Electrolite

the prettiest song from new adventures in hifi and a great way to end the album, on a high note and one of the more traditional sounding rem tracks. wonderful.

Lmao, Alien abduction? I've actually just listened to this, on the "In Time" Album, and I love its. It's really melodic, it's got a fantastic tune, in the background especially when he sings "Electrolite you're outta sight" I don't think its about alien abduction, lol.

ElectrolYte: A chemical compound that ionizes when dissolved or molten to produce an electrically conductive medium.

Maybe Stipe has changed the letters round to befit the song?

I'm not sure, I think it's a twisted love song, considering the bit where he sings
"Your eyes are burning holes through me" And also the bit "You're plasticine" - maybe connotations of someone that is easily moulded/changed? Like the phrase "Putty in my hands".

and, "I'm Martin Sheen I'm Steve McQueen I'm Jimmy Dean You are the star tonight. Your sun electric, outta sight. Your light eclipsed the moon tonight. Elecrolite. You're outta sight."

Maybe they're on a night out for the first time? I'm not 100% sure, just certain lines in the song sound weirdly like a love song. But definitley not alien abductions lol.

an alien abduction? weird... i think its about celebrities, putting yourself in the position of a celebrity, or someone treating you like their 'star' though the last few lines are a bit confusing

Rhis song is one of the reasons I decided to learn piano.

Sounds like a typical love song to me. So simple and well-written - I love it. Michael Stipe has such a cool voice. The alien abduction theory makes more sense if the lyrics are to be taken more literally.

I think it's about fame - eyes burning holes through me is everyone recognizing you on the street. it's also a criticism of old moldy film making and it's outdated politics and networks, maybe to give the newbies a chance, and a loose reference to the information age enabling anyone to make a film? Sort of a twist on Warhol's 15 minutes of fame.

I like the alien abduction meaning, brings to mind David Lynch. I always figured this as sort of a comment on L.A.

its not plasticine, it is pleistocene, as in "the pleistocene era." its like saying you're old, and he is refering to the aforementioned era of the twentieth century. it's like he's expressiong a feeling of loss about the old time movies. Whenever I hear this song, I get a mental image of a washed up actor driving up on mullholland drive and feeling like he is the king of the world, because he is above all of hollywood and everyone looks like ants to him and all the lights of the city are visible. if it's a love song, the object of his affection is the hollywood movie.

I'm listening to the acoustic version of this song that they did for MTV Unlugged, and it's really good. The percussion part is played on bongos, and that gives it a really nice touch.

freewebs.com/thejakesite

It's a goodbye to the 2oth century song, nothing amazing just saying goodbye.