Come on aboard, I promise you you won't hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well.
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon,
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs,
a magic kingdom, open-armed
Greet us hello, bravo, name in lights
Passing on the word to fellow passengers and players, passing in,
Until you're tired looking at all the flags
And all the banners waving
This is some parade, yesiree Bob.
Could we have known?
Yesiree Bob, could we have known?
Look at all the flags and all the banners waving.
Open up our arms, a magic kingdom, open-armed and greet us all
Come on aboard I promise you you won't hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs and wave our flags.
A magic kingdom, greet us all hello, greet us hello, greet us hello.
We treat him well, we feed him well.
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon,
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs,
a magic kingdom, open-armed
Passing on the word to fellow passengers and players, passing in,
Until you're tired looking at all the flags
And all the banners waving
This is some parade, yesiree Bob.
Could we have known?
Yesiree Bob, could we have known?
Open up our arms, a magic kingdom, open-armed and greet us all
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs and wave our flags.
A magic kingdom, greet us all hello, greet us hello, greet us hello.
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one of my fave REM as well-i think it lightly pokes fun at people who jump on the bandwagon of what is popular.I assume the line "the weather may forget us" is about being a fairweather fan.
It sounds to me like this bandwagon is an idealist lie they tell, (almost as a joke about their predicament) to recruit other musicians as there's only them on this ride and they'd desperately love some company. All they do is go on horse and cart (Probably a reference to their terrible transport) from one tiny red-neck flag waving town to the next. Or maybe Las Vegas or somewhere as disinterested. Yes fair-weather friend I think he means when he says about the weather forgetting us. As they are the true to the cause and you will be excepted (More from desperation and loneliness but need like minded souls. He's trying to sell it by appealing to other musicians sense of community and friendship being the pay-off here. Which is a total laugh. This is just before R.E.M. got to the next level remember and had been on the same slow incline for quite a while. It's funny. I've done my time in bands and as my mum used to say "Misery loves company"
Probably a song about getting drunk and having fun with your friends in any type of surrounding
Probably my favorite R.E.M. song due to the bizarre chord progression; It's a lot of fun to play on a guitar...
This song was released on "Dead Letter Office" a few months before "Document" came out and propelled R.E.M. to stardom. I've always felt that this song referred to the growing popularity of the band and the critics and fans jumping on the R.E.M. bandwagon after "Life's Rich Pageant". Kind of ironic that they achieved superstar status over the period of their next 3 albums.
one of my fave REM as well-i think it lightly pokes fun at people who jump on the bandwagon of what is popular.I assume the line "the weather may forget us" is about being a fairweather fan.
I thought this song was a slam on Disney World. Magic Kingdom, flags and banners waving, the horses pulling trolleys down Main Street.