The return of the Great American Rock-n-Roll Band! Hyperbole aside, I can't shake the feeling that song is about overcoming religious guilt. I went to a lot of religious summer camps when I was a kid and there would invariably be lots of kids having religious epiphanies about Jesus and "getting saved". (He's alive, he's alive!) This song seems to celebrate those of us who survived that fundamentlist trap. "Now there’s nothing dark and there’s nothing weird.Don’t be afraid." Be yourself.
I also think that you nailed it, but I will add one more possible twist on the message.
I also think that you nailed it, but I will add one more possible twist on the message.
I can't speak for all of North America, but up here in Canada, a huge number of summer camps are run by churches, and I would suspect that Stipe, growing up in Georgia in the 60's and 70's would have been exposed to some very conservative (read, not very tolerant!) interpretations of scripture etc at these overnight or week-long camps.
I can't speak for all of North America, but up here in Canada, a huge number of summer camps are run by churches, and I would suspect that Stipe, growing up in Georgia in the 60's and 70's would have been exposed to some very conservative (read, not very tolerant!) interpretations of scripture etc at these overnight or week-long camps.
Consequently, I also believe that the song is about Stipe discovering that his sexuality does not fit with this conservative view...how his insecurities surround that issue....and it reveals the spiritual and sexual experimentation that occured there as he rid himself of those binding insecurities.
"And you realized your fantasies are
Dressed up in travesties
Enjoy yourself with no regrets"
It may have been at one of these camps that Stipe litterally or metaphorically lost his virginity...
And it could have been with someone more 'experienced' or at least comfortable with their sexuality???
"If you call out safe then I'll stop right away"
"Now there's nothing dark and there's nothing weird
Don't be afraid I'll hold you clear"
And - in a real epiphany - Stipe also discovered that his embarrassing secret desires (homesexual ones?) were worth fanticizing about.
"Inexperience sweet delirious"
So, while many at the camp were experimenting with/discovering their spiritual self, oblivious or ignoring the strong physical forces within them, Stipe was dealing with more pressing insecurities surrounding sexuality???
The return of the Great American Rock-n-Roll Band! Hyperbole aside, I can't shake the feeling that song is about overcoming religious guilt. I went to a lot of religious summer camps when I was a kid and there would invariably be lots of kids having religious epiphanies about Jesus and "getting saved". (He's alive, he's alive!) This song seems to celebrate those of us who survived that fundamentlist trap. "Now there’s nothing dark and there’s nothing weird.Don’t be afraid." Be yourself.
I also think that you nailed it, but I will add one more possible twist on the message.
I also think that you nailed it, but I will add one more possible twist on the message.
I can't speak for all of North America, but up here in Canada, a huge number of summer camps are run by churches, and I would suspect that Stipe, growing up in Georgia in the 60's and 70's would have been exposed to some very conservative (read, not very tolerant!) interpretations of scripture etc at these overnight or week-long camps.
I can't speak for all of North America, but up here in Canada, a huge number of summer camps are run by churches, and I would suspect that Stipe, growing up in Georgia in the 60's and 70's would have been exposed to some very conservative (read, not very tolerant!) interpretations of scripture etc at these overnight or week-long camps.
Consequently, I also believe that the song is about Stipe discovering that his sexuality does not fit with this conservative view...how his insecurities surround that issue....and it reveals the spiritual and sexual experimentation that occured there as he rid himself of those binding insecurities.
"And you realized your fantasies are Dressed up in travesties Enjoy yourself with no regrets"
It may have been at one of these camps that Stipe litterally or metaphorically lost his virginity...
And it could have been with someone more 'experienced' or at least comfortable with their sexuality???
"If you call out safe then I'll stop right away"
"Now there's nothing dark and there's nothing weird Don't be afraid I'll hold you clear"
And - in a real epiphany - Stipe also discovered that his embarrassing secret desires (homesexual ones?) were worth fanticizing about.
"Inexperience sweet delirious"
So, while many at the camp were experimenting with/discovering their spiritual self, oblivious or ignoring the strong physical forces within them, Stipe was dealing with more pressing insecurities surrounding sexuality???
Just a hypothesis or two.... :-)