R.E.M. - Bad Day

A public service Announcement followed me home the other day
I paid it never mind
Go away
Shit so thick you could stir it with a stick- free Teflon whitewashed presidency
We're sick of being jerked around
Wear that on your sleeve

Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord
Count your blessings
We're sick of being jerked around
We all fall down

Have you ever seen the televised St. Vitus Subcommittee Prize
Investigation dance? Those-ants-in-pants glances
Well, look behind the eyes
It's a hallowed, hollow anesthetized
"Save my own ass, screw these guys"
Smoke and mirror lock down

Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord
Count your blessings
The papers wouldn't lie!
I sigh
Not one more

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

We're dug in the deep, the price is steep
The auctioneer is such a creep
The lights went out, the oil ran dry
We blamed it on the other guy
Sure, all men are created equal
Here's the church, here's the steeple
"Please stay tuned - we cut to sequel"
Ashes to ashes, we all fall down

Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord
Count your blessings
Ignore the lower fears
Oh, this means war

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

Broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, Lord
Count your blessings
We're sick of being jerked around
We all fall down

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

It's been a bad day
Please don't take a picture
It's been a bad day
Please

R.E.M. - At My Most Beautiful

I’ve found a way…to make you,

I’ve found a way,

A way…to make you smile.

I read bad poetry

Into your machine.

I save your messages

Just to hear your voice.

You always listen carefully

To awkward rhymes.

You always say your name,

Like I wouldn’t know it’s you.

At your most beautiful.

I’ve found a way to make you,

I’ve found a way…

A way to make you smile.

At my most beautiful.

I count your eyelashes, secretly.

With every one, whisper, “I love you”.

I let you sleep.

I know your closed eye watching me

Listening,

I thought I saw a smile.

I’ve found a way to make you,

I’ve found a way,

A way to make you smile.

R.E.M. - Finest Worksong

The time to rise has been engaged

You'd better best to rearrange

I'm talking here to me alone

I listen to the finest worksong

Your finest hour

Your finest hour

Another chance has been engaged

To throw Thoreau and rearrange

You are following this time

I beg you not beg to rhyme

(Oh), Your finest hour

(Oh), Your finest hour

Take your instinct by the reins

You'd better best to rearrange

What we want and what we need

Has been confused, been confused

(Oh) Your finest hour

(Oh) Your finest hour

Take your instinct by the reins

Better best to rearrange

What we want and what we need

Has been confused, been confused

(Oh) Your finest hour

(Oh) Your finest hour

(Oh) Your finest hour

(Oh) Your finest hour

R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious

Everybody here

Comes from somewhere

That they would just soon forget

And disguise

At the summer camp where you volunteered

No one saw your face,

No one saw your fear

If that apparition had just appeared

Took you up and away

From this base and sheer

Humiliation.

Of your teenage station.

Nobody cares

No one remembers

And nobody cares

Yeah you cried and you cried

He's alive he's alive

Yeah you cried and cried and you

Cried and you cried

If you call out "safe"

Then I'll stop right away

If the premise buckles

And the ropes start to chafe

The details smart

But the story's the same

You don't have to explain,

You don't have to explain

Humiliation.

Of your teenage station.

Yeah you cried and you cried

He's alive he's alive

Yeah you cried and you cried and you

Cried and you

Realized your fantasies

Are dressed up in travesties

Enjoy yourself with no regrets

Everybody here

Comes from somewhere

That they would just as soon forget

And disguise

Yeah you cried and you cried

He's alive he's alive

Yeah you cried and you cried and you

Cried and you cried

Now there's nothing

Dark and there's nothing weird

Don't be afraid i will hold you near.

From the seance where you first betrayed

An open heart on a darkened stage.

A celebration

Of your teenage station

This

Inexperience, sweet, delirious.

Supernatural, superserious.

Inexperience, sweet, delirious.

Supernatural, superserious,

Wow.

R.E.M. - Talk About The Passion

Empty prayer, empty mouths, combien reaction

Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Talk about the passion, talk about the passion

Empty prayer, empty mouths, combien reaction

Empty prayer, empty mouths, talk about the passion

Combien, combien, combien de temps

Talk about the passion, talk about the passion

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Not everyone can carry the weight of the world

Combien, combien, combien de temps

Talk about the passion, talk about the passion

Talk about the passion, talk about the passion

Talk about the passion, talk about the passion

R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

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

That's me in the corner

That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don't know if I can do it

Oh no, I've said too much

I haven't said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try

Every whisper

Of every waking hour

I'm choosing my confessions

Trying to keep an eye on you

Like a hurt, lost and blinded fool, fool

Oh no, I've said too much

I set it up

Consider this

Consider this, the hint of the century

Consider this, the slip

That brought me to my knees, failed

What if all these fantasies come

Flailing around

Now I've said too much

I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream

That was just a dream

That's me in the corner

That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don't know if I can do it

