Added: 5 years ago
From: Feathershadow
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  • When I listen to REM I stand in the shoulders of giants... but for some reason I don't feel cold

  • birds are evil

  • What I got from this song is "Create something for yourself."

  • REM is one of those bands where, each time you revisit one of their songs, you find something new.

    Their music doesn't just stand the test of time, it keeps growing with it.

  • Guitar reminds me of The End by The Doors.

  • GREAT SONG!! Standing on the shoulder of giants sound familiar?? @Oasisfans

  • wow. very powerful.

  • i think this song is about going for your dreams with everything you've got. you shouldn't rely on other people to make your dreams for you. This song inspires me!

  • Saw this song performed live in 1989 on the Green Tour. I still get movedhearing the lyrics 20 plus years after it cam out. Amazing!!!!!! Thanks R.E.M. for a great career.

  • LOVE. thanks, REM.

  • Does anyone else think the background guitar sounds like The End by The Doors ??

  • @TheSimonRowell Yeah, this song has definitely a 60s drone feeling. At least during the verse :-)

  • @TheSimonRowell Wow, it sure does!! At some points, it even seems as if I'm listening to The End. Never noticed that before... maybe that's why I like them both!

  • you 2 idiots!!!

  • REM songs still stay with me today. Their music had such a huge effect on me growing up....

  • @khasperg dude i think you got to relax

    ofc ppl still listen r.e.m...you know what...

    i hate all those coments about dislikes and what ather ppl do

    if you dont want to judge you and your music

    dont judge them either...peaple are not idiots just deferent to each ather

  • Velvet Underground vibes.. Good song anyway

  • The best REM song ever made.  Has stood the test of time for the past couple decades. The music and lyrics are magic.

  • The best REM song ever made. Not mainstream but everyone can relate. Has stood the test of a couple decades. I can still listen to it 3 or 4 times in a row.

  • THIS IS WHATS HAPPENING NOW..LOVE YOU..

  • this video is just amazing, all r.e.m songs are, but this one has something even more special in it. just great music

  • I am the King of all I see, My kingdom for a voice.

  • Has a Doors quality to it.

  • Who drew the short straw?

  • Who drew the short straw?

  • Man, i always get the chilis when Mike says AWAY!!!!!!!!!!

  • love this song ... special song ... amazing song.

  • joeagraff - how are the words wrong. post the correct one then. 

  • i love rem with my heart!

  • The words are wickedly wrong though...

  • Wow man i recognized a song from this band my father used 2 play , , its amazing how music can blow strenght into your beiing .

  • REM started to suck ass after Bill Berry, author of this song, left the band.

  • @meccaturbo Surely "failed to live up to my excpectations " or even " got worse" would have sufficed. Sucking ass should be reserved for those that start off sucking ass and continue to suck that ass in the face of all our well intented critisism.

  • @petesn Go fuck yourself, you retard. Yes, they started to suck ass. If you don't like that language, take your whiney comments elsewhere. Scumbag.

  • @meccaturbo Typical american prick...no wit.

  • @petesn Go fuck yourself, you Cayman island piggy.

  • he's so talented and yet so modest,exceptional and unique band, LOVE R.E.M!!!

  • Who drew the short straw....... 

  • the green world tour changed my life in so many ways .......back in 88

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  • @rodyspace that isn't what Michael is singing, but it's still nice. It's "who drew the short straw."

  • Stipe flying over and looking down upon all the lesser bards...

  • Well, to be fair to the masses, REM did kind of lose their way after Bill left the band. "Reveal" and "Around the Sun" were a couple of pretty darn weak albums. "Accelerate," however, was a great return to form, and I've got high hopes for the album that they apparently just finished recording.

  • @PeteMachalek: Well, of course it's a matter of opinion but I went back to Reveal after initially dismissing it and found it (and still find it) hauntingly beautiful in places. Can't say the same for Around the Sun, but a sub-par R.E.M. album remains better than most bands can produce at their best. We all miss Bill, though, for sure...

  • @khasperg I sometimes feel like this and they would be so much more hip if a member had died or they broke up 15 years ago. But music is so subjective and for me they represent a perfect moment in time when I was growing up and all the emotions that brings with it. They always will.

