R.E.M. - Green Grow the Rushes

[12inchvertical]

Michael Stipe's way of expressing himself in song comes from a much older time. Its like he was born in 1890

[marcoamedrano]

An indescribably beautiful melody with poignant lyrics. REM was untouchable during the IRS years.

[adam364]

what a pretty song!

[horse69outside]

wow johnny marr guitar intro

[Schumitastic]

@horse69outside Yeah it also reminds me of Johnny Marr - which is of course a great thing. Peter Buck and Johnny Marr are two great great guitarists.

[marginaluser]

I had the letters R.E.M tattooed on my left thigh back in 1985.

This album and in particular this song was the cause of that.

[sittingonmysofa]

Fables of The Reconstruction was one of their finest works. Beautiful and uplifting melodies but with a definitely morose feel to it too...I think Stipe once said it was to some extent influenced by the constant rain outside their recording studio in London.

[kirksbrega11]

This song reminds me of Disturbance at the Heron house. Not musically but the theme. It's really about cartel capitalism. The 14th amendment allowed our government to get bigger than the people, and all through history this is the fall of any great democratic society. Stipe in his I.R.S days was considered a prophet of doom his knowledge of the constitution must be quite extensive for him to write some of these deep lyric's about our capitalistic government. He knows real history not pretend.

[rgvcstupid]

this is a really good song on a really good album. too bad they turned into utter shit in the mid-late 90s.

[mrmonkeyisland1]

It is remarkable that one band has produced so many great, great songs. I love REM forever.

[codern]

fables=awesome album...document and green= albums that brought them recognition from an audience beyond the college crowd...out of time. the album that made them huge...Automatic for the people= that was the album that brought them undeniable respect making them legendary (automatic also = top 10 best albums of all time and an unreal album imho) rem=superb band.

[toeragtoolbox]

@codern Agreed on all counts; think it'd be fair to say Murmur was an amazing debut album and New Adventures was terrific but didn't get due recognition, but some iffy, or at least patchy, efforts since. Murmur and New Adventures bookend a fairly amazing catalogue.

[Schumitastic]

@toeragtoolbox A lot of their efforts since Bill Berry have been hit and miss. Saying that, I really like their new album - I think its their best in a long long time.

[toeragtoolbox]

@Schumitastic Ah yeah, I'd agree with you, like it a lot- maybe cos there's echoes of older stuff coming through as well. Bit rich all the same when I think about it; me, as musical as a bag of teapots falling down a stairs criticising REM, but the heights that they've reached sorta brings maybe unrealistic expectations everytime they release anything!!

[barmaxis]

@ RainJetSprinklers - back in the 80's Peter Buck had said that he was influenced quite a bit by Marr''s early Smiths work.

[RainJetSprinklers]

@barmaxis

Buck and Marr are my two favorite guitarists for sure.

[d1neu1]

@RainJetSprinklers i can't agree with you more.

[deweypug]

There were two distinct incarnations of REM - the band up until this record and the one after this one.. (I prefer the former)

[RainJetSprinklers]

Guitar kinda reminds me of a Johnny Marr riff

[shaiharlev]

fables is R.E.M greatest masterpiece

[MrUndercoverblues]

@shaiharlev Automatic for the People was their best work imo,

[codern]

@MrUndercoverblues  without question.

[bradmexperience]

@SuperRottenjohnny They released 2 more albums after this that cemented their place as the most important/influential indie band in history. Then the record companies went after their souls. The next few albums were still good, and Automatic for the People was classic, but it all went downhill from there. It's really a tragic story.

[KevinHeaven9]

@bradmexperience Honestly, after something like document, I dont know where else a band like r.e.m would have gone as they aged... stuff like accelerate and up almost seem inevitable if you look at their progression

[SuperRottenjohnny]

I Know. what the Hell ever happened to them?

[Bublinkary]

love this song so much, gives me goose bumps

[cunn9305]

ahhhh .... the 80's .... back when they were all mine ... those albums from the I.R.S. years literally defined my youth ... we will never see such music again ...

