white stripes, portishead, flaming lips, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, of montreal, dirty projectors, animal collective, vampire weekend, anthony and the johnsons, phoenix, yo la tengo, tv on the radio, yeah yeah yeahs, outkast, panda bear, the strokes, wilco, daft punk....yeh i think the 2000s were allllllright and of course rem were still around
Wait a sec, the 2000s have been pretty brilliant for music, think about arcade fire, sufjan stevens, grandaddy, sigur ros, radiohead, deerhunter, fleet foxes, bon iver, boards of canada, andrew bird, nick cave and the bad seeds, queens of the stone age, battles, broadcast, the shins, spiritualized, lcd soundsystem, feist, pj harvey, the national, band of horses, kanye west, spoon, grizzly bear, dismemberment plan, bjork, belle and sebastian, peter bjorn and john, joanna newsom, beck, hot chip,
@landondonovanify Radiohead's first album was early nineties as was Beck, PJ harvey. Bjork at least since the late eighties, Nick Cave and the Bad seeds is early eighties. Still your point is well taken. There is good music being made.
@9501dannyboy objectivism is based on objective reality. reason is an absolute. reason is man's only guide to action. Man must lead by the independent judgement of his own mind. the highest moral purpose is the achievement of your own happiness. man must not force other people nor accept their right to force him, each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self interest.
@muskypucker You said a mouthful. Seems like yesterday a group of us piled into a van for the very first Lollapalooza. We were in our 20's and having the best time of our lives. I'm in my 40's now and things have been tough the last few years (they were good for a really long time, i guess that's the problem). Am pining for my youth. Not a good thing. Pining for my old looks too. ugh. Kill to talk to a shrink about it all.
@ferngullyful Dude, I'm in my mid-30s and already I'm pining for the music of the 1990s. I was about 12 when R.E.M.'s song "Stand" became a big hit. In fact, they along with Trhowing Muses were my first concert. I may have only been 14 when the album "Out of Time" became a big hit, but I had very advanced tastes for my age.
"Shiny Happy People" was the first song I ever learned on my bass and once my brother heard me play, we formed a band. Heck, I even got my dad to love R.E.M.
@muskypucker: Nothing wrong with getting old, ol' top! We were there at the start of R.E.M.'s great music and that whole genre of exciting new and different music...great college days right at the dang start, 1983ish. That's our own story right there in time. Fun! Would not trade for anything.
I'm from Rockville. We have lots of Jewish and Asian people here, nail joints, and upscale shopping centers. Factories? Not so much. Souless? Rockville's an upper-middle-class suburb w/orchestrs concerts at Strathmore, concerts at Town Center, movies on the lawn, wine tasting, etc. Stupid R.E.M.
the best thing about all the shit music around these days, is that it forces you to seek out the older stuff. like van morrison, dylan, the stones etc bands like REM have saved me from going insane.
holy shit the only thing that makes me feel go about turning 40 is that i can think of sneaking into the 40 watt when i was a kid to see these guys play !
what I wanna know is what's it like to have your youth at your fingertips ... to be the singer in the band and stuck in some godfursaken nowhere with nothing to do ... so why not check me at 26 out ... cuz to us that youth (and that music) is a beautiful and tragic thing ... tragic cuz it goes ... it's gone ... but for them, they got feelings, memories, embarrassments even, that give the images in the rearview mirror a different tint? That's what I wanna know ...
Think yourself lucky... my generation have got fuck all decent bands to grow old with.
R.E.M. are just one of the many great bands that were a product of the alt rock explosion in the 80s and early 90s. Who have we got to grow old with? The Arctic Monkeys? Fuck that.
I'm going to see a couple of them this winter actually, bands who only just released their first albums. The last decade however, was very, very unproductive music wise and I'll stand by that.
I'm a big fan of The White Stripes actually, but the other artists you mention lag behind the artists that broke through in previous decades. Especially the Arctic Monkeys - a painfully dull meshing of britpop and garage rock/post-punk. The Strokes are very likable, but very much by the numbers. As for The Kills, I'd throw them in with BRMC as a 'nearly band', inconsistent but brilliant when on form, and live.
Eyes are open, and they are seeing clearly thank you very much.
Oh dear, reducing this to hate... how embarrassing for you. I don't hate the Arctic Monkeys, I merely resent the notion that they're even worthy of shining Michael Stipe's shoes.
@TheGargantuanSock like the sentiment, but............while i will grow old with those same bands i grew up with the 80's and 90's, i will happily grow older with some equally great bands/artists of today
@TheGargantuanSock That's what we thought when we were young. Then you find that the shit bands fade away, and 20 years down the road it is the good stuff that has lasted.
