Ignoreland

I love this song. It's such an underrated track. Whenever I'm pissed, I throw on this CD and sing all the words at the top of my lungs... because really... can't all of our problems be blamed on the goverment, in the end? :3

don't overreach on this one people: this is as obvious an anti-military, anti-republican, anti-hater song if there ever was one. And when you sing it, shout it. Yell it. Scream it. This song, more so than just about any other song in the REM catalogue, (perhaps Circus Envy) is as angry and as defiant as ANY protest song ever written by ANY band. Not about Reagan/Republicanism/GOP? Are you kidding me? THAT"S WHAT IT IS EXACTLY ABOUT!

I succinctly remember, as if it were yesterday, driving in my car to the local polling station the night of the 1992 pUS presidential election (Bush I, Clinton and Perot.) At the time I was a bit of a fence sitter and hadn't yet really decided who I was going to vote for. And I swear, as I drove in my car, listening to Automatic For the People and this song, I knew exactly which candidate I would NOT be voting for that evening. Yeah! Yeah! yeah! Yeah! ignoreland!

Dredging up this old string. What's old is new again. I'm resentful just the same. THE PERSON WHO TALKED ABOUT STUPID PEOPLE VOTING NAILED IT! I feel better now, having screamed.

It's about how people mindlessly follow propoganda in the media, and how the Republicans manipulated the media so people would all like Ronald Reagan.

True, it's an anti-Republican song. Musically, it almost sounds like something off Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain. Also, I may note that this album (Automatic for the People) was released on October 6, 1992, before the presidential election; Stipe didn't know that Bush would lose a month later.

If they weren't there we would have created them. Maybe, it's true, but I'm resentful all the same. Someone's got to take the blame. I know that this is vitriol. No solution, spleen-venting, But I feel better having screamed. Don't you?

Doesn't that all just sum it up?

Once again, still relevant today. The amazing part is that we keep letting the stupid people in America vote, and as long as we do that, we're going to keep seeing this crap happen again and again. Of course, I suppose one could argue that if we didn't, it wouldn't be a democracy. Ah well...

Can we at least do an intelligence test for our elected officials? Prevent them from running? Or make Clinton king?

This song is a big "fuck you" to propaganda and media trying to create revolutions. I like it a lot.

I never knew the lyrics to this until I read it. He says everything so quickly. Now I always listen for the line with "presidential spoon." I don't know why but there is something about that line that stands out to me.

I'm surprised. This is NOT an anti-republican song. "the undermining social democratic slide into abysmal..." is a clear reference to trotskyist ideology (many trotskyists/ex trotskyists supported reagan in the neoconservative movement).

This song is about neoconservatism taking a hold of the USA. "1992 too" shows that they also regard clinton as a neoconservative, perhaps accurately.

Honestly, this song may not have as much importance to me as it does others, because I'm a child of the 90's...however, I was actually under the impression that atleast part of the song was referring to the hostage crisis in Tehran in 1979. But again, I could be missing the whole meaning of the song due to my age and not having experienced that political climate first hand. Either way, I still love the song. ^^