This Sugar Cane/This Lemonade/This Hurricane/I'm Not Afraid" – My Favorite R.E.M. Choruses

wrigley, as the red sox were winning the series, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Part of my "Pop! Goes the Radio" metamorphosis involved the liberating power of the chorus. It's the most important part of any song, as this semi-hilarious video will tell you ... it's the part that you hum when the song is over, the part that elevates all that comes before. A good chorus is essential, but not necessary, to a good pop song.

So here are some of my favorite choruses from R.E.M. I could write a thousand words on each song; these are just my stream-of-consciousness thoughts. Maybe someday I'll elaborate on them, but for now, here they are ... and here's a handy pop-up window with all the songs. Or click on the links below.

"Be Mine," New Adventures in Hi-Fi

This one bowled me over when I first heard it, and I spent way too much time trying to figure it out on my acoustic guitar – mainly because you can't get good feedback on an acoustic guitar, especially when you're living with another person in a studio apartment. My first thought was "This is going to be a smash hit," but they didn't release it as a single. It's as dark and brooding a love song as they've ever written.

"Belong," Out of Time

One of the great wordless choruses. I don't know if that disqualifies it from true "great chorus" consideration, but since this is the only thing Google knows about when it comes to "great choruses of the rock era," I'm going to issue a ruling: Words aren't necessary. Certainly they weren't for this gem, which I used to learn fingerpicking during my senior year at Denison.

"Camera," Reckoning

I'll find myself humming this when I'm on a photo shoot. Not the thing most parents want to hear from their photographer, mainly because I can't always get the lyrics right. Who will be your face, indeed? And why are you locking your car doors like that?

"Daysleeper," Up

Oh man, this is killer. It's in 3/4 time, which always helps ... I was working as a temp at TargetCom in Chicago, doing tech support, and the phone system was set to play XRT when people were on hold – and we could pipe it through our speakerphones too. I remember walking down the hall of the Navy Pier offices when I first heard this song. It was late in the afternoon on a cool fall day ... I didn't know it was R.E.M. but I had a good hunch. It sounded amazing even in speakerphone. I'd actually got a sneak preview of the album, thanks to the Oxford American's Southern Sampler 1998, which had the better version of "Why Not Cry" as well as the great Hackberry Ramblers' "I'll Be There."

"Fall on Me," Life's Rich Pageant

I've interpreted this song as an anti-environmentalist song, which would be odd coming from Michael Stipe, but you tell me – "Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky, and tell the sky 'Don't Fall On Me'" ... I think it's a reaction to the anthropomorphism of the environment that was all the rage in the late 1980s. Don't anthropomorphize the environment, dude – it hates it when you do that!

"Falls to Climb," Up

Another one for the vasty underrated "Up," which was the first album after Bill Berry left the group. R.E.M. has a good knack for ending its albums powerfully. It's a martyr song, which makes it all the better for a melodramatic chorus.

"Imitation of Life," Reveal

A weird album – I'd broken my ankle two days before it came out; on that Tuesday, Amina watched me hobble down the street on crutches in Evanston to buy the disc before we ate lunch. It was a pretty weak effort (the disc, not the crutch work) but you can't deny the goosebumps when Buck's Rickenbacker kicks in toward the end. And the lyrics are among my favorite from the group ... I have no idea what they mean, but I understand every word. No one can see me cry ...

"It's a Free World Baby," In Time (Best of, 1988-2003)

This was a song I first heard as a bootleg when Adam Garratt and I shared the "Buena Vista" apartment in northern Chicago. It's a really bad bunch of lyrics, but that chorus! Oh man. "He hit his head!!!!" That's gold, I'm telling you ... I came across a bootleg of the song on T.U.B.E. and that inspired this post. I had no idea you could, you know, pay money for the finished version of the song. It was my white whale for years: "You know, back in they day, I heard the best R.E.M. chorus that's never been released ..." Oh, okay there grandpa. Tell me about how you had to rewind cassette tapes during the Clinton administration.

