Just A Touch

Oh god, I fall of my chair every single time I hear that little "There's someone in our dreams" section. It's the perfect use of self-quotation... I mean right around this point in the album you start to think "gee, these guys sure have changed since their Murmur days" and suddenly, out of nowhere, they quote the melody from Radio Free Europe. Ahh, I digress. I just love that part. Pretty cool song, too.

I remember seeing REM in the late 80's in New Haven, CT. He told a story about seeing an Elvis impersonator they night Elvis died. He had literally crumpled to the floor on stage (ie the impersonator in this story.) The name of the impersonators show was Just a Touch.

The "I'm so young" line is a direct reference to Patti Smith's 1976 version of "My Generation".

This is a song about the reactions people had upon hearing about the sudden death of the original King, Elvis Presley, and the immediate subsequent reactions of learning about it. with that context in mind, go back and read the lyrics and it all makes perfect sense. And BTW - Stipe was a big fan of Elvis as a kid.

He meaning 'Michael Stipe"

Well, it could well be about Elvis, but signs point to the fact this was the first song R.E.M. ever wrote. It was performed in 1980 at the band's first gig but not recorded till several albums later. The 'i'm so god damn young' and 'how long can this last' probably indicate they didn't take themselves too seriously at this point.

The chorus featuring the names is the sort of typical rockabilly/new wave type thing that was popular back then and is similar to such things as 52 Girls by The B-52's.

So he doesn't quote the melody from Radio Free Europe- this is the original source of it.

With all that said, i love this song. It is one of a few examples where R.E.M.'s punk influences are heard.

I might add that R.E.M. are well known for rerecording things that they've rewritten, like Ages Of You's early version Burning Down and ITEOTWAWKI's early version Bad Day. It's as alternative and in love with the music as you can get.

Well of course you can throw a jar of venomous funnel Web spiders into a studio audience as long as Patti Smith says no. But then, all the 'black' references here make me think: Really.......