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."
Strange Currencies
R.E.M. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When I call on the telephone
And I don't know what you mean to me
But I want to turn you on
Turn you up, figure you out
I want to take you on
These words, you will be mine
Now fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
I'm going to make whatever it takes
Ring you up, call you down, sign your name
Secret love, make it rhyme
Take you in and make you mine
These words, you will be mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
I tripped and fell, did I fall
What I want to feel
I want to feel it now
You know with love comes strange currencies
And here is my appeal
I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance
A fourth chance, a word, a signal
A nod, a little breath
Just to fool myself, to catch myself
And make it real, real
These words, you will be mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
These words, you will be mine
These words haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat
Make me pray, to say love's confines, oh
In the song "Strange" by R.E.M., the singer expresses confusion and a desire for connection with the person they are addressing. The opening lines paint a picture of frustration, as the singer can't understand why the other person is being mean to them on the phone. Despite this, however, the singer still wants to pursue the person and "turn them on." The lyrics suggest a kind of desperation, with the singer willing to do whatever it takes to win this person over, even if it means being foolish or making mistakes.
The chorus drives this point home, with the repetition of the phrase "These words, you will be mine" emphasizing the singer's persistence. The following lines reinforce this idea, with the singer stating that they need a second, third, or fourth chance to make things work. The final lines of the song shift towards introspection, with the singer acknowledging the strange currencies of love and expressing a desire to make their feelings real.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know why you're mean to me
I don't understand the reason for your hostility towards me
When I call on the telephone
Whenever I try to reach you through the phone
And I don't know what you mean to me
I'm uncertain about how I feel for you
But I want to turn you on
I want to excite and interest you
Turn you up, figure you out
I want to make you feel good and understand you better
I want to take you on
I want to have a romantic relationship with you
These words, you will be mine
These words act as a promise to make you mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
These words reiterate the declaration to have you by my side always
Now fool might be my middle name
I could be perceived as foolish or silly
But I'd be foolish not to say
However, I would be even more idiotic if I didn't speak up
I'm going to make whatever it takes
I'm willing to do anything necessary to win your affection
Ring you up, call you down, sign your name
I will communicate with you no matter what mood you're in and get you to commit to me officially
Secret love, make it rhyme
I want to hide our relationship but also make it feel poetic and romantic
Take you in and make you mine
I desire to have complete possession over you
I tripped and fell, did I fall
I unknowingly fell into love, or did I deliberately fall into it?
What I want to feel
I crave to experience the intense sensations of love
I want to feel it now
I desire to feel those emotions immediately
You know with love comes strange currencies
When love is involved, peculiar and unexpected actions might be taken
And here is my appeal
Therefore, I request or implore something from you
I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance
I request several opportunities to prove my worth and the sincerity of my feelings
A fourth chance, a word, a signal
I would even ask for a fourth chance, a sign or message of some sort
A nod, a little breath
A simple gesture, even a breath can serve as a signal
Just to fool myself, to catch myself
I just want to deceive myself into thinking that there's a chance between us
And make it real, real
And hopefully, that deception will become a beautiful reality
These words, you will be mine
The earlier promise remains valid, you will be mine
These words haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat
These words keep me restless and emotionally overwhelmed
Make me pray, to say love's confines, oh
These words prompt me to pray and accept the limitations of love
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@marimon2313
I don't know why you're mean to me
When I call on the telephone
And I don't know what you mean to me
But I want to turn you on
Turn you up, figure you out
I want to take you on
These words, you will be mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
Now fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
I'm going to make whatever it takes
Ring you up, call you down, sign your name
Secret love, make it rhyme
Take you in and make you mine
These words, you will be mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
I tripped and fell, did I fall
What I want to feel
I want to feel it now
You know with love comes strange currencies
And here is my appeal
I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance
A fourth chance, a word, a signal
A nod, a little breath
Just to fool myself, to catch myself
And make it real, real
These words, you will be mine
These words, you will be mine, all the time
These words, you will be mine
These words haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat
Make me pray, to say love's confines, oh
@remhq
“Who else came here from The Bear?”
@daveypayne5988
Me!! Jesus....that opening shimmered in out of nowhere and took me right back to 1995 and 15 year old me. The timing of the dialogue in that scene was beautiful ' you know with love comes strange currencies' I only realise how lyrically perfect this track is as a 42 year old. Had it going round my head all day at work
@sickofitallization
Some of us have been fans since the beginning of REM..but I agree, if that show brought you here..welcome!
@RohanTatlow
I literally did after I finished season 2.
@michaelthompsonau
Perfect song for Carm and Clare. ❤️
@samisproductions8979
Okay the guitar rift was cool but where’s the main part from the bear episode?
@LemonTree9280
When the opening riff started on The Bear I was instantly transported back to when I was 13 playing this CD over and over...thanks for the time machine Carm
@mandyrolens632
Same.
@katehanna4680
Me,too. Just a little order than 13. Lol.
@jessicarickman3319
Omg same... love affair with it all again