  • I'm searching for a REM song which I heard years and years ago, but I still can't find it. T_T

  • Must be a good thing. I lullabied my own daughter with this tune as well, starting back in 2001 or so. She's 11 1/2 thesde days. Don't think she has ever heard it, the real song that is.

  • I sang this to my daughter too.  She is now 19.

  • I never really cared much for this song until seeing it here.

  • Start counting REMs greatest songs and you'll be there for a long time !! Counting and singing along

  • I wish they would have included the "For the people" intro. :(

  • i love this video.. this concert was amazing... me encanta como se desenvolvian y como lo hacen aun.. q ganas de haber estado alli... I would have loved to be there!!!

  • is this the end from the doors

  • one of the most underated rem songs

  • be true, be sure, be strong..mmm

  • My favorite R.E.M. song. Not sure of its meaning, but that's nothing new with me and R.E.M. I just like the sound of their music :)

  • I love the camera angle just before he sings "Everybody hit the ground" for the first time

  • R.E.M. is number 1...

  • this one did it for me too. they were absolutely on fire on the Green tour. i saw them at maple leaf gardens in toronto.

    gloriously sloppy. one of the top 5 live shows ever for me. out of a hell of a lot of live shows.

  • A beautiful song that made me a follower of the band. "Standing on the shoulders of giants, leaves me cold"-a line that still gets to me.

  • khaspberg don't feel that way.

    I totally dig REM.

    I love their older stuff and can't wait for the new cd and hopefully world tour!

  • that's good, i always felt they were somehow underrated as a "super group" compared to others...to me they are the most interesting and credible band that has achieved that level of fame, i hope a lot of people appreciate it

  • This is one of my favorite songs ever written, when I was a teen I watched this VHS till it didnt work anymore..but Im pretty sure the improved lyrics at the end of the song are not "Be True, Be sure, be strong" ..

    it's "Who drew, the short straw?"

  • "improved" = improvised

  • excellent, i did the same with my road movie dvd

  • @subere23 I've had the VHS since about 1990. I was always afraid it would break and I wouldn't be able to get another one (I've had to replace it once). Now with you tube. I never have to panic again.

  • I entirely agree!!! I miss Bill!

  • standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold

  • I meant they did NOT burst on to the scene in dramatic fashion

  • When I was a teenager all I did was listen to REM and this movie and Road Movie. The only thing I listened to for years. Now I feel like no one likes them because they don't represent some single moment in time, they didn't self-destruct, they burst on the scene in dramatic fashion, all they did was consistently bring emotions out out people through pop music like no other band. They are not a HIP and predictable choice I guess. People are idiots.

  • I still have hope for people... but those are very very wise words, Khasperrg.

  • i think one day they will have a big revival in their popularity because these things are cyclical, if artistry returns to pop music, r.e.m. will be more widely appreciated than they are now, there music is not connected with a time period really, and i believe their music will grow in strength

  • @khasperg 'consistently bring emotions'" well said. Night Swimming.... my ex husband and I having a care free time during college... only REM can do that and I am a die hard INXS fan. I am so glad we still have Michael Stipe with us AND REM is still intact!

  • @khasperg I think they've still got a pretty strong following even today.  REM was never hyper-popular, smash-hit band and never followed trends just to sell albums. They started as an obscure college-town band and never really tried to reach super stardom. When Accelerate came out, someone asked Michael Stipe how much longer REM would continue to perform and make new albums. Basically he said that as long as people wanted to keep listening, they'd stick around. BTW, I love this song.

  • @khasperg I sometimes feel like this and they would be so much more hip if a member had died or they broke up 15 years ago. But music is so subjective and for me they represent a perfect moment in time when I was growing up and all the emotions that brings with it. They always will.

  • @khasperg ive been waiting for somebody else to say that. thumbs up.

  • You're Not me.......be strong...be pure...(and clean on the inside,behind the ears clean not for anyone else to use clean)You're Not me......be strong..be pure...be sure.....

  • this movie is simply amazing! the best period of this unique band! i had it on vhs back then and watched it until it went totally rugged. nice upload!

  • So so so true, pity that

  • When I heard it first, I was Amazed! It's such a beautiful song especially on Tourfilm!

    I hope that R.E.M. can write again such songs like this one! I hope they will be again on the top oce again!

