Pretty Persuasion

Has anyone else noticed Micahel's obsession with sleeves? "Wear that on your sleeve" - Bad Day, "There's nothing up your sleeve" - Man On Moon, "nothing up my sleeve" - Great Beyond, "Fastened on your sleeve" - All The Way To Reno, "put that on your sleeve" - Pretty Persuasion, "eleven gallows on your sleeve" - Perfect Circle... "smiled on my sleeve" - Pussy Willow... does he not get jumpers for Christmas or what?!

It's funny, but I always thought the song was about Michael Stipe as a young man dealing with his bisexuality.

Hi folks,

I was very surprised to find a debate on sexuality according to this song. However, there are some hints that seem to be reasonable but still there is one passage that doesn't fit in my opinion :

"It's what I want, hurry and buy All has been tried, follow reason and buy Cannot shuffle in this heat, it's all wrong Try to put that on your sleeve it's all wrong, it's all wrong"

My interpretation for this part is the following : Since the first two lines are about "buy" I would say that he alludes to the current society. Corporations use any possibility to persuade us to buy their products. They do it in the newspapers, on boxes, in the cinema, on TV, in the internet, ... - everywhere ! Michael is one who's not feeling good in this society ("Cannot shuffle in this heat") and who doesn't want PRETTY PERSUASIONS. He thinks that big companies try to confuse people ("pure confusion") making them believe that they need all the useless products although they don't (also see the song "Begin the Begin" - it is similar). The phrase "wear that on your sleeve" is used in a lot of his songs and seems to be an advise to oppose excessive consumption (and maybe even the whole society as one) openly. One can wear a sign of a party or organization on one's sleeve. This is like "wearing" the own political statements. In other words : show your opposition to the rest of the world because "silence means approval" (from the song "Begin the Begin").

I hope that this idea can make the discussion more interesting.

I never thought about it until my friend mentioned it the other day, but it seems to be about someone who is sexually confused. Or has walked into a drag show.

These lyrics aren't right. Also the song suffers from the same fate other REM songs did in the early days. They used any words that fit or sounded good at the time. Pitched mouth noises were what they were considered although songs do have meanings. I am not so sure about this one. Although I have to agree that a person with 'pretty persuasion' does hint at someone having a feminine sexuality. Whether it's bisexuality or homosexuality is unclear. And I believe it's "God dam your confusion"

I think stickchair is dead on. Its about Stipe dealing with his bisexuality. "Try to put/wear that on your sleeve, it's all wrong" deals with Stipe's concerns with being outward with his homosexuality. In GA, wearing your homosexuality in most cases would be viewed as being wrong which is what Stipe appears to be trying to convey. Later in his career, he definitely started to wearing it on his sleeve, but at this point he was a more reserved.

I think this song is either about sexuality "He's got a pretty persuasion She's got pretty persuasion God damn, pure confusion She's got pretty persuasion"

Or about politics and being drawn to extremist groups And I put that in this heat, it's all wrong Try to wear that on my sleeve it's all wrong, all wrong

Or about companies and advertisment!

Although I do see what you all are saying now, I must be the only one who never thought this was a song about sexual confusion. Rather, I always interpreted it (prior to reading the comments here) to be about a guy who is yearning for a girl who is in a relationship which he feels is all wrong. To me, when he says that "he/she's got a pretty persuasion" he is acknowleding that they are an attractive couple, likely more attractive than he is, but that despite that reasoning, the guy just doesn't look right on her arm/sleeve, and despite his better judgement, he'd like to 'hurry and buy' her and put her on his arm instead, even though he knows he will face heat for it.

I think it\'s "Goddamn your confusion." He muddles hell out of these lyrics, i can\'t contest any of the rest, but this interpretation is as good as any.

I think it's about attending an outdoor market where all the peddlers are shouting to have you buy from them.