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. <3 Thanks over and over again.Wonderful, and nice to see them working before they got 'so much money they didn't need to play' -quote from Jamaica press conference early '00's - yet they keep playing and I love them for it! This is just ...awesome,wonderful,truly great. I cannot thank you enough!! <3 for these~QM
Yeah, it was a slack attempt to call you elitist. It's interesting the way people who have got out of poverty are quite happy in the UK and US to feel it's cos they 'deserve' it and the poor, well, on some level they're necessary, so let's all ignore them and celebrate their right-onness.
Why's it irrelevant to cite the Time Machine if class is mentioned?
Sounds like you've taken a sociology degree at a provincial uni, hence the deep theoretical discussion of a pop lyric.
Again with the silly assumptions. Some people simply discuss pop lyrics because they find it interesting. The debate here has been on whether the singer of this song was right in trying to dissuade his girlfriend from travelling back to Rockville and ending up in blue collar work, when she is capable of better things. It's not got much to do with the Time Machine, which is a socialist critique of the capitalist system in the form of a sci-fi novel.
@MrGrevy Well said! Made me laugh you saying that amongst all the praise. I listened to this a few times having never heard it before and thought i had discovered maybe a hidden gem. There was something bugging me tho and your comment brought it home. But are we not criticising the REM of the future? Isn't it mocking red-necks? Why do you think it mocks working people? I think you are probably right but please explain.
@themec It is implying that working a blue collar job is a waste of life, plus his voice seems to be mocking people from the south. Some people are well fit for blue collar work or physical labor, and have wonderful lives doing it. The irritation I feel is the assumption that no one would EVER want to do that type of work, as if it is beneath them. Yet REM are supposed to be liberal and open minded.
The notion that REM would mock the south is probably wide of the mark. Stipe was born and bred in Georgia, and that is where the band's roots are deepest.
This song is written to a girlfriend, telling her not to go back to Rockville as she would be wasted there, and would be better off staying with the songwriter (Mike Mills in this case). The only reference to blue collar work is that the writer fears his gf will end up working in a factory doing a dead end job.
Sounds like you're trying to pick holes where they shouldn't be picked. There's no general implication here, it's a personal song written from the perspective of one person to another. But if you want to look generally it's only fair to say that some people are 'too good' for blue collar work. If you have a doctorate or a degree you'd be wasted on a factory floor. They're not at all saying blue collar work isn't worth doing, just that the gf shouldn't be doing it.
@TheGargantuanSock I'm not sure I agree. How do you know a PhD would be "wasted" in a factory? Under what conditions? A lot of research they do is useless in the real world. What if it were wartime, and we needed factory workers?
I didn't say they'd be wasted in a factory, they might work in management for example. But a PhD graduate would be wasted if they were employed on the floor - both wasting their academic talent and their time. You're delusional if you think otherwise.
There's nothing wrong with being a blue collar worker - you can't become an economic power without them. But some people are better utilised in other areas - for example the subject of this song, who went on to become a journalist.
@TheGargantuanSock You don't think a PhD in philosophy would do more for society in a skilled labor job? I think it you who are either delusional or naive.
No, because through attaining that PhD (5-7 years of study in PRIVATE SECTOR education) one benefits both the economy and society greater than they would spending the same time in a skilled labour job. There will always be a skilled labour force, if people weren't furthering themselves through higher education they'd just clog up the industrial sector further. It's a matter of scale: 1 PhD > 1 blue collar... 1million PhDs < 1million blue collars. This song focuses on 1 person.
Got things the wrong way round in that post sorry :( Most unis are of course public sector!
But that's beside the point... the point being that through attaining a PhD a student contributes greater to the economy than they would on a factory floor. Unemployment in the industrial sector is high enough due to mechanisation and outsourcing. If people weren't utilising higher education then they'd have to join an ever lengthening line for blue collar work.
If it was truly better for everyone to do blue collar work rather than to try to get a degree, better themselves academically and improve their job prospects then we'd still be using the feudal system!
You are only wasting your time with blue collar work if you are better able to do a degree, or apply yourself in other areas of business. Again that's what the song is about - the subject is 'too good' for blue collar work and would be better off not going to Rockville. Simples.
@TheGargantuanSock What if a person enjoys blue collar work? How do you define success? Some people like simplicity and aren't that obsessed with money. Skilled laborers might be the same way. They have to study for years in apprenticeships to master their trade.
