Music video by R.E.M. performing Life And How To Live It. (P) (C) 2010 Capitol Records, LLC. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws. Manufactured by IRS Catalog,
Brivs Mekis was a schizophrenic author who lived in Athens, GA in the 70s and 80s. He was an old man when this song was written. He was known to have built a wall through his house to split it into two sides. Each side was different in character and when his personality shifted (tiring of one side), he’d move to the other for a while. When he passed away, a stack of copies of his published book “Life, How To Live” was found in a closet in the house. His views were backward to say the least, but his eccentricity inspired this song. To my knowledge his house is still standing. I am from Athens and still live in the area.
I always think of an old friend’s house when I hear this song. The house he had belonged to an old man whose children hated each other. When he passed away they both inherited the house. Not wanting to get along or live together, they literally split the house in two. They built walls in the hallways and made it into a duplex. Eventually my friend Tom bought the house. He tore out the walls and made the house one again. I remember hearing this story when I visited and asked him why he had two kitchens.
Who else thinks Fables of the Reconstruction is a very underrated album? Personally I think it's the best I.R.S. record (yes I think it's better than Murmur and Document) they released, and this song pretty much epitomises the true greatness of it. To think this album is even hated my the band themselves (well Peter hates it anyway!).
Agreed. The only time I got to see REM live was for the Fables tour, at Fox Theater in downtown Detroit, think is was early fall '85. The Replacements opened. Grand show. And Gravity's Pull is still my FavE REM song, and that is saying a lot as I was completely into REM since Murmur made it to the record store shelves. There's a great live video of REM on YT when on tour for Fables from Rockpalast in Germany.
Old Man Kinsey had a mystique that others seek to achieve. I remember seeing them those days and later. The energy was more pure then and the music less jaded and political.
I agree, I love Fables of the Reconstruction, it is better than Document. Fables is such an underrated album, I don't understand why people don't like it that much. I love the dark, murky, psychedelic sound of Fables.
Early 1980's R.E.M. Could've easily fit on Reckoning. The jingly jangly guitars are standard R.E.M. from that era. Michael's vocals...perfect #R.E.M. #music #FM #nostaticatall #1980s #classic
Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way Two doors to go between the wall was raised today Two doors, two names to call your other and your own Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street My pockets are out and running about and barking in the street To tell what I have hidden there Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way Two doors to go between the wall was raised today Raise the walls to hide these flaws, the carpenter should rest So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street My pockets are out and running about and barking in the street To tell what I have hidden there The hills ringing hear the words in time, listen to the holler Listen to my walls within my tongue Can't you see you made my ears go tin The air quicken tension building inference suddenly Life and how to live it Raise the walls to hide these flaws, the carpenter should rest So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best Read about the wisdom wall, the knock-knock-knock A secret knock, one hammer's locked, the other wisdom's lost My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street My pockets are out and running about and barking in the street To tell what I have hidden there My carpenter's out and running about, walking the Listen to the holler My pockets are out and running about, barking in the street To tell what I have hidden there Listen, listen to the holler If I write a book it will be called Life and how to live it
A remarkable contribution, inasmuch as Michael Stipe's lyrics and poetry are nearly indecipherable. I've enjoyed them for decades, but they are not easy to get through since his style is so unique.
There are certain things that makes R.E.M. special. One little example is in this song at two minutes in. The song chugs along, alternating from C to D and occasionally going to G- pretty straightforward rock, but then at 2:00 it suddenly shifts to F and the ghostly counter-melodies of Pete’s jangly guitar and Mike and Bill’s wordless BG vocals meet Michael’s words and make it simply otherworldly. THAT is why REM was so different and so special.
Oh, Stipey, you and your amateur film aesthetic! ... which I'm still a fan of. First saw an R.E.M. concert when I was 16 and saw every one until poor Bill had to back out. I love you guys forever!
One of the best REM songs. The intro and verses could have come straight off Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation three years later. And THAT record was considered light years ahead of its time
I know it's a 5 years old comment but, well... funny you would mention Sonic Youth, as if I remember correctly, Peter is using an alternate tuning on this one. Might be why it sounds similar in style, indeed!
