There's a guy on YouTube named Rick Beato (born 1962), who is identified on Wikipedia as "an American YouTuber, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and educator." Three years ago, he posted a video called "WHY This is R.E.M.'s Greatest Song." This video has 705,000 views, and he says he's going to work through nine R.E.M. songs. Let's follow along!
First Song: "South Central Rain." I have always loved the reference to South Central Bell -- a reference that becomes more obscure every year. This was one of the first REM songs any of us ever heard, and it sounded so different from everything else at the time -- and yet it also sounded very traditional. I love this song.
ReplyDeleteNow he starts going through the contenders for best R.E.M. song:
ReplyDelete1. "Radio Free Europe"
He says this song shows off R.E.M.'s rhythm section, and the greatness of Mike Mills.
2. "It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)"
ReplyDeleteHe says that it's extremely difficult to write a good, fast song -- and it's even harder to write a fast song with a lot of lyrics.
3. "Losing My Religion"
ReplyDeleteHe says this song shows the power of properly taking advantage of dissonance.
4. "Everybody Hurts"
ReplyDeleteHe says in this song, Stipe's vocal starts off with dissonance, and this contrast between his vocal and the underlying melody is what gives the song its power.
I'm fascinated by the idea that music appears to be built into our brains, so that if you hit certain notes in certain ways, you can almost always generate a particular emotional response.
ReplyDeleteIf you get one of the old shape-note hymnals, you will see that almost every time, the soprano part ends on whatever note is the key for the tune. If the song is in C major, the sopranos will end on a C. If the song is in F major, the sopranos will end on an F. This happens almost every time, because when you come back to the base note for a given key, your brain feels like it has come home, and it's ready for the song to end. It's an amazing effect.
ReplyDelete5. "Driver 8"
ReplyDeleteHe says this song is so sad, and that for him this is one of the great symbols of independent rock in the 1980's.
6. "Man in the Moon"
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't say much about this song, but every year I am more impressed at the sheer nostalgia on the "Automatic for the People" album.
When they found Kurt Cobain, they found that he had been listening to "Automatic for the People" before he died. The CD was still in the player.
Delete7. "The One I Love"
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing collection of songs. Beato says that Michael Stipe is using a note called the "flat 6" to make the song sound sad. According to the Internet, a flat-6 chord is made by taking the sixth note of a major scale, lowering that note by a half step, and building a major chord on it. I don't really understand how that works, but he's certainly right that it makes you feel sad.
Apparently, "South Central Rain" was also one of the contenders for best song, so he has done eight songs. He also referenced "Stand," which he said a lot of fans liked, but he didn't think that was in the running for best song. Anyway, now he's going to do his decision for the best R.E.M. song.
ReplyDeleteWinner: "Try Not to Breathe," which is the second song on Automatic for the People.
ReplyDeleteThis is an incredibly bleak lyric:
ReplyDeleteI 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
All young people think the 1990's were just jokes and giggles. But I was there, and that wasn't true.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, the best R.E.M. song is "Nightswimming."
ReplyDeleteBeato says that "Nightswimming" is a phenomenal song, and could have been on the list, but he didn't want to have too many songs from the 1990's.
DeleteFor me, of course, "Automatic for the People" will always bring back memories of the 1993 NCAA Basketball Tournament, which was the last tournament of the Golden Age of College Hoops (1974 to 1993). It was one of the best tournaments ever played, and I think about it every time I hear "Automatic for the People."
ReplyDeleteHere are the last 15 games of the 1993 Tournament:
ReplyDeleteN. Carolina 80, Arkansas 74
Cincinnati 71, Virginia 54
Indiana 82, Louisville 69
Kansas 93, California 76
Kentucky 103, Wake Forest 69
Florida St. 81, W. Kentucky 78 (OT)
Michigan 72, Geo. Washington 64
Temple 67, Vanderbilt 59
N. Carolina 75, Cincinnati 68 (OT)
Kansas 83, Indiana 77
Kentucky 106, Florida St. 81
Michigan 77, Temple 72
N. Carolina 78, Kansas 68
Michigan 81, Kentucky 78 (OT)
N. Carolina 77, Michigan 71
I think that's the best collection of games ever played in the last four rounds of an NCAA Tournament.
And look at all those teams crashing out -- Arkansas, U of L, Western, GW, Vandy, Indiana, and of course my favorite UK team ever. It goes perfectly with the mournful and nostalgic tone of "Automatic for the People," which is an album about adulthood and facing hard truths.
DeleteThere are certain sports events that, if you're a fan, leave a mark on your character one way or another. I would be a different person today if UK had won that tournament.
DeleteHere are the last 15 games from the 1975 tournament, another classic:
ReplyDeleteSyracuse 78, N. Carolina 76
Kansas St. 74, Boston Coll. 65
Indiana 81, Oregon St. 71
Kentucky 90, Cent. Michigan 73
Maryland 83, Notre Dame 71
Louisville 78, Cincinnati 63
U.C.L.A. 67, Montana 64
Arizona St. 84, U.N.L.V. 81
Syracuse 95, Kansas St. 87 (OT)
Kentucky 92, Indiana 90
Louisville 96, Maryland 82
U.C.L.A. 89, Arizona St. 75
Kentucky 95, Syracuse 79
U.C.L.A. 75, Louisville 74 (OT)
U.C.L.A. 92, Kentucky 85
Here are the last 15 games from the 1983 tournament, the best one ever played:
ReplyDeleteGeorgia 70, St. John's 67
N. Carolina 64, Ohio St. 51
Virginia 96, Boston Coll. 92
N. Carolina St. 75, Utah 56
Louisville 65, Arkansas 63
Kentucky 64, Indiana 59
Houston 70, Memphis St. 63
Villanova 55, Iowa 54
Georgia 82, N. Carolina 77
N. Carolina St. 63, Virginia 62
Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 (OT)
Houston 89, Villanova 71
N. Carolina St. 67, Georgia 60
Houston 94, Louisville 81
N. Carolina St. 54, Houston 52
And, just to wrap this up, here are the last 15 games from this year's tournament, which had its moments:
ReplyDeleteDuke 80, St. John's 75
Connecticut 67, Michigan St. 63
Iowa 77, Nebraska 71
Illinois 65, Houston 55
Arizona 109, Arkansas 88
Purdue 79, Texas 77
Michigan 90, Alabama 77
Tennessee 76, Iowa St. 62
Connecticut 73, Duke 72
Illinois 71, Iowa 59
Arizona 79, Purdue 64
Michigan 95, Tennessee 62
Connecticut 71, Illinois 62
Michigan 91, Arizona 73
Michigan 69, Connecticut 63
This is fun. Here's the 2019 tournament, which would be really famous if a higher-profile team had reached the final. Look how close the last seven games were:
ReplyDeleteDuke 75, Virginia Tech 73
Michigan St. 80, Louisiana St. 63
Gonzaga 72, Florida St. 58
Texas Tech 63, Michigan 44
Virginia 53, Oregon 49
Purdue 99, Tennessee 94 (OT)
Auburn 97, N. Carolina 80
Kentucky 62, Houston 58
Michigan St. 68, Duke 67
Texas Tech 75, Gonzaga 69
Virginia 80, Purdue 75 (OT)
Auburn 77, Kentucky 71 (OT)
Texas Tech 61, Michigan St. 51
Virginia 63, Auburn 62
Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (OT)