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."
Feeling Gravity
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Peel back the mountains peel back the sky
Stomp gravity into the floor
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull
Somewhere near the end it said
"You can't do this", I said "I can too"
Shift sway rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
Holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Shift the swaying river's shift
Oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
Holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
Reason had harnessed the tame
Holding the sky in their arms
Gravity pulls me down
The lyrics to R.E.M.'s song Feeling Gravity's Pull are a combination of abstract images and personal accounts of experiences that lead to introspection. Throughout the song, the singer mentions falling asleep and reading, suggesting that what follows is perhaps a dream or a hallucination. The reference to "every paragraph" may allude to the idea that the singer has gained an understanding of something profound, but has difficulty articulating it. The scene described takes place somewhere where time and distance are out of place, hinting at a surreal landscape or an altered mental state.
As the song progresses, the singer describes feeling pulled around by gravity, and the desire to stomp it into the floor. The reference to Man Ray, an American visual artist who worked in the Dada and Surrealist movements, further emphasizes the surreal nature of the singer's experience. The singer also mentions the ease of holding their head straight while looking down, indicating a sense of control over their surroundings.
The final lines of the song speak to the singer's attempts to hold onto their sense of reason and control, perhaps in the face of a chaotic and unpredictable world.
Line by Line Meaning
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
I vividly imagined the scene where gravity was pulling me around
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Imagine the scene where gravity is manipulating me
Peel back the mountains peel back the sky
Challenge the power of gravity and come up with an innovative solution
Stomp gravity into the floor
Overpower the gravity and defeat it
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Visualize the gorgeous sky with different perspectives
Let me show you what I can do with it
Confidently showcase one's ability to explore the beauty of nature
Time and distance are out of place here
The sense of time and distance is irrelevant in this undefined space
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
Step forward with courage as the vast sky welcomes one's approach
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull
The power of gravity is dominating when I'm in control of myself
Somewhere near the end it said
In the final moments of this breathtaking experience
"You can't do this", I said "I can too"
"I can overcome any obstacle"
Shift sway rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift
Manipulate the natural elements and redefine their movement
step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
Advance confidently into the boundless sky
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
The gravity is drawing me towards its power
Holding my head straight (looking down)
My focus remains unchanged even as I look down
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
Overcoming gravity is effortless for me
Reason had harnessed the tame
I have tamed the wild force of gravity through reason and understanding
Holding the sky in their arms
I am embracing the vastness and beauty of the sky with my own arms
Gravity pulls me down
Gravity continues to exert its dominance over me, despite my efforts to resist it
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BILL BERRY, PETER BUCK, MICHAEL MILLS, MICHAEL STIPE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
K August
When I was eleven years old, I stayed up late one Friday night and watched a local music video program...
And I saw this.
A part of me thought I imagined what I had seen (the cutting is very jumpy, like in a dream), but I could not shake it or the song from my mind.
And I think this made me a fan of a group that would challenge whatever I thought a song or video should be.
Thank you, Buck, Berry, Mills and Stipe.
👍🏾
Olivia 73captain73
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Peel back the mountains peel back the sky
Stomp gravity into the floor
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull
Somewhere near the end it said
"You can't do this", I said "I can, too"
Shift sway rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes
Holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Shift the swaying river's shift
Oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes
Holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
Reason had harnessed the tame
Holding the sky in their arms
Gravity pulls me down
Wolf Knutson
This was REM at their best (imho) and it shows in every aspect of the song, from Michael's haunting tenor to Pete's awesome guitar work; from Mike's incredible bass work to Bill's perfect percussion work. Mesmerizing is the only word that comes close!
georgeharrison70
Fables of the Reconstruction is R.E.M.'s best album. Can't believe that people don't like it that much.
Rahim Rahmat
20 years ago, my favourite album was probably Out of Time.
Fast forward to 2020 and my favourite album is actually Reconstruction.....
MrMmnngghh
Mine is "Life's Rich Pageant". "Fables" is ace though, and under - appreciated.
Simondo81
Mine is Document [first 9 songs and then the last two just drag a bit], closely followed by Green, Automatic and Murmur.
Simondo81
Bass Man I think the problem is more how that and Oddfellows Local don't work together as number 10 and 11 on the album. It just creates a slightly anticlimactic feeling for me, to what is a pretty invigorating and quite aggressive album before that. The last two songs have grown on me and I like them now, just not as much as some of the others.
ERose
Listened to Fables until my cassette player ate it.
The best album they ever produced
yohei72
Gorgeous and weird. One of their most unfairly underappreciated tracks.
Templo Sagital Records
One of the best guitar works of Peter Buck
MrGenXer
What a freaking amazing song and album. It was the first REM record I got into.