Tag Archives: R.E.M.

Song of the Week – Try Not to Breathe, R.E.M.

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

This past week has been very difficult. A loved one was hospitalized, took a turn for the worse, entered hospice, and passed away last Monday.

Because I tend to live my life in song, my thoughts quickly went to R.E.M.’s “Try Not to Breathe” from Automatic for the People (1992).

Michael Stipe’s lyric is written from the perspective of someone on their deathbed, contemplating their final moments after choosing hospice rather than life-support machines.  Unable to communicate, the dying person’s internal thoughts are revealed:

I will try not to breathe
I can hold my head still with my hands at my knees
These eyes are the eyes of the old, shiver and fold

I will try not to breathe
This decision is mine
I have lived a full life
And these are the eyes that I want you to remember, oh

I need something to fly over my grave again
I need something to breathe

I will try not to burden you
I can hold these inside
I will hold my breath
Until all these shivers subside
Just look in my eyes

I will try not to worry you
I have seen things that you will never see
Leave it to memory me
I shudder to breathe

Stipe has said that the song was inspired by witnessing his grandmother’s death.

In addition to Stipe’s lyrics, the other band members contributed beautifully to the poignancy of the track.  Guitarist Peter Buck plays the dulcimer, giving the song its distinctive, trembling texture.  Bassist Mike Mills added a gorgeous countermelody, coming in at about 1:50.  In an interview with Devon Ivie of New York magazine, Mills recalled:

“So the countermelody I sing on “Try Not to Breathe” is one of my favorites because everybody else left. I’m in the studio and looking in the control room — I know there’s something that’s going to be good in this spot of the song. I try all these different things and I’m not finding it. And then I hit the right thing and I locked eyes with Scott McCaughey from 40 feet away. We just both knew that was the direction. It was very thrilling to have that moment.”

The song captures, with startling empathy, the anxiety and clarity that might fill the mind of someone living through their final moments on earth. It is both tremendously sad and quietly comforting.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Cuyahoga, I Believe, Swan Swan H, R.E.M.

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

I’ve wanted to post a SotW featuring R.E.M. for a long time but haven’t gotten around to it. The weird thing is that I been paralyzed by the choice because I love so many of their cuts. So I’m finally ready to take a stand by choosing three songs, all from the band’s 4th album, Lifes Rich Pageant.

This is my favorite R.E.M. album. It was the first one I really sunk my teeth into but it also was the album that bridged their early indie (I.R.S. Records), college radio years with the broad commercial success of their releases on Warner Brothers records.

LRP had two songs that were popular, “Fall On Me” and a cover of The Clique’s “Superman”, so I’ll skip over them. That’s easy because every other song on the album is so good.

Let’s start with “Cuyahoga.”

It is a protest song that addresses both environmental concerns (the Ohio river famously caught fire in 1969 due to pollution) and protecting the heritage and natural resources of the native Americans.

Let’s put our heads together and start a new country up
Up underneath the river bed we’ll burn the river down

This is where they walked, swam
Hunted, danced and sang
Take a picture here
Take a souvenir

Next is “I Believe.”

The banjo intro acts as a sort of overture to create an Americana feel for this country rocker. (It has a similar feel to “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” but I like this number better.) As is often the case with R.E.M. the lyrics are indecipherable but interesting nonetheless.

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there’s the key
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day

I believe my shirt is wearing thin and change is what I believe in

Lastly is “Swan Swan H.”

Asked about his inspiration for “Swan Swan H”, lead singer/lyricist Michael Stipe said “(It’s a) Civil War song. That’s all I know of writing it. I remember the inspiration but it just flowed. “What noisy cats are we” I lifted from an actual Civil War written piece.” The music features a haunting, folky twelve string guitar, a military drum beat, and a subtle vocal delivery that perfectly supports the songs emotional narrative.

A pistol hot, cup of rhyme
The whiskey is water, the water is wine
Marching feet, Johnny Reb
What’s the price of heroes?

Six and one, half dozen the other
Tell that to the captain’s mother
Hey, captain, don’t you want to buy
Some bone chains and toothpicks?

LRP was released in in 1986 which makes it almost 30 years old! That doesn’t seem possible. But the album still holds up so I hope you’ll check out the rest of it.

Enjoy… until next week.