Like I said you have to look at the specifics when looking at this song. You're trying to pick apart general ideas and accusing this song of proposing them. This song looks at one person - whom the singer believes is destined for more than a blue collar existence and ultimately wants to see make a success of themselves. That person did indeed go on to 'better things' so what the singer is inferring is ultimately correct - she would indeed have been wasted in blue collar work.
Presumably you're trying to call me elitist. If so you know nothing about my background so don't make silly assumptions. It's also magnanimous of you to make a confused and completely irrelevant reference to The Time Machine. Perhaps you would like another attempt at saying something worthwhile? Or do you merely want to spout theoretical socialist bullshit?
Saw them at their chapel on Halloween a very long time ago. we crashed the party but had fine costumes..i was Fidel Castro. The hole in the closet door was very cool.
Wonderful. Ahh the memories, skate boards, cheap guitars, and hatred of Regan. And then with REM and Nirvana to name two, the death of the 80's hair bands. Yee Ha... I'd do it all again.
I heard on the this on the radio after I moved from carolina to the sf bay for work. I was missing home and it gave me a little comfort. I think it has a everywhere theme to it, like just dont bail for home when it gets a little tough.
this is better than ANY shit even now.... this was fucking 20 some years ago.. rem started what the fucking hipsters call hipsters and the cool people call drool. fuck anyone that cant see the beauty of this
god i agree so much with you, great track... had this on 12 inch, still have, this and south central rain, still are perfection..god cant believe , after all these years , its still sounds fkn great...
He didn't have that much of an accent. They frequently played this song in an over the top country style as a joke with hyped accents. Judging by their transformation in the 90s and as they are now the thought that they were alt country seems almost like a distant joke.
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"
This is effin priceless! Always was my favoorite REM tune (ok, this and Radio Free Europe - even though I still can't decipher the lyrics) despite the obvious country hamming it up. Where did this video come from?
Lol...what a performer, really captures that country feel :-)
bernlin2000 4 days ago
Wow...this is great. Love these guys....so young here :)
LOVEDAVEGAHAN 4 weeks ago
Hands down my all-time fave, live you tube viddy,(since they removed Dirty Mac, Yer Blues)
kevduer 1 month ago
Wow! Flawless video from such a long time ago. Just college kids goofin' around.
MrToyFrisbee 1 month ago in playlist Favorite videos
GREAT LIVE !!
TheMichaelmc99 1 month ago
white stripes, portishead, flaming lips, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, of montreal, dirty projectors, animal collective, vampire weekend, anthony and the johnsons, phoenix, yo la tengo, tv on the radio, yeah yeah yeahs, outkast, panda bear, the strokes, wilco, daft punk....yeh i think the 2000s were allllllright and of course rem were still around
landondonovanify 1 month ago
@landondonovanify
Most of the good bands you just mentioned are actually 90s bands... Yo La Tengo have been around almost as long as REM...
TheGargantuanSock 1 month ago
@TheGargantuanSock true i thought that when i wrote it, but still alot of them are 00s or most delivered the majority of their good albums in the 00s
landondonovanify 1 month ago
@TheGargantuanSock Then there is REM, 1980!!
bmanhcb750 3 days ago
Comment removed
GAdawgsfan93 2 weeks ago in playlist Favorite videos
@landondonovanify Rise Against
GAdawgsfan93 2 weeks ago in playlist Favorite videos
Wait a sec, the 2000s have been pretty brilliant for music, think about arcade fire, sufjan stevens, grandaddy, sigur ros, radiohead, deerhunter, fleet foxes, bon iver, boards of canada, andrew bird, nick cave and the bad seeds, queens of the stone age, battles, broadcast, the shins, spiritualized, lcd soundsystem, feist, pj harvey, the national, band of horses, kanye west, spoon, grizzly bear, dismemberment plan, bjork, belle and sebastian, peter bjorn and john, joanna newsom, beck, hot chip,
landondonovanify 1 month ago
@landondonovanify Radiohead's first album was early nineties as was Beck, PJ harvey. Bjork at least since the late eighties, Nick Cave and the Bad seeds is early eighties. Still your point is well taken. There is good music being made.
wogglebugs 3 weeks ago
Might need some cowbell !
