Song Lyric Sunday: REMember

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Against a yellow-orange background is the band's italicized name in white text, with a red-orange circle over the top-right quarter of the "M". Below is written "IMITATION OF LIFE" in black text, with an image in both O's. The first O contains a dry environment while the second O display a person standing on a beach. To the top-right of the song name is black text that reads "Compact Disc Maxi-Single".

 

Jim continues to earn our thanks by running Song Lyric Sunday and this week, as his post Can’t Always Get What You Want tells us, he is inviting us to play a song by a band we wish were still together. He ran this theme a couple of years ago, and on that occasion I played songs by Free. They are still high on the list of bands in that category for me, though with only 50% of the band still with us a reunion would be impossible. This time I’m venturing across the pond for my choice, and am playing three of my favourite songs by one of my all-time favourite bands.

Here’s the first, with a great video:

Of course, my ‘band I wish were still together’ are the brilliant R.E.M. And as this is SLS, here are the song’s lyrics:

Charades, pop skill
Water hyacinth, named by a poet
Imitation of life
Like a koi in a frozen pond
Like a goldfish in a bowl
I don’t want to hear you cry

That’s sugarcane that tasted good
That’s cinnamon, that’s Hollywood
C’mon, c’mon no one can see you try

You want the greatest thing
The greatest thing since bread came sliced
You’ve got it all, you’ve got it sized
Like a Friday fashion show teenager
Freezing in the corner
Trying to look like you don’t try

That’s sugarcane that tasted good
That’s cinnamon, that’s Hollywood
C’mon, c’mon no one can see you try

No one can see you cry

That sugar cane that tasted good
That freezing rain, that’s what you could
C’mon, c’mon on no one can see you cry

This sugarcane
This lemonade
This hurricane, I’m not afraid
C’mon, c’mon no one can see me cry

This lightning storm
This tidal wave
This avalanche, I’m not afraid
C’mon, c’mon no one can see me cry

That sugar cane that tasted good
That’s who you are, that’s what you could
C’mon, c’mon on no one can see you cry

That sugar cane that tasted good
That’s who you are, that’s what you could
C’mon, c’mon on no one can see you cry

Lyrics from AZLyrics

Songwriters: Peter Lawrence Buck, Michael E. Mills, John Michael Stipe

Imitation Of Life was released as a single in April 2001 ahead of its inclusion on R.E.M.’s twelfth album, Reveal, the following month. The album peaked at #6 in the US but got to #1 in the UK, as it did in many other European countries, and went Gold in the US and Platinum in the UK. It was their second album after the departure of drummer Bill Berry, and if you don’t know it I can recommend it: it is a very melodic record, with lots of tunes that you can sing along with. I bought it on the day it came out and have loved it since the beginning. The band themselves rate this as one of their favourite albums, and they should know! As a single Imitation Of Life reached #1 on the US Adult Alternative Airplay chart but only made #83 in the Billboard Hot 100. It fared much better here in the UK, though, peaking at #6.

R.E.M. were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame this past June, and all four members of the original band were there to receive the award. They played one of their songs there, and I would have liked to share a video of that with you but all I can find are brief clips of dubious sound quality. This is the song they played, in its full incarnation:

Losing My Religion is another that I’ve loved since first hearing it. Again, it was released as a single just ahead of the album it was on, in this case in February 1991 before the Out Of Time album, the band’s seventh, followed in March. Up to then they had been regarded as something of a cult band, with respectable sales, but this was when they hit the big time. The album reached #1 in both the US and the UK, and in many other countries too, and has sold more than 18m copies. It is the only one for which they have won a Grammy, for Best Alternative Album. I think they deserved more. As a single, Losing My Religion made #4 in the US but only #19 here in the UK. Nevertheless, it has gone 2x Platinum here for 1.2m sales, and has gone Gold in the US for 500k physical sales and Platinum there for 1m digital sales. The mandolin riff which is at the heart of the song was written by Peter Buck. Apparently he had just bought the instrument and was learning how to play it when he came up with this tune: not bad for a ‘beginner!’

I promised you a third song, as part of my REMiniscence today. There are so many more I could choose but I’m going for this one, as I love the lyrics and the hopeful questions they ask:

The Great Beyond was written for the movie Man On The Moon, and featured on its soundtrack album, released in November 1999. It was released as a single in the US, making #57, and then in the UK in January 2000: it peaked at #3 here, their highest ever placing in the UK Singles chart. It hasn’t been on a studio album but has appeared on several compilations, both in studio and live versions.

So, that’s my selection from a band I’d love to see making new music. Will that ever happen? Probably not, as they have all said that they wouldn’t get back together after they retired, but now that they have reunited to play a song for their award, maybe they’ll recognise how good they are all over again. I can but hope!

See you again for Tuesday Tunes 🎶

41 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: REMember”

  1. Pingback: October | Take It Easy

  8. Such a good band with memorable songs, especially Losing My Religion, which is my favorite. Orange Crush is another one.

    Those were the days before we had internet to find songs and lyrics. This is one of two songs my kids had me listen to and try to write down all the lyrics. I did it. I listened to this so many times, starting and stopping the little tape recorder because I’d taped it off the radio. The other was Billy Joel We Didn’t Start the Fire. 🙂

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    • I’m glad you like them too.

      That was quite a task getting those lyrics, especially as Michael Stipe’s vocals weren’t always clear! The internet has changed a lot, hasn’t it, some of it for the better.

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  9. Great choice, Clive as R.E.M. made some really nice music. They went out on their own terms after playing together for just over 30 years saying they were grateful for what they accomplished, but felt the time was right to end the band.

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    • Thanks, Jim. I’ve always loved their music. I think they retired on their own terms, though the illness that made Bill Berry quit probably had something to do with it. It was good to see him back with them for the award ceremony and interviews.

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  11. Great choice, Clive. I am a fan as well; these three songs are all excellent picks, with Losing My Religion always on the top of the list (at least for me). Trying to wrap my head around the fact that R.E.M. broke up more than a dozen years ago. We welcomed 3 grandkids since then and now I’m feeling quite old!

    Happy Sunday, Clive! 🌞

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  14. Terrific songwriters and as you say Clive, deserved more recognition for that. I remember seeing a clip of their early performances and they were insane.

    I have a few of their albums, saw them live once and was disappointed, but overall a fantastic band.

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    • Thanks, Paul. I almost went with one of their early videos as they were very good even then. I never got to see them live but I’ve seen tv broadcasts and they were great – you must have caught them on an off day! I have the full set of their albums, at first on cassette and later ones on CD. All are streamed these days, though.

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