[kaliyuta]

wow. i cant believe this is even on youtube.I almost ready to cry.this takes me back.

this is almost too cool for youtube.

[nittyranks]

@kaliyuta

I know I remember this from when I was in Community College and this guy had all these REM albums. This was my favorite song.

[nnihcr]

@kaliyuta it is too cool isn't it? one of the greatest songs i've ever heard!

[bucknut337]

not even a big rem fan, but this is one of my favorite albums.

[strumtstrummer]

Shine on man! :O)

[blaxcot]

Nice One. Never knew of this version. Just posted my own version of the Scots Poet Robert Burns classic with the same name. Totally different words and melody but still a beautiful song.

[jwarnerfortsmith]

i remember seeing r.e.m. on sesame street one morning when my daughter was like 4...it was around the time of 'out of time'--i think they played 'shiny happy..', i remember they all looked like they were having fun..anyway, it's funny that this was once a sesame street song too, probably when michael was young?

[stephenvic]

This was the first R.E.M. album I bought

and still remains one of my faves!!

[jessejps]

There was a time REM was the coolest band on the planet, arguably the most innovative and original band since the Beatles . they never really sold out ( I forgive them for shiny happy people), amazing, amazing musicians

[TheScunneredMan]

Shades of the BYRDS.

[Noeladishi]

Totally, you can see where buck and marr of the smiths got there guitar style from, Mr Mcguinn!! I love this song and this album is one of their best

[iammelting]

still looking for that compass point to point me home.

amazing

[rjrayner1972]

I remember revising to this album for my 1991 first year exams. I liked the feel of the album instantly but thought some tracks such as Kohoutek, Auctioneer, Kensey needed more time. Nearley 20 years later and it still sits next to Dalek I love You and Iron Maiden on my autochanger. The best album of the catalogue and maybe all time. Good Advices Rocks.

[markm102]

This song and album were staples in my car and in my room during undergrad. Great, great album during the heyday of college/ alternative music

[marijuanaisgreat]

This Song, In Fact This Whole Album Is Soo Beautiful In Every Way. These Guys Are So Bad Ass. Good Advices Is Incredible.

[sjdinergrrl]

from an old head REM was and is one of my favorites. from the gitgo.

[ilovalivia]

Stipe was all over the place around Athens soaking everything up as was the rest of the band (I was there), then they left all that behind after about 1992 and the feel of their music changed. I don't fault them for that and I sure loved what we got from them before they moved on. I thought Accelerate was a great come back and the Concert I saw last year was awesome.

[mattkudzu]

It is so sad that you cannot describe to people how amazing this album is. It 's like there is no reference to go by in todays world of music. It's like trying to describe to someone who has eaten junk food all their lives how good fresh vegetables and fruits taste, it's imposible.

[peacefrogx]

or you can turn that around and consider yourself so fortunate to know what you know.

[khasperg]

My favorite album since I was 17, you're right no way to describe it. You just get totally immerse in it, it transports you, all of their early records did that, but Fables is the best, the most mysterious.

[KylarRaynor]

I was almost 3 years old when I first heard this song, and I associate it with a tree in a parking lot and Barq's root beer...

I heard the original (I think) and knew I recognized it, but only now do I see how tight a grasp R.E.M. has on my childhood...

If I'm not losing my religion in a corner I'm waiting for the end of the world as we, the shiny happy people, know it. And now, whenever I drink root beer, I wonder how green the rushes grow... Thank you R.E.M. for my subconcious

[biophy6]

this was my favorite song in high school. after hearing it again after 18 years, it might be again.

[petesn]

"Green Grow the Rashes O" ..It's by Robert Burns ,the Bard Of Scotland,dated from the late 1700's . I do have my nationalist pride but I prefer Michael Stipe these days..or those days at least.

[ord1711]

Yes, it is!! Lots of Scots settled in the south (hence the fiddle, reeling, and forthcoming release of haggis at Crispy Cream) (Kidding!) My ancestors came from Scotland in 1750 and settled in Virginia. (I was back for homecoming!)