+Ritchit P Like Kurt Cobain said someday: ''I admire how Michael Stipe could manage the mainstream scene''. And it's true, they didn't thought to be a legendary or popular band, they just were them. And the mainstream came to R.E.M. in ''The One I Love'', with a music that was pure expression of themselves instead of a try to enter to the popular scene.
I've listened to it since 1990 and it's my all time best album (Murmur is number 2 and Reckoning is number 3). Life and How to Live it is my favorite song.
Great album for sure but overall the feel of it doesn't flow as well as others. Green still holds up the most for me, despite it's critics. I don't understand the criticism of Green. Sure, Stand was cheesey, but come on, it basically blended the old REM with the more upbeat direction, albeit with the usual air of mystery and melancholy [The Wrong Child, Hairshirt, untitled, You Are The Everything, World Leader Pretend, for example] then the rockers like Orange Crush and Turn You Inside Out. Brilliant stuff.
fantastic song. so many good songs on this album, reckoning and life's rich pageant. The first four albums are brilliant - as are 5-10 - but the least brilliant is murmur and I wish critics would climb off the murmur bandwagon and tell it as it is
Iain Mcguinness i think murmur is fantastic and while perhaps a touch overhyped, when it hits you... it hits you. the fact that its their first full album still amazes me. the band's weaknesses at the time became their strengths, with stipe's vocal stylings and cryptic lyrics being utilized for what they brought to the table rather than dismissed and it's just amazing.
One of my favs, Fablles is close to the last great REM album. Murmur is amazing but must listen sparingly so as not to ruin. Maybe Gardening at Night is my Fav. Saw them many days early on. Loved when Michael was unintelligible and shy. Ego ruined him.
@nilleej I was ALSO four years old when I first heard R.E.M.s music and have been listening ALSO their music ever since! One of the greatest band ever!
As far as things artsy and off the beaten path, this video is a fitting companion to the song. And who really cares if the homeowner had exact duplicates of items on both sides of his house. From my favorite R.E.M. LP.
uh I've been a casual fan for decades, but only ever owned reckoning (my favorite) document and green, and murmur for about a month... just hearing this track for the first time today and have to comment how awesome it is. and how I'm listening twice now...
I'm a huge REM fan and the two favourite songs of mine both belong on this album (Life and How to Live it and Kohoutek). Strangely though I think the album still needed a lot of work done on it, especially production-wise. I think it *could* have been their best album with a few more weeks worth of work on it, on arrangement and production. That's my opinion anyway.
I have heard this on the radio but have never seen the video, so when I first watched it I thought my computer kept freezing up on me. Later I watched it on VH1 Classics and found out it's suppose look like this. I know that may seem dumb of me but I really had never seen this video before.
+123artish This is one of many great R.E.M songs - my other favorites are: WE WALK, Wolves Lower, Pretty persuasion, Carnival or sorts, Laughing, Harbor Coat, Maps and Legends, Green Grow Rushes Grow, I BELIEVE, What if we give it away, Begin the Begin, Ages of You, Exhuming McCarthy, Finest Working, Texarkana, Turn you inside out, Stand, South central rain, Man on the moon, EVERYBODY HURTS, IMITATION OF LIFE and Whats the frequency Kenneth
The album is perfect as far as I'm concerned! It's kind of dark and honest. I think Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention) did a fine job producing it.
So good that it makes me sad that this kind of music and these kinds of artists have been pushed aside for the absolute soulless garbage that is being pushed on and is accepted by the masses today.
Songwriters sit down with a guitar or piano and puzzle out a chord progression and put some lyrics on it, maybe come up with some melodic hooks, and there's your song, just add musicians and arrange it. That's not how this was written. I don't know how this was written. It sounds like everyone but the drummer having a nervous breakdown, but no, it's very structured. I don't think REM contrived this sort of material in any conventional way. I think they had no tolerance for boredom, and they'd get together and throw themselves at a bunch of ideas, and they'd throw away anything that sounded like anything else, even themselves, and this is what emerged. You can't plan this out.
