Michael Stipe looks like the character from the 80's high school movie that doesn't talk or go to class but then says something poignant at the end and saves the day.
omg i just found this right this minute. yes a true gift. they clearly are like a fine wine that just gets better as time passes. haha i love how mike sounds country. he's so amazing. they should have won some country award that year for this.
As a 90s kid, I grew up on Out of Time and Monster but Murmur and Reckoning are, by far, the best albums this band released... And this is one of the best songs from that time.
When Stipe misses his cue at 1:48 for the tag line, you can see Mike Mills quietly whispering the words ("And waste another year"). Then Stipe sheepishly smiles at his miscue and carries on. The gaff actually makes this video more endearing.
Didn't notice that before (and you're right, makes it fun). Looks like Mike was whispering his lyrics the whole way through, so Stipe's omission just stood out a bit more there - and his grin really captured the moment.
@@attsealevel Mike wrote the lyrics indeed. He didn't sing lead vocals much (Near Wild Heaven) but was the main composer on many of the finest REM songs: NWH, NIghtswimming, Find A River, Electrolite, Rockville.
I was pretty sure I heard Mike's voice harmonizing in this song and that helped me figure out it was an REM song I was hearing for the first time. I heard a different rendering of the song, more heavily produced, and it was very hard to recognize who the band was, who the lead singer was. In this version, I immediately knew it was REM . Great song!
@@judetheneilyounggirl2358 I agree completely. And when you have band chemistry and talent like they did, they make it look so damn easy! Like you can just pick up a guitar and start playing and out comes this wonderful song! But it’s not like that for most people. Just them and those other great bands that had that special magic that fate brought them together for apparently. They were so lucky to have that. It’s like they won the lottery!
Met them at a house party in Bloomington in the summer of 1986. They were recording LRP at Mellencamps studio. Nicest guys. No one knew who they were. Seemed surprised we recognized them.
I helped move my keyboardist's Hammond B3 out to Mellencamp's Belmont studio for that session. We got a call from Kenny Aronoff asking if our keyboard player would like to rent his B3 for a session REM would be doing there (Kenny was a friend of ours through our guitarist. He filled in on a three-day gig in Nashville one weekend when our drummer broke his foot). Pretty cool fun memory of my Indiana days.
@@lapdawg60 I remember Kenny. And I had a Deadhead roommate in Bloomington in the Dead cover band Glass Camels, so I know moving a B3 is not fun. We had the police called on us so many times when he was rocking the B3. Take care.
I was born in Athens, Georgia. Met the love of my life there. Spent the happiest days of my life with her there. And much like Ingrid Schorr (the lady this song is about), she left town. Michael Stipe’s attitude in this video is priceless
Used to cover this song w my band at Rollins College(X Club), 92 or so - I'm a drummer. In 2000 I was hanging out w Mike Mills late night after some drinks at my place in Atlanta - told him we'd played this song many times live - along w Driver 8, One I love... He was dating a girl friend of mine from school at the time, Brooke . Super nice guy, Mike was. It was about 2am, we were smoking a cigarette on my porch - he seemed to like the idea that we covered some of their music. I liked that he liked it, honestly. He's a gracious, kind and warm individual. I hung out w him maybe a half dozen times - only once talked about REM with him, it was that night. Before, I didn't want to sound like a douchy fan even though I was and still am a huge REM fan. What a swell fellow - my best to Mike Mills. Fond memories of hanging out for a bit in the 90's. Yes, the 90's - if you weren't there for it, I'm sorry but you'll never understand. No cell phones, no social media - just present people living present lives. Interesting people - records, books, instruments, shows, coffee, drinks, talking about these things with no 'audience' other than those who were present and no desire to expand upon it beyond that. I wouldn't trade it for youth - not todays' youth - not if I couldn't have experienced those times. Thrilled I had it then, happy to ride it out from here - lots of peace and love, y'all 🙂
That's actually better than the album version to me. Just guys sitting around playing for fun, not trying to be rock stars. I love hearing Michael Stipe sing with a Georgia accent.
Nash1965H lol and yet the Only REM song you’ll hear on the radio is the overly appreciated Losing My Religion. They had some really great songs and that one just eclipsed them because it was what, poignant? Such a shame.
Mike Mills giggles very sweet . When Michael Stipe nudging him. They are special guys to me. I still love all of them in REM. Bill, Mike, Peter and Michael.
That's the best music video I've ever seen because they are so great, so casual, so flawed, yet gathered up into a tight ball of perfection; and I was as young as they were when that was filmed with much more difficulty than it could be today.
Contains the most emotional/direct line of all the REM I know (pre-Warner Bros. anyway) "At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me"
that was beautiful. time passes so quickly. i remember getting the same goosebumps the first time I heard this song, when it was JUST released. I was instantly addicted to R.E.M., this cut & 'Radio Free Europe', summer of 1983 while in college. I had a radio show and remember the singles coming out wayyy before they were hits, like a lot of amazing music those years... about R.E.M., I also remember thinking they must have been influenced by Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, the texas twang in the lyrics/performance here very remeniscent of him and "Take The Last Train To Clarksville". Could've been, "Don't Go Back To Clarksville"...lol.. I also remember being in Rockville, Maryland for work the following summer & couldn't get the song out of my head.
I saw them in a gymnasium. We were so hot, the girls took their tops off . I LOVED them. I saw them many more times in small venues in the south. But nothing compares to that first show.
Not just my fave song by this incredible band, but one of my faves of all time! Love the spontaneity and laid back nature of this video, and extra points for even bringing out a Guitarron, regardless of actually playing it or not. ;)
@@philipmarx1819 no their production got better but after out of time they started recycling their songs for the masses..apart from drive and man on the moon..I thought automatic unlistenable for me
I agree. How did I miss this? This whole album was created as a rebellion against the 1980's drum machine and the desire to bring music back to a personal level. Success.