Oh no, I've said too much

I haven't said enough

I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try

But that was just a dream

Try, cry, why try

That was just a dream

Just a dream

Just a dream, dream

R.E.M. - Oh My Heart

The kids have a new take, a new take on faith
Pick up the pieces, get carried away
I came home to city half erased
I came home to face what we faced

This place needs me here to start
This place is the beat of my heart

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart

Storm didn't kill me, the government changed
Hear the answer call, hear the song rearranged
Hear the tress, the ghosts and the buildings sing
With the wisdom to reconcile this thing

It's sweet and it's sad and it's true
How it doesn't look bitter on you

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart

Mother and father
I stand beside you
The good of this world
Might help see me through

This place needs me here to start
This place is the beat of my heart

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart

Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart
Oh my heart, oh my heart
Oh my heart

R.E.M. - Country Feedback

This flower is scorched, this film is on
On a maddening loop, these clothes
These clothes don't fit us right
I'm to blame
It's all the same
It's all the same

You come to me with a bone in your hand
You come to me with your hair curled tight
You come to me with positions

You come to me with excuses
Ducked out in a row
You wear me out
You wear me out

We've been through fake-a-breakdown
Self-hurt, plastics, collections
Self-help, self-pain
EST, psychics, fuck all

I was central, I had control
I lost my head
I need this, I need this

A paperweight, junk garage
Wedding ring, a honey pot
Crazy, all the lovers have been tagged

A hotline, a wanted ad
It's crazy what you could've had

It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need this, I need this

It's crazy what you could've had
Crazy what you could've had
I need it, I need this

It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need this, I, I need this

It's crazy what you could've had
I need this, I need this

It's crazy what you could've had
Crazy what you could've had
I need this, I need this

Crazy what you could've had
Crazy what you could've had

R.E.M. - Stand

Stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

Now stand in the place where you work
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before

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

So stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

Now stand in the place where you work
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before

Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around
If wishes were trees, the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, season is calling

Stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

Now stand in the place where you work
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before

If wishes were trees, the trees would be falling
Listen to reason, reason is calling
Your feet are going to be on the ground
Your head is there to move you around

So stand (Stand!)
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

Now stand (Stand!)
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't

Stand in the place where you live
Now face north
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before

Now stand in the place where you work
Now face west
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before

Stand in the place where you are
Now face north
Stand in the place where you are
Now face west
Your feet are going to be on the ground
(Stand in the place where you are)
Your head is there to move you around, so stand

R.E.M. - Driver 8

The walls are built up, stone by stone;
the fields divided one by one.
And the train conductor says,
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
we've been on this shift too long"

And the train conductor says,
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm.
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged.
Bells are ringing through the town again,
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing

And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"

Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself to sleep.
Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself, my children to sleep.

He piloted this song in a plane like that one.
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade.
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again.
Field to weed is lookin' thin

And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We've been on this shift too long."
And the train conductor says,
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break.
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"

R.E.M. - Orange Crush

(Follow me, don't follow me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(Collar me, don't collar me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(We are agents of the free)
I've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas
(Over me, not over me)
Coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)

(Follow me, don't follow me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(Collar me, don't collar me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(We are agents of the free)
I've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas
(Over me, not over me)
Coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)

High on the booze
In a tent
Paved with blood
Nine inch howl
Brave the night
Chopper comin' in, you hope

We would circle and we'd circle and we'd circle to stop and consider and centered on the pavement stacked up all the trucks jacked up and our wheels in slush and orange crush in pocket and all this here county, hell, any county, it's just like heaven here, and I was remembering and I was just in a different county and all then this whirlybird that I headed for I had my goggles pulled off; I knew it all, I knew every back road and every truck stop

(Follow me, don't follow me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(Collar me, don't collar me)
I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush
(We are agents of the free)
I've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas
(Over me, not over me)
Coming in fast, over me (oh, oh)

High on the booze
In a tent
Paved with blood
Nine inch howl
Brave the night
Chopper comin' in, you hope

High on the booze
In a tent
Paved with blood
Nine inch howl
Brave the night
Chopper comin' in, you hope

(Ah, oh)

R.E.M. - The One I Love

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire
Fire

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)
Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I've left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)
Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)
Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)
Fire (she's comin' down on her own, now)

R.E.M. - ÜBerlin

Hey now, take your pills and
Hey now, make your breakfast
Hey now, comb your hair and off to work
Crash land, no illusions, no collision, no intrusion
My imagination runs away

I know, I know, I know what I am chasing
I know, I know, I know that this is changing me

I am flying on a star into a meteor tonight
I am flying on a star, star, star
I will make it through the day
And then the day becomes the night
I will make it through the night

Hey now, take the U-Bahn, five stops, change the station
Hey now, don't forget that change will save you
Hey now, count a thousand-million people, that's astounding
Chasing through the city with their stars on bright

I know, I know, I know what I am chasing
I know, I know, I know that this is changing me

I am flying on a star into a meteor tonight
I am flying on a star, star, star
I will make it through the day
And then the day becomes the night
I will make it through the night

I don't mind repeating, I am not complete
I have never been the gifted type
Hey, man, tell me something, are you off to somewhere?
Do you want to go with me tonight?

