R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. R.E.M. was noted for Buck's arpeggiated "jangle" guitar playing; Stipe's distinctive vocal style, unique stage presence, and cryptic lyrics; Mills's countermelodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana, the Pixies, and Pavement named R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left in 1997, the remaining members continued with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011, having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.
There’s a progress we have found
(when the rain)
A way to talk around the problem
(when the children reign)
Building towered foresight
(keep your conscience in the dark)
Isn’t anything at all
(melt the statues in the park)
There’s a problem, feathers, iron –
Bargain buildings, weights and pulleys –
Feathers hit the ground
before the weight can leave the air
Read the scene where
gravity is pulling me around
Shift the swaying river’s shift
Oceans fall and mountains drift
I am, I am, I am Superman
and I know what’s happening
I am, I am, I am Superman
and I can do anything
I thought that I heard you laughing
Oh, life,
it’s bigger,
It’s bigger than you and you are not me
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh, no, I’ve said too much
I set it up
Look at that low plane,
fine, then
R.E.M.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It
(And I Feel Fine)
Take your instinct by the reins –
You’d better best to rearrange –
What we want and what we need,
has been confused, been confused
Buy the sky and sell the sky
And tell the sky, and tell the sky
Don’t fall on me
(What is it up in the air for?)
Fall on me
(If it’s there for long)
Fall on me
(It’s over, it’s over me)
That’s great it starts with an earthquake
The lengths that I will go to
The distance in your eyes
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I set it up
If you are confused, check with the sun –
Carry a compass to help you along
Your feet are going to be on the ground –
Your head is there to move you around