TheMichaelmc99 1 month ago in playlist Favorite videos
the painful thing is...I live in rockville.
magneziful 1 month ago
2 people went back to Rockville
Origommi1234 2 months ago
give me what the tambourine man is on,,,, is it just me or does he look a little blue?
analagony 2 months ago 2
wait MTV had music programming?
djorganic 2 months ago
@muskypucker - I was just thinking how lovely those boys look.
deejfun 2 months ago
Anybody know what year was this?
acarouselofantics 2 months ago
@acarouselofantics 85 or 86 is my guess
whirrandchime 2 months ago in playlist Favorite videos
@musky...never thought Id live long enuff for my favorite songs to be called classic or oldies.Ur right youth is priceless....the golden years suck
LLB61959 2 months ago in playlist REM
I love how distinct his Georgian accent is at this time....time...where does it go is right~
Abkeda 2 months ago
OMG what a huge guiter!.lol
jimcarreyonline 2 months ago
mills was a pretty young boy that stypes was in love with and I think they all love eachother. You have to, to do what they did. what am I saying?
scott30771 3 months ago
Early 80`s me and my brother played this song none stop while we played pinball on our Comodore 64. Shit where does time go?
aditay 3 months ago
smoke pot, drink alcohol, take pills, listen to R.E.M. work as little as possible. DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO THE JUDEO CHRISTIAN ETHIC !!
9501dannyboy 3 months ago 4
@9501dannyboy
sounds good to me
ducati321 2 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@9501dannyboy objectivism is based on objective reality. reason is an absolute. reason is man's only guide to action. Man must lead by the independent judgement of his own mind. the highest moral purpose is the achievement of your own happiness. man must not force other people nor accept their right to force him, each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self interest.
analagony 1 month ago
jesus hated bald pussy
9501dannyboy 3 months ago 2
Always loved how he sang this in a more pronounced southern accent.
cudaj2 3 months ago
Man, I love this song and this band. Wore out a few of their records in my day. I always loved their vocal harmony.
chronosynclastic8 3 months ago
@muskypucker well summarized....WE are old!!!!
zetasong 3 months ago
song written by bill berry, r.e.m's real drummer
putdownan8dude 3 months ago
Athens GA!!!
michellezaffino 3 months ago
Indeed, well thanks for sharing. It was the highlight of the night!
Keep em coming!
doktorkev 3 months ago
I second the question: where in the hell did this come from?!
yohei72 3 months ago
Pure magic! Love ya REM and my countless memories!
iujock1974 3 months ago
This is very cool. Where did you find this?
doktorkev 3 months ago
@doktorkev
It's from an old MTV show called 'The Cutting Edge'... to think shows like this get passed up for shite like Jersey Shore these days...
TheGargantuanSock 3 months ago 12
@TheGargantuanSock back when MTV actually cared about music....
marcusparks 3 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock That's the truth, thx 4 posting this!
cudaj2 3 months ago
holy cow, what a treasure! all those baby faces! when and where was this filmed?
squeakzilla 3 months ago
Seeing this clip makes me realize how lucky I was to be a UGA student in the early/mid 80's.
MyAimIsTrue65 3 months ago 2
"At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me."
marcusparks 3 months ago 3
THANK YOU DON DIXON!!!
frederickus 3 months ago
tears still after ~30 years
dapete 4 months ago 2
I knew within half a second this was going to be a good one. And I wasn't wrong.
123ubuntu666 4 months ago
this is precious !!
ggforeigner 4 months ago 8
@muskypucker You said a mouthful. Seems like yesterday a group of us piled into a van for the very first Lollapalooza. We were in our 20's and having the best time of our lives. I'm in my 40's now and things have been tough the last few years (they were good for a really long time, i guess that's the problem). Am pining for my youth. Not a good thing. Pining for my old looks too. ugh. Kill to talk to a shrink about it all.
ferngullyful 4 months ago
@ferngullyful Dude, I'm in my mid-30s and already I'm pining for the music of the 1990s. I was about 12 when R.E.M.'s song "Stand" became a big hit. In fact, they along with Trhowing Muses were my first concert. I may have only been 14 when the album "Out of Time" became a big hit, but I had very advanced tastes for my age.
"Shiny Happy People" was the first song I ever learned on my bass and once my brother heard me play, we formed a band. Heck, I even got my dad to love R.E.M.
BassPlayerSusan 4 months ago
@muskypucker Getting old is just the passage of time, and what better thing to know...? Thanks for the music guys!
deweypug 4 months ago
@muskypucker: Nothing wrong with getting old, ol' top! We were there at the start of R.E.M.'s great music and that whole genre of exciting new and different music...great college days right at the dang start, 1983ish. That's our own story right there in time. Fun! Would not trade for anything.
quad1000 4 months ago
LOVE LOVE LOVE
ewenmacintosh 4 months ago
that 1 down vote is from sir all about music
codern 4 months ago
I work in Rockville it sucks wise words REM
feartheterp 4 months ago
I'm so glad I saw them live before they ended up, pure music
PacoPateros 4 months ago
R.E.M. you'll be missed
HankP92 4 months ago 2
Love it to death. Mike and his Georgia drawl.
seifukusha 4 months ago
Thx 4 22 years of magic in my ears...