I know, I know, I know that this is changing
We walk the streets to feel the ground I'm chasing: ÜBerlin

I am flying on a star into a meteor tonight
I am flying on a star, star, star
I will make it through the day
And then the day and then the day becomes the night
I will make it through the night

R.E.M. - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

That's great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid

Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs
Feed it up a knock, speed, grunt, no, strength
The ladder starts to clatter with a fear of height, down, height
Wire in a fire, represent the seven games
And a government for hire and a combat site
Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck

Team by team, reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
Uh-oh, overflow, population, common group
But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed
Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign tower
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock him in uniform, book burning, bloodletting
Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate
Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crush, uh-oh
This means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline

It's the end of the world as we know it (I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)
I feel fine (I feel fine)

It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)

The other night I dreamt a nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right? Right

It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)

It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)

It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it (It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine (It's time I had some time alone)

(It's time I had some time alone)

R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe

Decide yourself if radio's gonna stay
Reason: it could polish up the gray
Put that, put that, put that up your wall
That this isn't Country at all

Radio station: decide yourself

Keep me out of Country and the word
Wheel of fortune's leading us: absurd
Push that, push that, push that to the floor
That this isn't nothing at all

Straight off the boat, where to go

Calling out in transit
Calling out in transit
Radio Free Europe (radio)

Decide: defy the media too fast
Instead of pushing palaces to fall
Put that, put that, put that up your wall
That this isn't fortunate at all

Radio station: decide yourself

We're calling out in transit
Calling out in transit
Radio Free Europe (radio)

Decide yourself: come in on a boat
Media's too fast
Keep me out of Country and the word
Disappointment into us: absurd

Straight off the boat, where to go?

Calling out in transit
Calling out in transit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe

Calling out in transit
Calling out in transit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe

R.E.M. - Nightswimming

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night

The photograph on the dashboard taken years ago,
turned around backwards so the windshield shows.
Every street light reveals a picture in reverse
Still it's so much clearer

I forgot my shirt at the water's edge
The moon is low tonight

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night
I'm not sure all these people understand
It's not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
The recklessness in water
They cannot see me naked
These things they go away
Replaced by every day

Nightswimming,
remembering that night
September's coming soon
I'm pining for the moon
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit around the fairest sun?
The bright tide forever drawn
Could not describe nightswimming

You, I thought I knew you
You, I cannot judge
You, I thought you knew me
This one laughing quietly
Underneath my breath
Nightswimming

The photograph reflects
Every street light a reminder
Nightswimming
Deserves a quiet night
Deserves a quiet night

R.E.M. - New Test Leper

I can't say that I love Jesus
that would be a hollow claim.
He did make some observations
and I'm quoting them today.
"Judge not lest ye be judged."
what a beautiful refrain.
The studio audience disagrees.
Have his lambs all gone astray?

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

"You are lost and disillusioned!"
what an awful thing to say.
I know this show doesn't flatter.
It means nothing to me.
I thought I might help them understand
but what an ugly thing to see.
"I am not an animal"
subtitled under the screen.

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break.
I sat silent 5 commercials
I had nothing left to say
The talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade.

What a sad parade

Call me a leper
Call me a leper
Call me a leper

R.E.M. - Begin The Begin

Birdie in the hand for life's rich demand
The insurgency began and you missed it
I looked for it and I found it
Miles Standish proud, congratulate me

A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe

Life's rich demand creates supply in the hand
Of the powers, the only vote that matters
Silence means security, silence means approval
On Zenith, on the TV, tiger run around the tree
Follow the leader, run and turn into butter

Let's begin again, begin the begin
Let's begin again like Martin Luther Zen
The mythology begins the begin
Answer me a question I can't itemize
I can't think clear, you look to me for reason
It's not there, I can't even rhyme here in the begin

A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe
Example: the finest example is you

Birdie in the hand for life's rich demand
The insurgency began and you missed it
I looked for it and I found it
Miles Standish proud, congratulate me

A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe
Let's begin again begin the begin
Let's begin again

R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts

When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,
When you’re sure you’ve had enough of this life, well hang on.
Don’t let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.

Sometimes everything is wrong. Now it’s time to sing along.
When your day is night alone, (hold on, hold on)
If you feel like letting go, (hold on)
When you think you’ve had too much of this life, well hang on.

Everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends.
Everybody hurts. Don’t throw your hand. Oh, no. Don’t throw your hand.
If you feel like you’re alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

If you’re on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
When you think you’ve had too much of this life to hang on.

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
Everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes.
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on.
Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on.
(Everybody hurts. You are not alone.)