"It's the End of the World As We Know It," Document

Obligatory. You gotta put this on your list. And I had to include "Leonard Bernstein!" in the clip.

"Man on the Moon," Automatic for the People

In concert, this song just rocks. They played it during the "Monster" tour in '95 and it was a great singalong. I saw them in Pittsburgh, and I had a press pass. I took three rolls of b/w film and can't find the negatives. I kick myself every so often about that. I got a great shot of Mike Mills in his Elvis jumpsuit, pointing the headstock of his bass at me. I must find those negatives. I had an insanely attractive 17 year old girl from eastern Pennsylvania promise me that I'd send her copies of the photos; I did them up at the News-Register and printed out a huge newspaper-sized poster for her. She wrote back and wanted to be a "pen pal." I never replied because I was 23 and she was 17. What a fool I was.

"So. Central Rain," R.E.M. In The Attic

The. best. live. recording. ever. Did you never call? I waited for your call; these rivers of suggestion are driving me away. The oceans sang; the conversations dimmed ... Go buy yourself another dream, this choice wasn't mine. In my Denison years, when I would fantasize about playing a guitar in front of people, I did this song, and Tom Petty's live version of "The Waiting." I kicked ass.

"Until the Day Is Done," Accelerate

I can't agree with the political bent of the lyrics – hell, with most everything Michael Stipe stands for politically – but this chorus not only is eminently sing-along-to-able™ but it's also hauntingly beautiful. Very well produced by Jacknife Lee. If someone who voted the way I voted put this song on repeat on his iPod ... you know it's good.

"Wendell Gee," Fables of the Reconstruction

Named after the proprietor of Wendell Gee's Used Cars in Prendergast, Ga. (I love Wikipedia.) Peter Buck didn't like this song when it first was recorded, but he's come around to it. "Whistle while the wind blows," I'd say to Peter, were I ever to meet him. Given that I live in Nashville, who knows? It could happen.

"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Monster

During my two years at the Wheeling News-Register, I was let out of work early for two record releases: The Beatles' "Anthology: Vol I," and "Monster." I had just gotten my first new car, a 1995 Chevrolet S-10 pickup with an after-market stereo system (later stolen while the truck was parked on Montrose Avenue in Chicago) and the first song I really cranked was "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and I was worried that I'd blow out the speakers before I'd made the first payment.

In the immortal words of Tony Kornheiser: "That's it ... that's the list."

of course it was a wax museum. what else could it possibly be?

of course it was a wax museum. what else could it possibly be?, originally uploaded by pr9000.

The week we moved into our house in Franklin, I saw that Alton Brown -- he of "Good Eats," "Iron Chef America" and "Feasting on Asphalt" -- was making an appearance in Nashville in mid August. Amina surprised me with tickets to see him, as part of a package at the Opryland Resort and Convention Center, where the event was held. We found a dogsitter for Trotter -- who, though a fan of Alton's from way back, wasn't allowed to attend -- and headed off to see my hero.

He (Alton, not Trotter) was witty, engaging and slightly more acidic in person than on television. This should come as no great surprise, because most television shows tend to water down true personalities, so as to sell more commercials. Alton had some bite and told slightly off-color jokes about a little device that makes smoke and resembles nothing more than a fancy marijuana pipe designed by Sharper Image. He also mercilessly, yet tactfully, expressed his dislike of the efforts of Sandra Lee and Rachael Ray, his begrudging admiration of Emeril's sell-out to Martha Stewart ... and his funniest bit was an off-the-cuff riff about the lack of camaraderie among the various Food Network stars. Apparently, Paula Deen's private jet lands on a runway coated with butter.

Trust me, this last line was funnier in person.

It was a wonderful performance, leading me to admire Alton Brown even more than I already do (if such a thing were possible) and convincing myself that I really, really need that immersion circulator he used to cook ribs -- 20 hours at 140º F apparently does the trick. I wonder how that would handle a Boca burger ...