    We love R.E.M. in Hungary :)

  • Awesome song.

  • I always thought he said, "Could you, be sure, be strong?" Almost as if he were posing a challenge to the audience. Such a timeless song and lyrics.

  • R.E.M with a lyric scroll seems a bit perverse,especially as this song was not hard to decipher.

    The beauty(one of many) of the early albums was that the lyrics were buried so far down in the mix,that the listener would make them up for themselves.

    Rapid Eye Movement,the state we experience when deep within our dreams.

    They sounded as important to me in 1985 as all the "Classic" Rock music,but did it on there own terms.

  • The extraneous lyrics in the song are NOT made up on the spot. This song was oftern mashed-up with Drivin' N' Cryin's "With the People" lyrics by Kevn Kenny.

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  • god, i really need to update to the dvd of this...

  • I read in a magazine sometime in the 80s that Stipe forgot the lyrics to some songs that were never written down, and when he sang them he just made a similar noise... I like that REM seemed to me to be as much an art project as it was a band.

  • Best song on Document

  • Yeah, I'll second that mate. Got that really beguiling sitar drone and the wonderfully dulcit Stipe vocal undertow. Ticks all the boxes on what made the first ten years of R.E.M. music so compelling!!

  • I think this captured R.E.M. at their peak, before Bill's departure, and when they toured with Peter Holsaple of the DB's on guitar. I saw them a couple of times that tour and they were in a groove. Great, unique shows to cap R.E.M.'s 80's period..

  • i liked around the sun too. but the one song on there....the ascent of man...makes me wanna punch babies in the face.

  • If you've listened to Ascent of a Man live, it's a whole new story. The harmonics are jaw-dropping.

  • Favorite REM song after I Believe i think they have gotton worse over the years Around the Sun was their worse album , the new Murmur was great though

  • A favorite of mine too... It might sound weird, but I actually like Around the Sun.. I like it better than UP and Out of Time. I dunno... take that as just a friendly opinion.

  • are you calling acclelrate the new murmur? Both are amazing album and one is certainly as good as the other but then sound different.

  • I think he means the remastered Murmur with the bonus tracks and stuff

  • Document was so good

  • I think it's "Who drew...the short straw...".

  • The words at the end on the screen are wrong. He's saying, "Who drew the short straw?" Not "Be True. Be sure. Be strong."

    lol

  • Brilliant as usual.

  • I have chills from this song, it's another favourite of mine!!

  • I sang this to my daughter as her lullaby when she was an infant. She is now 8 and I played this video for her a couple of weeks ago and watched her face as she watched it for the 1st time. She beemed and looked at me and said,"that's our song Daddy"! I havnt sang it to her since she was 2ish. Thank you REM!!!

  • Aw!  Cool story.

  • Great story. Thanks for that.

  • @snowmassrider ...that is just wonderfull, yes thankyou rem

  • @snowmassrider awesome story. Thanks for sharing it!

  • @snowmassrider : I always thought this was the best song on Design...now I know why!!

  • @snowmassrider oh my god that is so sweet i can't even tell you.wow i'm almost in tears.

  • @snowmassrider Thats a touching story . You must be a great father xD

  • I miss this R.E.M. The weird, moody, t-shirt wearing REM. Now they wear pink and yellow suits.

  • muito bom

  • For someone who's now bald, Michael Stipe sure had alot of interesting hairstyles. WTF is that thing Stipey?

  • on internet

  • Can you buy this 'tour film from 1989' anywhere?

  • Yes, you can get REM TOURFILM on DVD for about 10 bucks.

  • That's one of those REM tracks that make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Every time without fail. johnny.

  • Awesome,berry mills buck stipe

  • This band is so great!

  • you should have quit after your first sentance

  • but their peak was hit in 2008? Accelerate is far better than document or Automatic, only up, New adventures and reckoning come close

  • no no no way. automatic is amazing. REM pre 90's is best. But, they do have a bunch of amazing stuff post 80's, including losing my religion, sidewinder sleeps tonight, ignoreland, bad day, everything off accelerate, etc.

    let me note that their best album in record sales to date is actually automatic for the people.

    either way, 100% of everything from REM rocks.

  • This song is super Megatron Awesome.

  • There will never be a band like REM again

  • this song is a real special experience with great lyrics! I REALLY love it :>

  • brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!