I COMPLETELY AGREE!! Fables is such a great album, I wish that it wasn't so underrated!! Feeling Gravity's Pull, Driver 8, Life and How to Live It, Maps and Legends, Green Grow the Rushes, Wendell Gee....ugh, I could name the entire f**kin' album!! Fables is awesome, hopefully people will recognize its greatness in the future. However, Murmur, Reckoning and Lifes Rich Pageant are also excellent albums, they are definitely among the best albums of the 1980s. R.E.M. seemed a lot better in the 80s.
This has always been my favourite REM song, I first heard it during physio sessions after being hit by a car on my way home. Certainly made the physio more bearable :)
some time in the 90s REM was a trendy band with Losing my religion and orange crush but there best stull probly never made a mainstream radio station...songs like Texacarna and there other b sides are there greatest
This band is so freaking great. One of a kind. The stars aligned here, mills, buck, stipe, buckner. They remain unmatched like The Doors remain unmatched. TREMENDOUS!!!
The 60s and the 80s/90s were two very different periods, but in both eras selling out (to me) meant tailoring your music for mass appeal in order to make money. By the 80s, when a band signed to a big label so that they could reach more people having pressure from corporate folks came with the territory. Band members shouldn't be thinking about how many units a song is going to move while creating a song.
Roflmao. Me too my friend. In mind I thought I was the shizzle in college back in the 80's. God take me back to those years. Great music, great health and extreme optimism. What the heck happened? I know. Time passed and I got older.
I love it when Michael forgets the first "...waste another year" line and then smiles when he realizes it. Very cute moment... As a Rockville native, I agree with the sentiment.
Of the thousands of music videos I have saved, this is the one I keep coming back to. I just love the naturalness of it and how very talented they are at such a young age. Can't get enough.
Am in a position where I'm gonna have to make a decision in which I decide to stay in a country town where my mother is from, and the coastal city/town that I was born in, and love. It's the toughest decision ever because, either way, all the pros outweigh the cons. But this catchy tune really makes it tougher. haha.
I heard this song on my radio this morning. It was a different version, not this bare bones style. It was the first time I'd ever heard this song and I really liked it. In the recording I heard on my radio , it was very hard to recognize who was singing. It was more heavily produced, like an album cut. I'm pretty good at recognizing bands and singers and lead quitarists, and I had a fairly good idea I was hearing some EARLY REM . I couldn't wait to hit utube and type in what I thought the song title might be. SURE ENOUGH! I was right. Micheal Stipe with HAIR early! Now in this pared down acoustic rendition I knew immediately it was REM. How did I miss this little beauty for all these years? Very cool finding this tune and then seeing this great video of the band. Awesome! I love playing musical trivia with myself and I must boast a little that I am VERY good at it. I've not met too many people that are as good as I am. I am so sure of myself that I once bet my original 1987 Pontiac Firebird GTA against a guy with a brand new Corvette Stingray. I won. It was a sweet win! I'm 68 and live and breathe music from The Beatles to Death Metal to Grunge, everything from 1964 and on to today. Anyway, great present whenever I find a great new song or some new steller artist.
@@GreenCanvasInteriorscape We were in The Porthole Lounge in Tampa, FL. Playing a SERIOUS game of music trivia. The whole bar was watching me and this guy play. The question I won with was: what is the name of the album that just came out that is a play on words from The 5 Man Electrical Band who had the hit song "Signs" in the 70s and who is the Artist that released it? A 2 parter!! OMG! But I knew both answers and I started getting REALLY excited. I answered ; the artist is Tesla and the album is titled The 5 Man Acoustical Jam. Yesurie, Bob! I won! I remember that I thought I just lucked out because I thought that question was a "gimmie ". It just seemed too easy! I thought "Everybody's gotta know this", but NO, I quess they didn't! SO, that was the 10 thousand dollar question that night! Thanks for asking me! You're a sweetheart!! Peace!
Don’t Go Back to) Rockville Lyrics [Verse 1] Looking at your watch a third time 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 [Verse 2] You'll wind up in some factory That's full-time filth and nowhere left to go 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 [Chorus] Don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville And waste another year [Verse 3] 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 [Chorus] Don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville And waste another year [Verse 4] 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
Thanks for posting these lyrics. That line: "Going where nobody says hello They don't talk to anybody they don't know", and how it's sung in this video, so dismissive.
I just listened to New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and I love it. New Adventures in Hi-Fi is SUCH a great album, it's really underrated. Darn shame that Bill Berry left R.E.M. after New Adventures, he was a really important part of R.E.M. Another underrated R.E.M. album is Fables of the Reconstruction, I think that it might be my favorite R.E.M. album now.
Truly time machine stuff, really takes me back!! All the hair, and Michael working that Georgia accent too, Tasty!! Thank you SO MUCH for posting this and all of these. I love them.
Love this song. I’m from Chicago, but actually bought the new release in (‘86, ‘87?) Rockville, MD. I was in high school and my family had driven my older bro to some Engineering Camp at the US Naval Base nearby. Had already listened to Murmur and liked it, and saw this near release date (didn’t even notice there was a song about Rockville on the album). It’s a sort of love song from Mikey to a girl that was leaving Athens for a while. Top 20 songs of all time.
This song and albums of that time frame makes me think my college years at Ole Miss... REM played there during this time as they all had this hair styles... I followed them ever since and had all their albums up until Monster album... they're early albums were awesome with every song good... but at the time of Monster or maybe a lil sooner became 2 song albums thus I quit buying them after that... World Tour was their best... End of the World As We Know It....And I Feel Fine... favorite song Fall On Me... Peace covid survivors 🍻