TheRikke83 4 months ago 3
this is absolute GOLD
buzzcity01 4 months ago 3
What a find! An unplugged version of this song when Michael Stipe had hair!
ManOfWealthnTaste 4 months ago
Mike Mills looks so good, OMG!! Can you see what happens back there @2:05 ? They're so cute together...
meldotburn 5 months ago 2
@muskypucker Age shall not weary us. and if that dont work... the older we get the better we were.
greendogspew 5 months ago
this song was written by mike mills about his girlfriend leaving for Rockville.
MolokoMilkBar23 5 months ago
WOW
Peter Buck when he had one chin
Michael Stipe when he had hair
Mike Mills before the dental work
Bill Berry with the unibrow--- well, I guess some things never change
bfnputz 6 months ago 5
@ADRI3NN3ll
There was nothing wrong with the town the singer didn't want his girlfriend 2 move back there
seighart117 6 months ago
@DuffyLew91 - When I moved here in 1986 they were selling pillow cases for $100 at I. Magnin in White Flint mall
ADRI3NN311 7 months ago
I love this song, but I will indeed be going back Rockville.
ghstark 7 months ago
I'm from Rockville. We have lots of Jewish and Asian people here, nail joints, and upscale shopping centers. Factories? Not so much. Souless? Rockville's an upper-middle-class suburb w/orchestrs concerts at Strathmore, concerts at Town Center, movies on the lawn, wine tasting, etc. Stupid R.E.M.
ADRI3NN311 7 months ago
@ADRI3NN311
This song was written in 1983/4, not 2011.
DuffyLew91 7 months ago
Is there a list of all the songs they did in these IRS performances? Thanks for posting this.
ihrescue 9 months ago
i live in rockville!!! its awsome
iliketurtles4456 9 months ago
the best thing about all the shit music around these days, is that it forces you to seek out the older stuff. like van morrison, dylan, the stones etc bands like REM have saved me from going insane.
raregeezer 9 months ago 4
@muskypucker I feel exactly the same way while listening to this and looking at them so young.Song from their 2nd album, that was sooo long ago...
hgudelj2 9 months ago
1:47 stipe forgot to sing "waste another year" and says oops lol
longview1987 10 months ago 2
holy shit the only thing that makes me feel go about turning 40 is that i can think of sneaking into the 40 watt when i was a kid to see these guys play !
baderfinger 10 months ago
what I wanna know is what's it like to have your youth at your fingertips ... to be the singer in the band and stuck in some godfursaken nowhere with nothing to do ... so why not check me at 26 out ... cuz to us that youth (and that music) is a beautiful and tragic thing ... tragic cuz it goes ... it's gone ... but for them, they got feelings, memories, embarrassments even, that give the images in the rearview mirror a different tint? That's what I wanna know ...
dwat26 10 months ago
Wow, this was before Stipe came out… I don't think he was even "sexually ambiguous" yet.
CanTake8 11 months ago
@muskypucker
Think yourself lucky... my generation have got fuck all decent bands to grow old with.
R.E.M. are just one of the many great bands that were a product of the alt rock explosion in the 80s and early 90s. Who have we got to grow old with? The Arctic Monkeys? Fuck that.
TheGargantuanSock 11 months ago 26
@TheGargantuanSock
I'm old and I like the Arctic Monkeys :) or at least I did. Whatever People Say I Am is a great album. Enjoy it.
TraceNspace76 5 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock just look harder, theres loads of great bands right now
landondonovanify 5 months ago
@landondonovanify
I'm going to see a couple of them this winter actually, bands who only just released their first albums. The last decade however, was very, very unproductive music wise and I'll stand by that.
TheGargantuanSock 5 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock the strokes, the white stripes, arctic monkeys, the kills: open your eyes
imisspsychadelism 4 months ago
@imisspsychadelism
I'm a big fan of The White Stripes actually, but the other artists you mention lag behind the artists that broke through in previous decades. Especially the Arctic Monkeys - a painfully dull meshing of britpop and garage rock/post-punk. The Strokes are very likable, but very much by the numbers. As for The Kills, I'd throw them in with BRMC as a 'nearly band', inconsistent but brilliant when on form, and live.
