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Radio Free Europe Lyrics
Decide yourself if radio's gonna stay
Reason, it could polish up the gray
Put that, put that, put that up your wall
That this isn't country at all
Radio station, beside yourself
Keep me out of country and the word
Deal the porch is leading us absurd
Push that, push that, push that to the hull
That this isn't nothing at all
Straight off the boat
Where to go?
Calling all in transmit
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio
Beside defying media too fast
Instead of pushin' palaces to fall
Put that, put that, put that before all
That this isn't fortunate at all
Radio station, beside yourself
Calling all in transmit
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio
Decide yourself
Calling on a boat
Media's too fast
Keep me out of country and the word
Disappointers into us, absurd
Straight off the boat
Where to go?
Calling all in transmit
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Calling all in transmit
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Reason, it could polish up the gray
Put that, put that, put that up your wall
That this isn't country at all
Deal the porch is leading us absurd
Push that, push that, push that to the hull
That this isn't nothing at all
Where to go?
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio
Instead of pushin' palaces to fall
Put that, put that, put that before all
That this isn't fortunate at all
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio
Calling on a boat
Media's too fast
Disappointers into us, absurd
Where to go?
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Calling all in transmit
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer
Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe
Duration
4:05
Submitted by
jhines0042 On Dec 14, 2001
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
the catchy little song that made them. its about all the propaganda on the radio during during the cold war.
Radio Free Europe does indeed broadcast news to countries that lack a free press, or have an undeveloped press.
One of its original purposes was to provide news and an outlet for refugees, and knowing this makes this song make more sense.
"Calling all in transit" - "Straight off the boat, where to go?" "keep me out of country"
Much of it sounds like broken English, like something Babelfish might spit out...or something a refugee with poor English might say.
"Instead of pushing palaces to fall" - Radio Free Europe was created to encourage the people in these countries to rise up and take over their government in order to secure their freedom. It is the 'defying media', and it defies the media of the countries it is broadcast to.
The song wasn't meant to have a clear meaning, and it's very open-ended, but it is clearly talking about the actual Radio Free Europe.
Agreed. Unlike a number of creative posts here, yours is spot on. Although full of ambiguous lines (some extremely hard to decipher, if not simply gibberish), the song is clearly about RFE propaganda radio during the cold war.
Agreed. Unlike a number of creative posts here, yours is spot on. Although full of ambiguous lines (some extremely hard to decipher, if not simply gibberish), the song is clearly about RFE propaganda radio during the cold war.
@WingedWolf
@WingedWolf
"Radio Free Europe does indeed broadcast news to countries that lack a free press, or have an undeveloped press... One of its original purposes was to provide news and an outlet for refugees"
"Radio Free Europe does indeed broadcast news to countries that lack a free press, or have an undeveloped press... One of its original purposes was to provide news and an outlet for refugees"
If this isn't flat-out wrong, it's misleading. Radio Free Europe was a company funded by the US Government to spread anti-communist propaganda to Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
If this isn't flat-out wrong, it's misleading. Radio Free Europe was a company funded by the US Government to spread anti-communist propaganda to Eastern Europe during the Cold War.
leige, it's not misleading at all. I pointed out quite clearly that the station encouraged people to rise up and take over their government to secure their freedom. The 'communism' of the Soviet Union wasn't communism at all, but Totalitarian Socialism with the explicit goal of becoming communist 'eventually.'
leige, it's not misleading at all. I pointed out quite clearly that the station encouraged people to rise up and take over their government to secure their freedom. The 'communism' of the Soviet Union wasn't communism at all, but Totalitarian Socialism with the explicit goal of becoming communist 'eventually.'
There would have been no war, cold or otherwise, if they were REAL communists. Not that anyone in politics has ever made the distinction, of course.
There would have been no war, cold or otherwise, if they were REAL communists. Not that anyone in politics has ever made the distinction, of course.
But Radio Free Europe did all of the things I stated. It was not ONLY anti-Communist propaganda.
But Radio Free Europe did all of the things I stated. It was not ONLY anti-Communist propaganda.
I suppose we shouldn't refer to it...
I suppose we shouldn't refer to it in past-tense.
Yes, it is funded by the US Government.
And it still exists. :) https://www.rferl.org/
@WingedWolf
@WingedWolf
I’m not the USSR’s #1 superfan or anything, but these are some absurd liberal takes. The gist of your original comment was correct, but leigel3 absolutely has a valid point about the political spin being misleading.