The hotel was a bit of a disappointment; I linked to the Trip Advisor comments above only to say that I agree with every complaint people made, and wonder how much travel experience those who give it five stars and say "best stay ever!!!!" have actually had. Any hotel that gets you to spend $20 on coffee, a bear claw and a newspaper might be a well run business, but isn't my idea of a top-notch place to stay the night. 

The grounds were impressive; the whole place felt like Vegas without the casinos or cigarette smoke, but it was designed (1) to keep you from leaving and thus (2) to keep you spending your money on its overpriced food and entertainment options. The customer service was abysmal -- if Amina had a blog, she'd tell the story of how they royally messed up her reservation -- and there's just something slightly creepy about watching palm trees blowing in the wind, until you realize that it's air conditioning, not wind, and besides the whole thing is indoors.

But it's hard to be pissy when you see things this pretty around every turn, and I must say that seeing Alton Brown in person was one of the better birthday presents I've ever received.

originally uploaded by pr9000.

having fun

having fun, originally uploaded by pr9000.

The move to Franklin has been our third since 2002 -- Chicago to St. Louis, St. Louis to Minneapolis, and now Minneapolis to Franklin -- but for some reason I don't recall much about arriving in Chanhassen. It could be because I was living there for a few months while Amina sold the house in St. Louis, and it could be that the horrors of unpacking were avoided because we packed ourselves and thus knew where everything was ... as in, it took us almost a month to find our phones here. And we're still missing a computer.

I wish I could remember more about the last move, because I've found some curious things about this one:

Recreating our life. We had a nice routine in Chanhassen, and our first instinct was to find the Tennessee analogues ... grocery store sushi, for example. We ate sushi at Byerly's probably once a week. We've looked for some down here, and so far it's all been pretty nasty. I did the same thing when we moved to Chanhassen, looking for a decent grocery store salad bar because I'd become addicted to the one at Schnuck's. (Yes, that's the real name of a grocery store chain in St. Louis.)

We also had to find a place for Trotter to swim. Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Tennessee is the Land of One Lake And Maybe a Bunch of Rivers and Streams, Which Are Inhabited by Snakes That May Or May Not Be Poisonous and The Only Way To Tell Is To Get Close Enough to Look at Their Pupils, Which I Won't Be Doing Thank You Very Much. 

A neighbor told us about Garrison Creek, along the Natchez Trace just outside Leiper's Fork. There are two nature trails, and the creek has some nice, deep swimming holes that do the job as a substitute lake. Not long after the photo above was taken, the double-ended ball was lost, the victim of a poorly aimed throw. It landed very close to the creek bank and was immediately sucked under some roots, never to be seen again. Every nasty, poisonous creature in my imagination lives under there, and I wasn't about to risk any body part to save a toy, no matter the amount of service we'd gotten from it in the past ...

hot biscuits & country ham

hot biscuits & country ham, originally uploaded by pr9000.

Well, we made it to Nashville. We also made it to the Loveless Cafe, as you can see above ... the biscuits and ham are really good. In fact, everything down here tastes better than any food I've ever eaten. And it's not that we're eating all sorts of new food -- the produce is insane. The tomatoes? Perfect. You've never eaten such good peaches either. It's as if God himself were tending to the Back 40 and bringing everything to His Farmers' Market on Saturday mornings.

Though it might be Scratch himself who's doing the gardening, because the heat is more akin to Hades than, say, Chanhassen. It's the same kind of weather we had in St. Louis, so I can't say that I'm surprised, but it will take some getting used to all over again. I'd rather have this than -20º F in January, but I wonder if the locals take vacations in Canada in July, because everyone went south for the winters back in Minnesota.

People are terribly friendly, and I've found myself practicing "sir" and "ma'am" as punctuation for almost every sentence. Our neighbors are sweet and open. We've already found ourselves invited onto their porches for evening drinks, which seems to be the thing to do in this neighborhood. Also, people drive golf carts. Lots of people drive golf carts. It's a lot like living in a world inhabited only by Priuses -- they're dead silent until they're right on your butt. 

On the whole, I'd say Nashville is all good so far.