we were just, like, Speed freaks, you know? And the faster we could go, The better, And the faster we could play, The better, And the more we could cram Into every day, the better. We just wanted To get in the van And see the u.S. Like jack kerouac did. gardening at night gardening at night gardening at night with does r.E.M. Stands for? well, if you look In the dictionary, It means rapid eye movement, And that's the time When you dream, When you're asleep. Our name doesn't necessarily Have to mean that. we found it in a dictionary At : in the morning, And we were desperate For a name. We couldn't think Of anything. That would just seem Not to offend anyone, And it was very short And simple, so we picked it. we wanted a name That wouldn't put us In any particular category Musically, And at the time when we Got together four years ago, Bands pretty much didn't have Names that were just letters. we spent, you know, A year and a half writing Kind of writing Abc elementary songs Getting ourselves ready to Figure out how to write music. all of a sudden We were writing songs That actually We really were proud of. - we recorded Radio free europe. We put it on that Little label hib-tone. Within, gee, a month, It was like, you know, top ten single of the year In new york times, and you know, It's just kind ofyou know, You just kind of go, "well, whatever." calling on in transit calling on in transit radio free europe, Radio i've been listening To your music for a long time, And i really like it, But i still am having trouble Trying To figure out your lyrics. Is there any way, like, You know, you can get a copy Of them or something? we don't hand out Copies of the lyrics. it's 'cause they change Every time we play. yeah, they're always changing. They're but you we're kind of against that. The words to the songs Are as much a part Of the song as the bass, And there's no reason Really to separate the two. ideally you should just Listen to the songs And just intuitively feel What they're about. Get your own impression Of the songs rather than kind Of being beaten on the head By a story or something. well, what i was saying in the Early days wasn't a real lot. I was kind of just moaning and Howling along with the music. You know, language, to me, And music really don't mix well. there have been times When i have not known What he was talking About exactly, But usually i don't bother To ask Because one way or another, They conjure up Very strong images in my mind. i had just heard of r.E.M. Because i'd seen A poster for 'em at a club, And i had some idea from the way The poster looked that they Were, like, this sort of Electronica band, you know? So they just came to my house, And i still was thinking that, And then of course i discover They had this total disdain For the production of the era, Which was kind of cool, 'cause i was really just Starting to record stuff myself, But i really enjoyed any way you Can be contrary about it all, And they were Very contrary. we hired Mitch easter to do what became The chronic town ep, And we were gonna Put it out ourselves.