REM song tournament: Lament Wins!

[chewm]

Hyena is one of my favorite songs from Life's Rich Pageant, and I love that album.

[Rangi Guy]

I know, but what would you not have taken instead?

Besides zither

Why do you guys hate Undertow so much - it would possibly be my favourite song of New Adventures. Either that or Leave

[stip]

It was pretty high on my list. It's my favorite song about Atheism. One of the few that gets it right.

[Kaius]

stip, I think you should give Discoverer, Fretless, and Catapult a review. They're underrated.

[stip]

Catapult might be. It's really catchy, but catapult and moral kiosk have both not weathered the years quite as well as the other songs on murmur, which have a bit more mystery to them.

Discoverer has that great riff (I love it during the Blue outro) and a pretty good chorus, but I'm not a huge fan of the verses. It's a decent song, but I'm put in mind of songs like Turn You Inside Out or Finest Worksong, which I think are noticeably better. Most of the stuff on Collapse harkens back to earlier moments in their career, but they can usually hold their own next to their antecedents.

I haven't heard Fretless in a long while. I'll listen right now!

[stip]

So much harpischord. I feel like it may be trying a little too hard to create atmosphere, especially with the echo on Stipe's vocals. The chorus is nice (the 'they come and they come and they come and they come' part), but the whole thing feels vaguely overwrought--especially the violins, harpsichord, and 'dont' talk to me about being alone' part.

The real problem I have with Fretless is the era it came out in. It's just surrounded by a number of similar songs that are not only similar, but vastly superior.


It's a pretty good song, and if this was on, say, around the sun, it would stand out more. But it just gets buried in the Out of Time/Automatic era.

[stip]

I should avoid talking about people's teams until they vote

[Kaius]

I should avoid talking about people's teams until they vote

[stip]

if REM hadn't written At My Most Beautiful Be Mine would have been my wedding song!

[Chris_H_2]

if REM hadn't written At My Most Beautiful Be Mine would have been my wedding song!

We thought about that (Be Mine), but that's one long-ass wedding song.

[Kaius]

Actually, I believe you took 4 picks right before I was going to, and you have a couple more that just barely didn't get the nod in favor of another song, so I really like your team.

chud's team looks good too though, so I'll have to give both teams a proper listen first.

[Lament]

Kaius, I love you, but you're up against someone who has probably five of my twenty favorite REM songs and you have at most one. That's a lot to have to overcome.

[Kaius]

philpritchard, you're just fucked and there's nothing I can do for you.

[Kaius]

Kaius, I love you, but you're up against someone who has probably five of my twenty favorite REM songs and you have at most one. That's a lot to have to overcome.

No sweat, I didn't get what I desired on a lot of my picks. I'm still really fond of my squad, but like one's own child, you love 'em even if they're ugly or no one else does.

Which songs are your faves, btw?

[stip]

if REM hadn't written At My Most Beautiful Be Mine would have been my wedding song!

We thought about that (Be Mine), but that's one long-ass wedding song.

what did you use?

[stip]

I hope it was Paradise by the Dashboard Light

[Lament]

No sweat, I didn't get what I desired on a lot of my picks. I'm still really fond of my squad, but like one's own child, you love 'em even if they're ugly or no one else does.

Which songs are your faves, btw?

From Phil's team, The Lifting, Me In Honey, Maps & Legends, So Fast, So Numb, and (probably) Blue would be in my top twenty. I have to imagine The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight from your squad would make my top twenty as well.

I've got to be honest, I think Phil has more of my top twenty than I do.

Stip and Jorge have good chunks of my top twenty too (stip has my favorite R.E.M. song).

[stip]

I'm not sure exactly what my top 20 is, but for a sizable chunk of the draft I liked Chris' team more than mine.

[Lament]

If I had to haphazardly guess my top twenty it'd be this (along with who has each of them)...

Spoiler: show

So. Central Rain - Stip
Maps & Legends - Phil
Begin the Begin - DV
The One I Love - Me
Losing My Religion - Stip
Me In Honey - Phil
Country Feedback - Me
Try Not to Breathe - Stip
The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight - Kaius
Drive - DV
Man on the Moon - Joey
Nightswimming - Jorge
Find the River - Chris
So Fast, So Numb - Phil
Electrolite - Me
At My Most Beautiful - Me
Walk Unafraid - Jorge
The Great Beyond - Jorge
The Lifting - Phil
Blue - Phil

That's chronological, not by preference. Phil has five of my twenty. I have four. Stip and Jorge each have three. DV has two. Kaius, Chris, and Joey each have one.

[Chris_H_2]

if REM hadn't written At My Most Beautiful Be Mine would have been my wedding song!

We thought about that (Be Mine), but that's one long-ass wedding song.

what did you use?

We used One True Vine by Wilco (coming in at just over 2 minutes).