Like, well, We have to maintain this image. We just we get up In the morning And you look in the mirror, And this You know, you've got To be happy about that. at this stage, There was no secret. This band was gonna be huge. There was By this time, All the hard work was about to Pay off, and everyone knew it. i mean, i was hearing people In offices that tell me In los angeles a month Before we cut the record that, "well, this is the record That's gonna make you As big as u." You know, i was like, "you haven't even heard The songs yet; how do you know? I mean, it might really stink." We've been around long enough So that the people That we used to go into Radio stations they'd say, "sorry, We can't play your records. You don't fit in," Now we fit in. it's kind of like the music Business and radio And all that stuff Has finally caught up with us. It's not like We're doing something That's extraordinarily Ahead of its time, But it's taken them The entire 's to be able To accept music That's not kind Of predisposed towards radio. Uh-oh. that's great it starts With an earthquake birds and snakes And aeroplanes and lenny bruce Is not afraid eye of a hurricane Listen to yourself churn world serves its own needs, Dummy serve your own needs feed it off an aux speak, Grunt, no, strength ladder starts to clatter With fear fight you know, our last record, Lifes rich pageant, It did fairly well, Andyou know, it went gold. Our first gold record. We wanted to kind Of capitalize on that success By making a little bit more Of a left field type album. It's a little bit More chaotic And it addresses Some political things A little bit more directly maybe Than we have in the past. it's the end of the world As we know it and i feel fine [r.E.M.'s the one i love] this one goes out To the one i love the fact that that became Our first hit Was just as much Of a surprise to us As anyone. this one goes out to The one i've left behind a simple prop could you talk about What the one i love is about? well, it's pretty evident. It's right there, to me. i thought It was really obvious that it Was not a love song at all. fire the one i love Is a very vicious breakup song, And it's very cold And cruel. it was always kind of amusing To play it in concerts. You know, you start that song And the guys Would hug their girlfriend, Kiss their girlfriend, And it's like, "well, You don't really understand," [chuckles] And that's fine. It doesn't matter. I mean, ityou know, Michael writes a song about Whatever he thinks it's about, And then whatever you think It's about is what it's about. You know? There's We're not trying to beat Anybody over the head With message or meaning Or anything like that. It'sthe best music is one That you can take and adapt To your own life Or to your own experience, And it has to mean Something to you. Whetherwhatever it means to us Is not nearly as important As what it means to you. for me, it's about e-minor To d to g to c. captain, i'm picking up A transmission. It appears to be from fans Of the rock group r.E.M., Which originated In athens, georgia.