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."
Miracle
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Life couldn't get better
我的生活陷入了沼泽地
暴风雨天气(without you baby)
可是你有改变一切魔力
遇见了奇迹(baby)
好象新鲜氧气 我离不开你
你在身旁 我就有无限的动力
生命因为你而美丽
你是我的奇迹 把你紧紧拥在怀里
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
那是你有彩虹的画笔
幸福画满每个回忆
Life couldn't get better
是清晨的阳光洒满了甜蜜
爱暖暖的在心底(a holiday)
发现最快乐的秘密
原来答案是你(I wanna thank you, baby)
好象新鲜氧气 我离不开你
你在身旁 我就有无限的动力
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
生命因为你而美丽
你是我的奇迹 把你紧紧拥在怀里
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
那是你有彩虹的画笔
幸福画满每个回忆
我对你的诺言 是我们一起牵手到永远
无论千年万年 无论天涯海角
都会与你相恋
好象新鲜氧气 我离不开你
I love you baby, and i'm never gonna stop
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
生命因为你而美丽
你是我的奇迹 把你紧紧拥在怀里
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
那是你有彩虹的画笔
幸福画满每个回忆
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
生命因为你而美丽
你是我的奇迹 把你紧紧拥在怀里
Life couldn't get better (Hey~)
那是你有彩虹的画笔
幸福画满每个回忆
Life couldn't get better
The song "Miracle" by R.E.M. is a love song that expresses the depth of the singer's love and gratitude for their partner. The lyrics emphasize how the singer's life has been transformed by their lover's presence and how they feel they couldn't survive without them. The opening lines reflect a feeling of being stuck in a rut before meeting their significant other with the lines "Life couldn't get better, life couldn't get better, my life was trapped in a swamp, in a stormy weather (without you baby)." The subsequent lines of the song continue to express how the singer feels their life has improved in every way since their partner has come into their life, with imagery of bright colors and oxygen symbolizing a sense of vitality and renewal.
The language used throughout the song is very emotive, especially when the singer confesses "I love you baby, and I'm never gonna stop," which indicates the intensity of their love and how it is ongoing. After this declaration, the song repeats its chorus, which emphasizes the importance of their partner in their life, framing them as their "miracle" that has brought light and color into their world.
Overall, this song is a joyful tribute to the transformative power of love that can create miracles in our lives. It expresses how love can inspire and motivate us, giving us the strength to live life to the fullest, which makes it a great pick-me-up song for anyone feeling a little down or needing a reminder of the power of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Life couldn't get better
Life is filled with joy and happiness because of the presence of a loved one
Life couldn't get better
The singer's life was stuck in a rut until someone special arrived and made everything better
我的生活陷入了沼泽地
The singer's life was stuck in a swamp-like situation before meeting someone special
暴风雨天气(without you baby)
Life was turbulent and stormy without the presence of the loved one
可是你有改变一切魔力
The loved one has the magical power to change everything
遇见了奇迹(baby)
Meeting the loved one felt like a miracle
好象新鲜氧气 我离不开你
The loved one is like fresh air, without whom the singer cannot function
你在身旁 我就有无限的动力
The presence of the loved one gives the artist limitless energy and motivation
生命因为你而美丽
Life is beautiful because of the loved one
那是你有彩虹的画笔
The loved one has the power to create rainbows and happiness in every memory
幸福画满每个回忆
Every memory is filled with happiness because of the loved one
是清晨的阳光洒满了甜蜜
Mornings are sweet and delightful because of the loved one
爱暖暖的在心底(a holiday)
Love is warm and ever-present in the singer's heart, like a holiday
发现最快乐的秘密 原来答案是你(I wanna thank you, baby)
The singer has discovered that the key to happiness is the loved one, and wants to thank them
我对你的诺言 是我们一起牵手到永远
The singer promises to hold the loved one's hand forever
无论千年万年 无论天涯海角 都会与你相恋
The artist promises to love the loved one for eternity, no matter where they are
I love you baby, and i'm never gonna stop
The artist proclaims their love for the loved one and promises it will never end
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Laura Wilson
This is such a beautiful song. Such emotion and depth. It seems happy and mournful, kind of back-and-forth between the two then both happy and mournful intertwined together. This song has haunted me since I first heard it years ago. I want it played at my memorial service
Laura Wilson
OK not happy. Hopeful. We can feel towards the end of this song hope is dissipating and then ultimately lost.
Miü
This song is immortal
Aleksandra R
beautiful...
Rx Hx
ah this was the beautiful part <3
JEMMotorsports
This totaly reminds me of Micheal Jackson's Earth Song. (look it up) When I heard this piece in the film, I had to search it online. (thanx youtube) at 1st I thought it was micheal's earth song but in instrumental form. either way, great piece and I will certainly use it for my own editing projects.
Ten-pound-nipples (yes,just my nipples weigh 10 £)
Holy fuck dude. I just had this experience as you and I came to find this for comparison.
Seclusionloner
This music is scary and makes me cry 😢 , thinking that a person in the hospital is dying or from Covid-19 and reminds me of that music.
Lester Witherspoon
Don't be sad or afraid. We all have our turn one day and we all know it, so you're not alone. There will always be a time to say goodbye. It's sad, yeah, but it makes the time you have mean something. Each and every day is a new wonder...a new set of possibilities. Even the best day has to end. The sun sets and we go to rest. Is it so sad? But the sun's still up, so don't be too sad :)
Trollking2988
@Lester Witherspoon they died