Eyes are open, and they are seeing clearly thank you very much.
TheGargantuanSock 4 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock aight biatch. I'll love Arctic Monkeys and R.E.M. cause i'm no hater. unlike you, hateeeeeeeeer
imisspsychadelism 4 months ago
@imisspsychadelism
Oh dear, reducing this to hate... how embarrassing for you. I don't hate the Arctic Monkeys, I merely resent the notion that they're even worthy of shining Michael Stipe's shoes.
TheGargantuanSock 4 months ago 2
@TheGargantuanSock like the sentiment, but............while i will grow old with those same bands i grew up with the 80's and 90's, i will happily grow older with some equally great bands/artists of today
greatleapforwards 4 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock That's what we thought when we were young. Then you find that the shit bands fade away, and 20 years down the road it is the good stuff that has lasted.
quintessential37 2 months ago
@TheGargantuanSock - I love REM but I love the Arctic Monkeys too.
deejfun 2 months ago
if i were that girl he was singing about i would deffinatly not go back... rockville sucks balls!
gburgwill2008 11 months ago
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. <3 Thanks over and over again.Wonderful, and nice to see them working before they got 'so much money they didn't need to play' -quote from Jamaica press conference early '00's - yet they keep playing and I love them for it! This is just ...awesome,wonderful,truly great. I cannot thank you enough!! <3 for these~QM
QueenMAB418 11 months ago
amazing clip. great REM song
dakarlion1 1 year ago
Amazing video......watch it at least once a day.... a true treasure!!!!!
JamarBush 1 year ago
Comment removed
ricflairfan5 1 year ago
Yeah, it was a slack attempt to call you elitist. It's interesting the way people who have got out of poverty are quite happy in the UK and US to feel it's cos they 'deserve' it and the poor, well, on some level they're necessary, so let's all ignore them and celebrate their right-onness.
Why's it irrelevant to cite the Time Machine if class is mentioned?
Sounds like you've taken a sociology degree at a provincial uni, hence the deep theoretical discussion of a pop lyric.
Calm down, dear.
NormanArches 1 year ago
@NormanArches
Again with the silly assumptions. Some people simply discuss pop lyrics because they find it interesting. The debate here has been on whether the singer of this song was right in trying to dissuade his girlfriend from travelling back to Rockville and ending up in blue collar work, when she is capable of better things. It's not got much to do with the Time Machine, which is a socialist critique of the capitalist system in the form of a sci-fi novel.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago 2
@TheGargantuanSock I could tell you detail after detail of how the song was constructed and the hows and whys, but Im not gunna
painxtreme 11 months ago
I saw these guys play in an elementary school cafeteria on their Murmurs tour. Great band...great acoustic song.
LLB61959 1 year ago
nothing beats that resounding chorus...
" don't go back to rockvillllllllle"
hell yeah . five stars.
shoekstra1419 1 year ago
my fav Rem song, rem buying it on 12", still sends a chill thru me..
BlondeRocknRoll 1 year ago
lmao - great version
vajack35 1 year ago
oooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Lovely.
upoflive77 1 year ago
totally awesome! :)
deathkampdrone 1 year ago
Good ole liberal Stipe. Mocking working people. Disgusting.
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy Well said! Made me laugh you saying that amongst all the praise. I listened to this a few times having never heard it before and thought i had discovered maybe a hidden gem. There was something bugging me tho and your comment brought it home. But are we not criticising the REM of the future? Isn't it mocking red-necks? Why do you think it mocks working people? I think you are probably right but please explain.
themec 1 year ago
@themec It is implying that working a blue collar job is a waste of life, plus his voice seems to be mocking people from the south. Some people are well fit for blue collar work or physical labor, and have wonderful lives doing it. The irritation I feel is the assumption that no one would EVER want to do that type of work, as if it is beneath them. Yet REM are supposed to be liberal and open minded.
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
The notion that REM would mock the south is probably wide of the mark. Stipe was born and bred in Georgia, and that is where the band's roots are deepest.
This song is written to a girlfriend, telling her not to go back to Rockville as she would be wasted there, and would be better off staying with the songwriter (Mike Mills in this case). The only reference to blue collar work is that the writer fears his gf will end up working in a factory doing a dead end job.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@TheGargantuanSock Did you read my post, that's kind of my whole point.
