Blue

facscinating convergence of country feedback and ebow...everything about this track is perfect...one thing's for true - rem know how to close out an album...ranks with find the river and untitled as my favorite curtain-closers...even reminds me of the chorus and the ring just a smidgen...would love to hear what michael would ever come up with on a solo record if he ever had to get it out of his system the way thom yorke did...patti smith as cosmic faery godmother??

This song blue me away when I first heard it (: See what I did there?

Anyway, this is truly an amazing song. It will take years to comprehend all of Michael's words.

The first time I heard this song, I thought "wow". I'll take a stab at what Michael Stipe is singing about.

In the first verse, I get the feeling that the fun has gone out of his life, the circus has left town but the pegs/stakes are still in the ground, the broken rope could refer to a safety net and the brilliant pun on "ties that bind". In the second verse, he's been out drinking, maybe to forget? And its resulted in his mind being free and uninhibited with language but he knows his own limits. He seems to live in the moment and I love the line about not marking his time with any conveniences. In the third verse, he seems to confirm this living in the moment and being positive about it with the beautiful, brilliant child-like rhyming couplet of fold/gold, very powerful in its depth and meaning. in the fourth verse, the metals seem to indicate platinum = wedding/relationship commitment, brass = money, zinc = medicine and by letting them pass, he accepts them all. In the fifth verse, he indicates his wedding. From his apology, maybe he didn't turn up? Maybe there was an accident or an argument which resulted in tragedy? But then he laughs about it, maybe he wanted it to happen like that? In the sixth verse, he reminisces about who I assume he was (about to get) married to. The wind and water turbulence words seem to indicate it was a stormy relationship and maybe he's sad it's either over or that he couldn't be a part of that relationship any more? In the next section, "Patti Lee" is obviously Patti Smith who sings on this (and other REM) song\s. And again his introspection indicates that he is happy even though he has "lost" a great love of his. But with his "I want me, I want it all", he believes he can both be better and do better, ending with the super positive "this is my time and I am thrilled to be alive", closing with the profound "I understand" before finally, Patti Smith sings about being the fairy godmother with Cinderella references to take him on his journey to both being and doing better.

In summary, although it seems at first glance to be a sad, depressing song it's actually very spiritual and uplifting. Once again proving how much of a genius and wordsmith Michael Stipe is. Not many bands could pull something like this off and I'm happy it was REM who have delivered another album of both incredible quality and sublime brilliance.

Awesome song, when i saw that the song would be feat Patti smith, i think would be great, remembered E-bow the letter.

best song on the album and probably on any other album this year, i don't care if it sounds too much like other REM songs...

The last R.E.M. song... wow.

Breathtaking. Have you noticed that if you allign the lyrics to the middle of the page, they form a heart-rate line? It may be a coincidence, but it IS perfect.

It's their last song...and the title is apt. It's unlikely I will listen to this song very often, because it simply makes me sad that we won't be hearing any more albums from this group (for now at least...I hope in the future they will feel the compulsion to come back) It paints all of today's music just a bit bluer.

If ya care, I just listened to the Casey Spooner/Alan Lava remix of 'Blue' and Patti's last line is actually 'Into the new' as opposed to 'Into me', which certainly adds something to the song as JMS's sign-off.

What happened to the lyrics? They look like they're from a completely different song.