Be Mine by R.E.M.

I listened again to my favorite R.E.M. album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi and discovered this amazing song. I just fell in love with it's simplicity and lyrics.

I never thought of this as funny
It speaks another world to me
I want to be your Easter bunny
I want to be your Christmas tree
I'll strip the world that you must live in
Of all its godforsaken greed
I'll ply the tar out of your feathers
I'll pluck the thorns out of your feet

You and me
You and me
You and me

And if I choose your sanctuary
I want to wash you with my hair
I want to drink of sacred fountains
And find the riches hidden there
I'll eat the lotus and peyote
I want to hear the caged bird sing
I want the secrets of the temple
I want the finger with the ring

You and me
You and me
You and me

That if you make me your religion
I'll give you all the room you need
I'll be the drawing of your breath
I'll be the cup if you should bleed
I'll be the sky above the Ganges
I'll be the vast and stormy sea
I'll be the lights that guide you inward
I'll be the visions you will see
The visions you will see
You will see
You will see

You and me
You and me
You and me
You and me
You and me
You and me

Bittersweet Me by R.E.M.

I think this is the first time in this blog that I've out successive entries of songs from the same band. I could be in an R.E.M. funk today, but I've been planning to write about this song for more than a year actually.

Bittersweet Me is one of my favorites in the New Adventures in Hi-Fi album, along with E-Bow the letter. It's just a good R.E.M. rocking song from the mid/late 90s. I notice as well that one of the actors also appears in the Nickelodeon show Pete & Pete.

I move across, innocence lost
All flashing pulsar
I move across the earth in my new pattern shirt
I pass satellites

"You're so bitter," your complaint
I can't give you anything
I don't know who you're livin' for
I don't know who you are anymore

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I move across, candy floss
I move like a tank
I move across the room
With a heart full of gloom,
Stronger than you think

Oh my peer,
Your veneer is wearing thin and cracking
The surface informs that underneath,
Underneath is lacking

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

You move across, innocence lost,
All static and desire,
You're blue in the face from navel gaze,
You set yourself on fire

You strip down and lay yourself out,
I know you can't fake it,
But are you tired and naked?
Are you tire and naked?

I'd sooner chew my leg off,
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

Imitation of Life by R.E.M.

Never was a big fan of R.E.M. while growing up though the album New Adventures in Hi-Fi was a favorite. I bought the Out of Time album just this weekend, however this was the song that was coming into my head today, specifically the line "That sugar cane that tasted good"

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 sugarcane that tasted good.
That 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 sugarcane that tasted good.
That cinnamon, thats 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 you 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.

Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

I went to look for some CDs that I havent' bonded with recently and gravitated toward R.E.M's monster. This song is my favorite of the album. It's has a great bassline... it's calm and somewhat reassuring. This one carried me through one tough day this week.

I don't know why you're mean to me
When I call on the telephone
And I don't know what you mean to me
But I want to turn you on, turn you up, figure you out, I want to take you on

These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine" all the time

The fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
I'm going to make whatever it takes,
Ring you up, call you down, sign your name, secret love,
Make it rhyme, take you in, and make you mine

These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine" all the time, oh
I tripped and fell. Did I fall?
What I want to feel, I want to feel it now

You know with love come strange currencies
And here is my appeal:

I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance,
A word, a signal, a nod, a little breath
Just to fool myself, to catch myself, to make it real, real

These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine" all the time, oh

These words, "You will be mine"
These words, they haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat, make me pray,
Say, love's confined, oh

E-Bow the Letter by R.E.M.

What does this song remind me of? Going home early during 2nd year HS and watching MTV. I don't know what attracted me to this song. To be honest, it's one of those songs I just don't get. However I fell in love it. Maybe it's because of the overall sound it gave, it sounded lonely. Patty Smith's voice is chilling too! I was looking for the album all over, when I saw one, I grabbed unto it dearly. Just maybe, after I write this, I'll make sense of it.

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise
The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m.
This letter

Fields of poppies, little pearls
All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed
Each and every one a little scary
I said your name

I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars
Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras
Dreaming of Maria Callas
Whoever she is

This fame thing, I don't get it
I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it
Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves
I can take you far
This star thing, I don't get it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Will you live to 83?
Will you ever welcome me?
Will you show me something that nobody else has seen?
Smoke it, drink

Here comes the flood
Anything to thin the blood
These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet
Phone, eat it, drink
Just another chink
Cuts and dents, they catch the light
Aluminum, the weakest link

I don't want to disappoint you
I'm not here to anoint you
I would lick your feet
But is that the sickest move?
I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow
And who'd have thought tomorrow could be so strange?

My loss, and here we go again
I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over

Look up, what do you see?
All of you and all of me
Fluorescent and starry
Some of them, they surprise

I can't look it in the eyes
Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene
Cherry-flavored neck and collar
I can smell the sorrow on your breath
The sweat, the victory and sorrow
The smell of fear, I got it

I'll take you over, there
I'll take you over, there
Aluminum, tastes like fear
Adrenaline, it pulls us near

I'll take you over
It tastes like fear, there
I'll take you over
Pulls us near
Tastes like fear.
Nearer, nearer
Over, over, over, over
Yeah, look over
I'll take you there, oh, yeah
I'll take you there
Oh, over
I'll take you there
Over, let me
I'll take you there..
There, there, baby, yeah