I’m not the USSR’s #1 superfan or anything, but these are some absurd liberal takes. The gist of your original comment was correct, but leigel3 absolutely has a valid point about the political spin being misleading.
>The 'communism' of the Soviet Union wasn't communism at all, but Totalitarian Socialism
>The 'communism' of the Soviet Union wasn't communism at all, but Totalitarian Socialism
This is a typical “No True Scotsman” type, low-effort analysis of what the USSR had going on and/or what Marxism-Leninism represents. There is not now, nor has there ever been, one single strain of socialism/communism. Even before the USSR came about, there were many competing schools of thought....
This is a typical “No True Scotsman” type, low-effort analysis of what the USSR had going on and/or what Marxism-Leninism represents. There is not now, nor has there ever been, one single strain of socialism/communism. Even before the USSR came about, there were many competing schools of thought. One could easily argue that there is a reason why just about every ostensibly ‘communist’ nation that has existed embraced some derivative of ML ideology… the competing ideologies don’t seem to have led to viable revolutions. Take Trotskyists for example, who have never prevailed anywhere on Earth. Does that mean ML is intrinsically the correct school of thought? No, but it’s certainly worth taking into consideration.
Also, whether the USSR was truly a totalitarian state at various periods in its existence (its history was far from static) is a hotly debated and controversial issue among scholars who study it. This idea gets thrown around as a matter of fact when it’s far from a settled issue. The ubiquity of propaganda on both sides of the Iron Curtain makes it difficult for the average person to access information that can safely be considered ‘objective’.
> with the explicit goal of becoming communist 'eventually.'
I mean… what is the alternative? Do you really think it’s possible to flip a switch and magically have a stateless and classless society, especially starting from what they had to work with? It’s further complicated by the fact that most of the rest of the world was increasingly capitalist and had a vested interest in their project not working. Was it a utopia? No, but the USSR was a more equitable society than what came before in Russia’s history.
> There would have been no war, cold or otherwise, if they were REAL communists.
This is by far the most asinine thing you wrote. You make it sound as if the Cold War was a unilateral effort instigated by the Soviets. You are very naïve if you think that if only communists were ‘nice’ enough the western imperialists would have turned a blind eye and allowed them to exist peacefully. Maybe do some reading on all the different instances where countries tried to convert to socialism only for the US to sabotage them… the history of Latin America is a good place to start. The fact is, without a strong military deterrent there is no way for a socialist/communist society to get off the ground, sorry.
@BitterLake
@BitterLake
Sorry, I do not care if you disagree with my characterization of the USSR's political position. Your fallback on ad hominem speaks to the fact that you don't have a rational argument to make on it anyhow. It does not further your argument - only makes you look over-emotional and 'mean.
Sorry, I do not care if you disagree with my characterization of the USSR's political position. Your fallback on ad hominem speaks to the fact that you don't have a rational argument to make on it anyhow. It does not further your argument - only makes you look over-emotional and 'mean.
@WingedWolf What, when did I do an ad hominem? I never called you any names or attacked your character in any way. And how was it not 'rational'? I asked how would a society emerge where communism would immediately happen when they're coming from an impoverished, largely agrarian society that had been living under unbelievably tyrannical conditions before their revolution? That's an incredibly reasonable question. And I cited the long history of American imperialism quashing any attempt at self-determination for sovereign nations who wanted to pursue a socialist system for their people. I mean this in the most polite way...
@WingedWolf What, when did I do an ad hominem? I never called you any names or attacked your character in any way. And how was it not 'rational'? I asked how would a society emerge where communism would immediately happen when they're coming from an impoverished, largely agrarian society that had been living under unbelievably tyrannical conditions before their revolution? That's an incredibly reasonable question. And I cited the long history of American imperialism quashing any attempt at self-determination for sovereign nations who wanted to pursue a socialist system for their people. I mean this in the most polite way possible, but read about the history of American intervention in 20th Century Latin American and ask yourself if it's reasonable for a socialist/communist state to not be militarized. Your movement will be destroyed by external imperialists and internal reactionaries before it even gets off the ground, that's just common sense.
