I haven't deliberately listened to any R.E.M. for ages. I hear them in passing but don't often make the effort to play their records. Recently I had an overwhelming urge to hear Find The River. The album it finished off, Automatic For The People, came out a quarter of a century ago and for an album that is right up there in their back catalogue, Find The River is quite the ending, heartstrings tugged at for sure, but also optimistic and wide eyed (at the end of a record that was surrounded by rumours of death and illness). Lovely beyond belief.
Stipe's lyrics were much clearer by this point-
'The river to the ocean flows
A fortune for the undertow
None of this is going my way'
But he could still chuck in words for their own sake, for the sound of them-
'Of ginger, lemon, indigo
Coriander stem and rose of hay'
And finish with couplets that seem to mean something-
'Strength and courage overides
The privileged and weary eyes
Of river poet search naivete
Pick up her and chase the ride
The river empties to the tide
All of this is going your way'
6 comments:
I'm strongly tempted by the new anniversary edition.
I read a couple of reviews. I'm not sure I need it but I'd like to hear it.
The live album in the set is most of a show that's been around as a bootleg for years. The tracks were also released as b-sides on the Monster singles. The really interesting stuff lies on the third disc, the demos. Again, some of it has seen the light of day before (Photograph, the lovely duet with Natalie Merchant, for instance). But there are some gems amongst it.
As for Find The River - I used to frequent lots of REM fan message boards back in the day. Find The River won a poll of Best REM Song amongst fans on more than one occasion. Bearing in mind many of these fans were pretty nerdy hardcore fans like myself - that speaks volumes.
Am also tempted by the anniversary box.
As for this...great post for a great song.
Nice post. Hits the spot if you've lost someone.
Lovely post about a lovely song.
Such is the quality of R.E.M. that I never found a slot for 'Find The River' on 2 x volumes of ICAs. It is one that can only close an album but 'Perfect Circle' and 'King of Birds' won out. Maybe I should make a third effort....
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