more honorable than me
You have a stronger sense of honor than I do
Loyal to the Bank of America
You are staunchly devoted to Bank of America
It's a sign of the times
This behavior is indicative of the current era
You're sharpening stones walking on coals
You are going through great lengths to improve your business skills
To improve your business acumen
With the goal of enhancing your business savvy
Vested interest united ties landed gentry rationalize
Wealthy, propertied families justify their consistent self-interest
Look who bought the myth by jingo buy America
These families have blindly accepted and promote the idea of 'buying America'
Enemy sighted, enemy met, I'm addressing the realpolitik
I have engaged with and am talking about the practical politics of this conflict
"Let us not assassinate this man further, Senator
You've done enough
Have you no sense of decency, sir?
At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
Please refrain from any more harmful actions against this individual. Senator, you have already done more than enough. Do you possess no ethical values whatsoever? Have you finally lost any shred of humane judgement?
We're sharpening stones, walking on coals
To improve your business acumen
We are putting in arduous effort to enhance our business knowledge
Exhuming McCarthy
(Meet me at the book burning)
We are referencing and criticizing the actions of Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s red scare. (Meet me at the event of censorship and burning of books)
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind