Since writing the above comment, I have found REM's music video for the song. It's clear to me that the intent is political - repression of freedom in a closed society, the victory of the downtrodden and the mother's identification with the liberated. So modifying the comment above, I believe the mother's collapse is the moral imperative to sacrifice her comfort for the struggle... I believe she intends to join the "creatures" (again, the word creature is a dehumanization of the protestors by the regime), but it's not clear that she leaves the child behind. So it could either be:
Belong, here, as I never could (and she leaves), or:
Belong in the new place or new world that we're creating
I would say this song is clearly a mother reading about the Tiannamen Square Massacre on June 4th, 1989 (the album came out in 1991), which was a Sunday. She is terrified at the thought of her own child growing up and participating in protests like these and being killed, so she is telling it to "Belong", don't make waves.
I would say this song is clearly a mother reading about the Tiannamen Square Massacre on June 4th, 1989 (the album came out in 1991), which was a Sunday. She is terrified at the thought of her own child growing up and participating in protests like these and being killed, so she is telling it to "Belong", don't make waves.
Since writing the above comment, I have found REM's music video for the song. It's clear to me that the intent is political - repression of freedom in a closed society, the victory of the downtrodden and the mother's identification with the liberated. So modifying the comment above, I believe the mother's collapse is the moral imperative to sacrifice her comfort for the struggle... I believe she intends to join the "creatures" (again, the word creature is a dehumanization of the protestors by the regime), but it's not clear that she leaves the child behind. So it could either be:
I would say this song is clearly a mother reading about the Tiannamen Square Massacre on June 4th, 1989 (the album came out in 1991), which was a Sunday. She is terrified at the thought of her own child growing up and participating in protests like these and being killed, so she is telling it to "Belong", don't make waves.
I would say this song is clearly a mother reading about the Tiannamen Square Massacre on June 4th, 1989 (the album came out in 1991), which was a Sunday. She is terrified at the thought of her own child growing up and participating in protests like these and being killed, so she is telling it to "Belong", don't make waves.