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."
Rockville
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Waiting in the station for the bus
Going to a place that's far
So far away and if that's not enough
Going where nobody says hello
They don't talk to anybody they don't know
You'll wind up in some factory
Walk home to an empty house
Sit around all by yourself
I know it might sound strange, but I believe
You'll be coming back before too long
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
And waste another year
At night, I drink myself to sleep
And pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
'Cause it's so much easier to handle
All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
But something better happen soon
Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
And waste another year
It's not as though I really need you
If you were here, I'd only bleed you
But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down
And that's not how it ought to be
I know it might sound strange, but I believe
You'll be coming back before too long
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
And waste another year
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
And waste another year
The song “Rockville” by R.E.M. tells a story of a person who is leaving a place and heading off to a new one. The idea being conveyed in this song is that the place where the person is going to is so far away, it’s almost like they’re going to another world entirely. It’s also revealed that the person in question is leaving Rockville, a place where they’ve been unhappy, and where they feel alienated from the people around them. They’re heading to a factory job where the work is dirty and brutal, and they’ll be alone at home, going to bed early and drinking to drown their sorrows.
The chorus in the song is the repeated plea “Don’t go back to Rockville, and waste another year”. This can be seen as a warning to the person in the song who is leaving, urging them not to come back to the same unhappy situation. This phrase is sung with a sort of vocal urgency, as if the singer is really trying to convince someone not to make the same mistake twice. The whole song conveys a sense of melancholy and regret, as if the singer is trying to reach someone who has already made a wrong decision and wants to help them not to hurt themselves any further.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking at your watch a third time
Checking the time repeatedly while waiting
Waiting in the station for the bus
Waiting for public transportation
Going to a place that's far
Going to a distant location
So far away and if that's not enough
The destination is very far and possibly unpleasant
Going where nobody says hello
Going to a place where strangers are not friendly
They don't talk to anybody they don't know
The locals are not socializing
You'll wind up in some factory
You might end up working in a factory
That's full time filth and nowhere left to go
The factory is filthy, and there are no other job opportunities
Walk home to an empty house
Returning to a lonely and unoccupied home
Sit around all by yourself
Being alone with nothing to do
I know it might sound strange but I believe
The following statement may seem odd, but the singer thinks it is true
You'll be coming back before too long
The listener will likely return to the artist's location soon
Don't go back to Rockville
Advising not to return to the difficult location of Rockville
And waste another year
Implying that going back to Rockville would be a waste of time
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend
The singer uses alcohol to cope with loneliness and imagines a different reality
I don't care if you're not here with me
The artist does not need the listener's presence to feel better
'Cause it's so much easier to handle
The current situation is more manageable without the listener
All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
The ocean serves as a metaphor for distancing oneself from problems
But something better happen soon
The singer is hoping for a positive change soon
Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back
If nothing changes soon, it may be too late for the listener's return
It's not as though I really need you
The artist does not necessarily need the listener
If you were here I'd only bleed you
The listener's presence would only make things worse
But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down and
The locals are not supportive of the listener
That's not how it ought to be
People should be more welcoming and considerate
Don't go back to Rockville
Reiterating the advice not to return to Rockville
And waste another year
Another year would be lost if the listener returned to Rockville
Don't go back to Rockville
A final warning not to return to Rockville
And waste another year
It would be a mistake to return and waste more time in Rockville
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Moose6340
This is the first REM song I ever heard while in college. Woke up one bleary Saturday morning in the dorm (Bell Hall, James Madison University, 1985) with a little bit of a hangover and heard this blasting out of a room two doors down. Can't exactly say it "changed my life," but it made me an REM fan, and it's still my favorite all-time REM song.
@johnsarsfield7728
I had a similar experience at Santa Clara University, somewhere around '83.
@annecollins1470
@John Sarsfield
Miami
@XX-rt6pt
No joke man. Although it is one of the better songs on this goofy album. The next morning it was the Cure "kiss me kiss me kiss me" Album everyday for the rest of the semester. I wonder if they ever found where I buried my proto-goth roomie...
@nepiahemopo1702
Back when vinyl was the real deal!
@brianandrews9515
Frostburg state 1988 dorm hall living hangovers and this song
@paddyodoors2757
'at night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me' hits me hard every time.
@Xeyedjohn
yeah it does that for sure
@JoshBM1981
💯 😢
@JohnSmith-mx8wp
"You'll wind up in some factory/That's full-time filth and nowhere left to go"
Cause y'know...I work in a factory now.