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West Of The Fields Lyrics
Long gone, intuition to assume are gone when we try.
Dream of a living jungle in my way back home when we die.
West of the fields. West of the fields. West of the fields. West of the fields.
Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. West of the fields.
Dreams of Elysian, to assume are gone when we try
Tell now what is dreaming
When we try to listen with your eyes oversimplify
The animals, how strange. Try, try to stick it in.
The animals, how strange. Try, try to stick it in.
Dreams of Elysian, to assume are gone when we try
Tell now what is dreaming when we try.
Listen through your eyes when we die.
West of the fields. West of the fields. West of the fields. West of the fields.
Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. West of the fields.
Dream of a living jungle in my way back home when we die.
Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. West of the fields.
Tell now what is dreaming
When we try to listen with your eyes oversimplify
The animals, how strange. Try, try to stick it in.
Tell now what is dreaming when we try.
Listen through your eyes when we die.
Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. Long gone. West of the fields.
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer
Bill Berry, Neill Bogan, Peter Buck, Michae Mills, Michael Stipe
Submitted by
xpankfrisst On Jun 14, 2002
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just a really etheral song referencing greek mythology, the elysian fields was the paradise attained in the afterlife and it was to the west...so, they're going west of the fields...i suppose the song doesn't hav a meaning aside from stating that, u can decide urself...it's a song about a very dark adventure, and one of the greatest closing tracks of all time!
@ZinbobDan So true - and a phenomenal close to a perfect album
@ZinbobDan So true - and a phenomenal close to a perfect album
I never thought of this song as ethereal; to me it has a vigorous driving rhythm matched (on Murmur) only by "Moral Kiosk".
The Elysian Fields thing is dead on (no pun intended). The way Michael's voice echoes when he sings, "When we die..." just before the last chorus... obviously beyond words, you have to hear it.
I'm particularly intrigued by the phrases "What is dreaming" and "listen with your eyes".
The former is reminiscent of Chuang-Tze's epigram about--on waking--wondering whether he's a man who just dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly now dreaming he's a man.
Could it be we're already in the afterlife? (getting into Philip K. Dick territory here)
"listen with your eyes" evokes synaesthesia -- though I'd think tripping would have been too intense for Michael in those days; i remember seeing the band play for an audience of kids on Nickelodeon; between songs Peter Buck did nearly all the talking. Stipe was so introverted he literally went fetal.
Guided By Voices were imitative of R.E.M. in their earliest days (from Forever Since Breakfast through Sandbox; they didn't start finding their own style until Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia).
My favorite GbV song is "Dusted", which has the line, "All the sadness it implies I've tasted with my own two eyes." Bob Pollard may have been paying homage to his heroes, or perhaps it was a bit of (harmless) subconscious plagiarism.
My take is that the characters are on their way to their Heaven. It's a dreamlike state one is in when this occurs. The bit about "When we try to listen with your eyes oversimplify" I interpret as that heaven isn't just a visual sensation. We shouldn't listen with our eyes and interpret what is going on by what we see. Just because you are looking at heaven approaching doesn't mean you understand what's happening there. Heaven is so special that anything could be possible.
The weird words to me are: "Try, try to stick it in"
@Kaflerkta I like your decoding of an ambiguous lyric. The sense 'mix-up' could also be Stipe's own experience of synaesthesia, which is fascinating in itself
@Kaflerkta I like your decoding of an ambiguous lyric. The sense 'mix-up' could also be Stipe's own experience of synaesthesia, which is fascinating in itself
I saw R.E.M. at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans last night (amazing for sure) and Michael revealed a tip about this song that is interesting when it comes to the interpretation. He said it was a song Peter wrote about a time when Michael was about 20 and went and lived on the streets of New Orleans for a week. Michael said it was pretty rough and some stuff happened that wouldn't be good to repeat from the stage. Elysian Fields is a pretty long street and it runs through a rough part of town. I'm not sure about when Michael was there, but now a lot of homeless gather there (especially at the end bordering the river) and drug use is common. They said the allusion to the fields meant "Elysian Fields Avenue." The French Quarter is one area west of Elysian Fields Avenue, so he could have been there.
In 2007 I read an interview with Michael Stipe. They'd just dusted off this song and started playing it again for the first time in years - it'd been so long that he said he had to go online and look up the lyrics. I'm paraphrasing but he said: "Apparently, one of the lyrics is 'The animals, how strange/Try, try to stick it in.' I'm positive that at no point in my drug-ravaged early 20s did I ever write that line!"
@blood is thin
@blood is thin
Yes. Agreed. I saw it too and knew EXACTLY that he was referring to this song.
Yes. Agreed. I saw it too and knew EXACTLY that he was referring to this song.
also seen this rendered as:
The animals have strayed Try this trick [at hand]
I think that is definitely more likely than "try to stick it in".
I think that is definitely more likely than "try to stick it in".
He definitely makes a "str.." sound. On the first go around. It sounds like "try to sleep in...." on the second go around. The sleep reference jives well with the rest of the song. I have been trying to figure this part out all morning.
He definitely makes a "str.." sound. On the first go around. It sounds like "try to sleep in...." on the second go around. The sleep reference jives well with the rest of the song. I have been trying to figure this part out all morning.
"Streetcar Named Desire" takes place on Elysian Fields Avenue. It seems to me that the phrases like "dreaming" and "living jungle" fit nicely into that meaning.
the lyrics: "the animals..." are not right per Michael Stipe (see the video on Youtube)
I think they are:
The outer walls have strained. Try, trust you'll get in The outer walls have strained. Try, trust you'll get in
but I also like some of the other suggestions - funny that these were not written down at the time and we are all left to guess...
I think "..the animals" part is correct. I believe Stipe was referring to the "Try to stick it in" part in the video.
I think "..the animals" part is correct. I believe Stipe was referring to the "Try to stick it in" part in the video.
In the bridge part he sings "try this trick at hand", not "try to stick it in"....
After listening many, many times I think it is:
The animals how strange Try this trick and change The animals how strange Try the trick and....