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
Sounds like you're trying to pick holes where they shouldn't be picked. There's no general implication here, it's a personal song written from the perspective of one person to another. But if you want to look generally it's only fair to say that some people are 'too good' for blue collar work. If you have a doctorate or a degree you'd be wasted on a factory floor. They're not at all saying blue collar work isn't worth doing, just that the gf shouldn't be doing it.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@TheGargantuanSock I'm not sure I agree. How do you know a PhD would be "wasted" in a factory? Under what conditions? A lot of research they do is useless in the real world. What if it were wartime, and we needed factory workers?
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
I didn't say they'd be wasted in a factory, they might work in management for example. But a PhD graduate would be wasted if they were employed on the floor - both wasting their academic talent and their time. You're delusional if you think otherwise.
There's nothing wrong with being a blue collar worker - you can't become an economic power without them. But some people are better utilised in other areas - for example the subject of this song, who went on to become a journalist.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@TheGargantuanSock You don't think a PhD in philosophy would do more for society in a skilled labor job? I think it you who are either delusional or naive.
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
No, because through attaining that PhD (5-7 years of study in PRIVATE SECTOR education) one benefits both the economy and society greater than they would spending the same time in a skilled labour job. There will always be a skilled labour force, if people weren't furthering themselves through higher education they'd just clog up the industrial sector further. It's a matter of scale: 1 PhD > 1 blue collar... 1million PhDs < 1million blue collars. This song focuses on 1 person.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
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MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
Got things the wrong way round in that post sorry :( Most unis are of course public sector!
But that's beside the point... the point being that through attaining a PhD a student contributes greater to the economy than they would on a factory floor. Unemployment in the industrial sector is high enough due to mechanisation and outsourcing. If people weren't utilising higher education then they'd have to join an ever lengthening line for blue collar work.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
If it was truly better for everyone to do blue collar work rather than to try to get a degree, better themselves academically and improve their job prospects then we'd still be using the feudal system!
You are only wasting your time with blue collar work if you are better able to do a degree, or apply yourself in other areas of business. Again that's what the song is about - the subject is 'too good' for blue collar work and would be better off not going to Rockville. Simples.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@TheGargantuanSock What if a person enjoys blue collar work? How do you define success? Some people like simplicity and aren't that obsessed with money. Skilled laborers might be the same way. They have to study for years in apprenticeships to master their trade.
MrGrevy 1 year ago
@MrGrevy
Like I said you have to look at the specifics when looking at this song. You're trying to pick apart general ideas and accusing this song of proposing them. This song looks at one person - whom the singer believes is destined for more than a blue collar existence and ultimately wants to see make a success of themselves. That person did indeed go on to 'better things' so what the singer is inferring is ultimately correct - she would indeed have been wasted in blue collar work.
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
@TheGargantuanSock "There's nothing wrong with being a blue collar worker - you can't become an economic power without them".
That's magnanimous of you. It's so nice when one of the Eloi spares the Morlocks a kind word.
NormanArches 1 year ago
@NormanArches
Presumably you're trying to call me elitist. If so you know nothing about my background so don't make silly assumptions. It's also magnanimous of you to make a confused and completely irrelevant reference to The Time Machine. Perhaps you would like another attempt at saying something worthwhile? Or do you merely want to spout theoretical socialist bullshit?
TheGargantuanSock 1 year ago
This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jenwelsh1 1 year ago
This song makes me feel young again; takes me back to my college days and the close friendships formed back then.
MrClipper23 1 year ago
Gawd I love REM
BigmouthXStrikesX 1 year ago
the clarity of this video is incredible. It doesn't seem real.
grimgrog 1 year ago
Very cool. Thanks for sharing this vid.
eileen4videos 1 year ago
Think Mr Stipe has some country influences? Sure woulda been fun to be in that room I bet!
billypeak1 1 year ago
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acneoh 1 year ago
My favorite REM song of all times.
mickdimas 1 year ago
damn-i meant the hole in the closet that served as a doorway to the rest of the home part of the church.
7ifystewdog 1 year ago
Saw them at their chapel on Halloween a very long time ago. we crashed the party but had fine costumes..i was Fidel Castro. The hole in the closet door was very cool.
7ifystewdog 1 year ago
I was in the room when they were wripping on this. Athens one wknd. We were all friends. All fun. Where did all the fun go?
ottomatic34 1 year ago
His hat resembles the one Angus wears... twang
willrobm 1 year ago
Wonder if this was recorded in the old steeple near the old O'Malleys in Athens. Priceless footage for sure.