[gegetti]

I fully agree, a cuddly, warm place you can rely on

[Groundhog2265]

For myself; Fables has always been a comfort album, a dear old friend that you enjoy reminiscing with.

[MaRiAnOrEm]

beautiful song

[peacefrogx]

top 3 rem songs of all time... along with laughing and so. central rain (imo)

[Lithium40]

Yes!

[LilBillyWillickers]

Even more specifically Green grow the rushes was an Irish ditty, and the majority of the common infantry for the States were Irish immigrants conscripted right as they got off the boat from Ireland, escaping the Great Famine only to end up forcing to march into the harsh southwest and fight another oppressed people, the poor Mexican peasantry...ahh good ol' imperialism........d'oh!!

[theherbilgerbil2029]

maybe I'm just a dumb Scotsman,,but Green Grow the Rashes is a Robert Burns poem that got chopped and changed and baserdized by alot of immigrant nations

[LilBillyWillickers]

Green grow the rushes was a mid 18th century hymnal. During the Mexican-American war of the mid 1840's the Mexican populace often heard the U.S. conscripts singing "Green grow the rushes..." during march, hence the name "gringo" for white person, or yankee to be more specific, sprang from this. Just some fun and useless trivia I thought I'd Cliff Clayvin on y'all!! Great post-felt a deep connection to REM since discovering at the young age of 12.

[snowypasha]

Ah beautiful, *sigh* takes me back to days of not so innocence. Fables is argueably the best REM album. I saw them in concert OKC and Dallas. Great shows !!!

[aurora1957A]

My absolute #1 favorite LP from REM!

This song gives me chills.. ethereal in beauty and sorrow..

Saw these guys on tour promoting this release.. freakin' cow pavilion at the UW Madison.. the building sang in harmony with the band.. ;)

[GlueyPorch]

Me too, i love Fables. I hadn't even been born when when this album came out:)

[Hibbleton666]

Political commentary here ,the grasses that hide the greenback(dollar),the amber waves of gain (wheat),guestworkers hired for less than the usual labourers?,recorded in London,hence the word pound ? peasant/slave labour?

only the lyricist really knows LOL.

amazing how these beautiful ditties disguise harsh realities.

An old favourite :) lovely.

[uclrichard]

a good post, hibble, and excellent observations...

the song is, as you say, about political and social issues...

it is also about poetry and especially the poetry of liberty...it references keats, burns, shelley, wordsworth, byron, wilde, dylan and ginsberg. even blake - with it strange nods to alternative religion and 'compass points' - a clever analogy to blake's weird painting 'newton'...

on the whole, this album is just as good as the first two albums...slightly less accessible.

[peacefrogx]

you are spot-on with all your points, including the last one. loved it when m. stipe buried everything in his lyrics. today he bludgeons you with it like a hammer. but the times they have a changed i guess.

[mindcontrolpete]

God, I love this song! This band is PERFECT. I could sing thier songs all day!....I know, I'll start an REM cover band!

[MusicJew158]

This album is underrated

[codern]

@MusicJew158 oh man how i agree

[jimfarrowlove]

Lovely song. not a fan of REM, but this is just touching.

[computerblue84]

PLEASE PLEASE give us more REM records!! thank ya so so much for these uploads!!!

[marcomedrano64]

Great, great song. REM put out so many great albums between '81 and '87. Thanks for the lyrics.

[haddingtonbb41]

they put ourt good albums between 81 and 87 and great ablums between 87 and 96 and a brilliant ablum called NAIFI in 96 and their best album in 98 called up. 2008s accelerate is wonderful please check it out. album of the year by a mile.

[GoSolar]

@marcomedrano64 I agree. I think nothing compares to what they did in the '80s. I don't begrudge them the direction they took in the 90s; if they wanted to remain a vital band, they couldn't just keep doing the same sort of thing. But I don't anything they did in the 90s compares to, say, Murmur, Reckoning, FOTR, Life's Rich Pageant, etc.