  • i love this song, many of rem's songs are what i call "american windows" being from uk and having never been there, some of them make me think of like big open spaces and long roads and stuff. They are one of my life fave bands too, so i guess they have just formed part of my imagination in that respect. thanks for putting it up, good for writing to:)

  • quiet brilliance

  • you dont get any better my favourite song of all time.

  • sexy performance!

  • Be True, Be Sure, Be Strong -_-

  • Pat likes this song

  • "standing on the shoulders of giants, everyboby's looking on..."

  • D'oh! I always thought the last lines of this song were, "Ka-choo, the short straw."

  • R.E.M. will go down in history as one of the greatest rock bands of all time. They always give 100%, strive for excellence, and they don't take orders from anyone. Period.

  • you are right. the early albums (up to green) are as original and uncompromising as any in rock history (possible exceptions bowie, dylan and beatles) simply brilliant.

    this is the climax of 'document' - one of the top thirty all-time great albums...reminds me a bit of 'stationtostation' - the highest point in a great artist's career - but a turning point in his life. i don't think stipe was ever as great a lyricist again - he never looked better - but he was ready to come out...he had to.

  • WHAT? After they signed to WB, they were hit and miss, sure, BUT have you listened to Nightswimming or Find the River, or anything off New Adventures ?????? You are a fool@

  • no....you're a fucking fool...and you've no manners or taste either...so fuck off!

  • I have no taste or manners and you tell me to "fuck off"? Get real. everyone on your profile has ripped you for leaving rude remarks. Go drown yourself in the Thames with your mother watching while getting gang fucked by hannibal lecter and Prince charles

  • Hear hear!

  • Oh, and it's GOTTA be a MAIN idea, not 'mean'. But enjoyed the posted lyrics.

  • The lyrics here are the ones from the Tourfilm DVD. Not that that means they are right...

    It could be "mean" idea as in "paltry" idea...and that's how I've always heard it.

    Incidentally, I am positive that at the end Stipe is singing "Who drew the short straw" complete with hand gesture...not the lyrics as they appear on the DVD...

  • I always thought that end lyric was 'the short straw, the dew'... i also hear the lyric as 'the catacombs are filling in' instead of 'the catacombs appear' just my interpretation!

  • The actual lyric is "the catacombs are filling in." it's from "letter never sent" off reckoning. the last last line is: "who'll choose, the short straw" or "you choose, the short straw". he flips back and forth.

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  • BTW, the pinkpop version of this song esta increible

  • It doesn't get any better than that. Bloody brilliant.

  • I know I have been in love with song scince the 80's(yes i am old -39) But it is just one of those timeless michael stype potery songs that send chills up your emotions.

  • LOL..I got ya beat by 2 yrs, but I agree with what you say about this song, and Michael Stipe. R.E.M is truly a band like no other..:)

  • Cried my eyes out watching this video. beautiful.

  • Me too, but I cry at every bad movie I see these days. Utube is the single most modern convenience of my lifetime, after the internet itself. Seeing things like this are puking PRICELESS!

  • this is so good. if only they could get back to where they were when they made this.

  • I almost feel young again listening to this.

  • Mad to think that he's singing about ande english man. Sir Isac Newton. When Newton became famous he wrote a letter to other leading scientists of the time apologising for using there work. Its said that he was almost embarrased by the press of the time and came up with the quote "standing on the shoulders of giant leaves me cold". This can be seen on the side of an English £2 coin. I guess its a Stipe / Pastsy tribute that made him write the song at the time.

  • Mad to think that he's singing about ande english man. Sir Isac Newton. When Newton became famous he wrote a letter to other leading scientists of the time apologising for using there work. Its said that he was almost embarrased by the press of the time and came up with the quote "standing on the shoulders of giant leaves me cold". This can be seen on the side of an English £2 coin. I guess its a Stipe / Pastsy tribute that made him write the song at the time.

  • is this true?

  • This is a great song and its performed so well here

  • btw check your uk 2pound on the edges.:) maybe a poet left it there:)

  • before you tube i had ,cassettes lol,am i pleased to view this one, not going remark on the ones i find crap unless it offends bad:)

    take a 5 great video

  • this is the best song even written

  • no song has ever touched me like this song has

  • ya sure !