Skydawg55 1 year ago
thank god for rem,this is four guys revelling in their own brilliance....awesome!
jemteek7 1 year ago
Wonderful. Ahh the memories, skate boards, cheap guitars, and hatred of Regan. And then with REM and Nirvana to name two, the death of the 80's hair bands. Yee Ha... I'd do it all again.
jacotango 1 year ago
I like how Michael exaggerates his accent. =) 2:07 is so cute!
punschpralinen 1 year ago 2
rockville i mean. geez it has been a long time :)
jacotango 1 year ago
I heard on the this on the radio after I moved from carolina to the sf bay for work. I was missing home and it gave me a little comfort. I think it has a everywhere theme to it, like just dont bail for home when it gets a little tough.
phlipper5 1 year ago
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jemteek7 2 years ago
did u ever see them at the church in athens, apparently ur not from the south and dont know our accents
TheCalvarium 2 years ago
Oh Michaeal what a great voice!!!!
waytokyoto 2 years ago
Fucking shit hot!
mr1smile 2 years ago
My new favorite version of this song!
sfopeaks 2 years ago 4
this is better than ANY shit even now.... this was fucking 20 some years ago.. rem started what the fucking hipsters call hipsters and the cool people call drool. fuck anyone that cant see the beauty of this
camwhorder 2 years ago 4
god i agree so much with you, great track... had this on 12 inch, still have, this and south central rain, still are perfection..god cant believe , after all these years , its still sounds fkn great...
foreverashcroft 2 years ago
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jemteek7 2 years ago
He didn't have that much of an accent. They frequently played this song in an over the top country style as a joke with hyped accents. Judging by their transformation in the 90s and as they are now the thought that they were alt country seems almost like a distant joke.
satanasdelincuente 2 years ago
Whether they like it or not country is where their roots are. I think they understand and accept that.
douggokellam 2 years ago
nuthin wrong with country man, just as long as it's devoid of western. :)
jacotango 1 year ago
The worst part of this is that this became a theme song of my life.. the girl I fell in love with moved from Toronto Canada to Rockville Maryland...
snakehissken 2 years ago 2
WOW THis must be old; Stipe had hair, Mills had braces, but I think Bill Berry was born with Wooly Worm unibrow.
bfnputz 2 years ago 4
Rule #1 - Keep all musical instruments out of Stipe's hands!
StretchPhotography 2 years ago
Recomendable!!
Este video y muchos mas estan en el mejor DVD de R.E.M. "THE BEST OF THE I.R.S. YEARS 1992-1987"
Sabry816 2 years ago
lovely 2 c michael stipe TOTALLY FUCKED UP lol
cimenadimanico 2 years ago
this is really awesome.
cimenadimanico 2 years ago
early REM are the best!
calebrannali 2 years ago
Tyrone quality!
vickersdavis 2 years ago
Michael Stipe still had his Georgia accent :)
SockBoy65 2 years ago 3
i fcuking love this song
dastipe 2 years ago
guauuuuuu si que estan jovenes....
y no han perdido el talento tras el paso del tiempo...
de lo mejor R.E.M.
jairotandres 2 years ago
unbelievable video. in my mind, this is what REM was all about in the beginning.
igloo32 2 years ago 4
F---ing cool the best
dsrc18 2 years ago
Хорошую песню можно и так на диванчике в комнате исполнить..))) Великолепно!
vukhome 2 years ago
Also, that lute is priceless
TallFastLoud 2 years ago
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"
TallFastLoud 2 years ago
they all wrote these songs, but looking at this, i think mike mills wrote this.
BuddyKatt 2 years ago
Yes, Mike Mills did write this :)
Issicra 2 years ago
And I think he sings it better than Stipe. Although, I still prefer the 10, 000 Maniacs cover of this song.
middyseafort 2 years ago
I'm from Rockville, MD =D
Moujang 2 years ago 15
don't go back there!!!
Frankieireland 2 years ago
@Moujang then get as far away from there as possible!!!
StegoOnVenus 1 year ago
@Moujang me too dude...i live in tx now though :(
cavell19 1 year ago
@Moujang I'm moving there in a week, we should talk sometime.
scootcha 7 months ago
Awesome video. Like most, I do miss the IRS sound. REM is, by far, the best thing out of Athens. War Eagle!
auburn2066 2 years ago 8
@auburn2066
The 52's are a near second.... as in close but no cigar...Satellites are a way distant 3rd
wildcatter63 1 year ago
This is effin priceless! Always was my favoorite REM tune (ok, this and Radio Free Europe - even though I still can't decipher the lyrics) despite the obvious country hamming it up. Where did this video come from?
rcknbkr403 2 years ago 12
It's from a tv show called "The Cutting Edge". I think it was part of MTV.
TheGargantuanSock 2 years ago 2