I don't think it's about the propaganda on the radio during the cold war, but rather the exclusion of anything remotely related to Western culture by the communist Eastern governments - this included radio stations. The line "straight off the boat, where to go?" seems to allude to immigrants or defects who have left those countries and experience free culture for the first time. It should also be noted that Michael Stipe's lyrics at this point in R.E.M.'s evolution were incredibly murky and cryptic, and were meant to set the atmosphere, rather than tell a direct story, or give meaning. Although, it can be said that this song has some sort of significant meaning.
HERE'S A BIT MORE HISTORY OF RFE: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a radio and communications organization which is funded by the United States Congress. The organization exists in Europe and the Middle East. It broadcasts more than 1,000 hours per week, in 28 languages, via shortwave, AM, FM and the Internet. RFE/RL's official mission statement is: "To promote democratic values and institutions by disseminating factual information and ideas."
The National Committee for a Free Europe was founded in June 1949 in New York. RFE was the broadcasting arm of this organization. The headquarters was established in Munich and it transmitted its first short-wave program on July 4, 1950, to Czechoslovakia. The organization received its funds from the Congress of the United States and until 1971 they were passed to RFE through the CIA. The broadcasts were part of a general CIA psychological warfare campaign directed behind the Iron Curtain. The CIA created general guidelines and had daily input into the handling of news items. The CIA funding of RFE was not publicly acknowledged until 1971 at which point the organization was rechartered in Delaware as a non-profit-making corporation, oversight was moved to the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB), and the budget was moved to open appropriations.
In 1975, RFE was merged with a very similar Congress funded anti-communist organization called Radio Liberty (RL, founded in 1951 by the American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia) and the group name was officially changed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Soviet authorities regularly attempted to jam RFE/RL broadcasts and these efforts did not end until 1988. From 1985 until 1993 the organization also ran Radio Free Afghanistan. The collapse of the Soviet Union reduced the budget for RFE/RL: its headquarters were moved to Prague in 1995 and European operations were curtailed (save those of the South Slavic Department). However operations were expanded elsewhere: in 1998 Radio Free Iraq and a Persian service, were started; in 1999 a service was started in Kosovo; and in 2002 Radio Free Afghanistan was restarted and the Persian Service was incorporated into Radio Farda. In addition, in 1994 the mission of the International Broadcasting Bureau was transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF PROPOGANDA TO ME.
Following on ratanx's point...Michael Stipe has often used striking phrases in his lyrics (or as the titles of songs) that have little connection to the meaning of the song in which they appear. What's the Frequency Kenneth, for example. It's an interesting technique, which is often effective, but one could argue that it's an attempt to add the impression of gravitas to a song that's not really "about" anything, but I don't think Stipe is that cynical.
I can remember Stipe, in an interview with either CREEM or Rolling Stone, at the time, saying that he remembered an old TV Public Service Announcement on which a radio announcer is introducing a song "on Broadway" in an eastern European tongue, and he wondered why anyone in that part of the world would care about anything on Broadway. Since i, too, remembered that TV spot, plugging Radio Free Europe, i remember that. He also commented something like it being a "friendly" way to spread Imperialism. i had a completely different take on the lyrics at the time. One person told me that he had heard the song was about getting nukes ("radio_-activity) out of Europe. Since the lyrics were as murky as they were, i guessed this was possible.
Actually, that 1971 Radio Free Europe Public Service Announcement (PSA) to which you refer incorporated The Drifters' recording of "On Broadway," as being played by a youngish Hungarian disc jockey on RFE to appeal to younger listeners behind "The Iron Curtain."
Actually, that 1971 Radio Free Europe Public Service Announcement (PSA) to which you refer incorporated The Drifters' recording of "On Broadway," as being played by a youngish Hungarian disc jockey on RFE to appeal to younger listeners behind "The Iron Curtain."
That song, which featured legendary producer Phil Spector on the lead guitar solo, was co-written by the husband & wife songwriting team of Barry Marry Mann & Cynthia Weil (whose most famous composition is undoubtedly The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," as produced by Spector), with rewriting assistance from Atlantic rhythm & blues songwriters...
That song, which featured legendary producer Phil Spector on the lead guitar solo, was co-written by the husband & wife songwriting team of Barry Marry Mann & Cynthia Weil (whose most famous composition is undoubtedly The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling," as produced by Spector), with rewriting assistance from Atlantic rhythm & blues songwriters Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller (writers of Elvis Presley's "Jailhouse Rock" and Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog," among many others), the latter two who also produced the record, which was a #9 hit on the Billboard charts in 1963.
Leiber & Stoller guided The Drifters through its most commercially successful incarnation on Atlantic, which featured, variously, Ben E. King, Rudy Lewis, and Johnny Moore on lead vocals, although the group's original line-up was headed by Clyde McPhatter, who sang in Billy Ward & The Dominoes. The original Drifters' best known record was "Money Honey." It is Lewis who sang the lead vocals on "On Broadway."
"On Broadway," with its urban soul styling and conflictive lyrics about troubles surviving on the streets but ultimately "making it" from the ability to play music (with "this here guitar"), was certainly aimed at a younger, rock & roll demographic, and thus was perfect for idealistic Eastern European satellite denizens dreaming of life in front of "The Iron Curtain," of which New York's legendary "Great White Way" was a symbolic part.
But the song's composers were not writing so much about the theater world of that internationally-renowned by-way as about their own experiences as song hucksters in rock & roll's Tin Pan Alley known as "Brill Building Pop," the actual home of which was Aldon Music, which was located at 1650 Broadway in New York City.
The original recording of "On Broadway" was by The Cookies, the original line-up of which evolved into Ray Charles' back-up group The Raelettes, and whose later incarnation inspired cover hits by British beat groups The Beatles ("Chains") and Herman's Hermits ("I'm Into Something Good"). But Spector's girl group, The Crystals, beat The Cookies version of "On Broadway" to release. The Crystals (on their early records, and not the hits recorded by Darlene Love using only The Crystals' name) were, in a way, Spector's distaff response to The Drifters, as both groups shared heavily Latin-influenced production stylings, on such tunes as "Up On The Roof" and "Uptown." Indeed, The Crystals' "Uptown" may be viewed as a complement to The Drifters' version of "On Broadway," both songs about dreams in a better part of town. But Leiber & Stoller, along with arranger Garry Sherman, produced a more bluesy, modulated version of the tune for The Drifters than the more urgent styling of The Crystals' recording of the song.
The most well-known cover of "On Broadway" was George Benson's 1978 smooth jazz version, which actually charted higher than The Drifters' cover, reaching #7 on Billboard.
I was around Athens then and saw R.E.M. a lot. At that time, Stipe's vocals were more like an instrument (maybe an oboe) used to add color, tone, and emotion to the songs, not so much to convey meaning. That said, they were very much inspired by punk and the DIY ethos of the time and really knew how to shake the rafters. I think I prefer the HibTone version, but love them both. Personally I never viewed RFE as addressing the government propaganda station, or international relations or immigrants, but as a call to arms to get off your ass and do something. In that light, I always (still do) hear the lyrics as, "decide yourself" and "calling out in the trenches." On stage Stipe certainly messaged around with the words, in this and many other songs. Ah, the good old days. Anyway, for me, this is a call to arms.
Agree saw them '80 @Tyrone's OC (off campus) near the tracks, burned to the ground in 80 or 81. Only 3 words I could understand during the entire show was Radio Free Europe. During their break Stipe made a pass at me at the urinals. No thanx...
Agree saw them '80 @Tyrone's OC (off campus) near the tracks, burned to the ground in 80 or 81. Only 3 words I could understand during the entire show was Radio Free Europe. During their break Stipe made a pass at me at the urinals. No thanx...
According to the booklet in the 2 cd version of "And I Feel Fine" Stipey says the lyrics have nothing to do with RFE. He just liked the title.
Radio Free Europe does indeed broadcast news to countries that lack a free press, or have an undeveloped press.
One of its original purposes was to provide news and an outlet for refugees, and knowing this makes this song make more sense.
"Calling all in transit" - "Straight off the boat, where to go?" "keep me out of country"
Much of it sounds like broken English, like something Babelfish might spit out...or something a refugee with poor English might say.
"Instead of pushing palaces to fall" - Radio Free Europe was created to encourage the people in these countries to rise up and take over their government in order to secure their freedom. It is the 'defying media', and it defies the media of the countries it is broadcast to.
The song wasn't meant to have a clear meaning, and it's very open-ended, but it is clearly talking about the actual Radio Free Europe.
can't understand that no-one commented on this song yet! great song! though there are better ones by rem..