Yeah, pretty sure this is about the drug-induced demise of River Phoenix - who was often said to be the James Dean for a new generation. The title of the song sounds like a play on the saying: "Live fast, die young" often associated with Dean.
In any case Phoenix was a good friend of Michael Stipe's - however you want to interpret that - and Stipe was reportedly so devastated by the young actor's death that he sunk into a deep depression and experienced writer's block for a period of five months. R.E.M. also dedicated their "Monster" album to River.
The first verse seems to reference the (alleged) abusive treatment Phoenix claimed to have suffered as a child at the hands of the quasi-religious cult his parents were involved with - which in turn may have led to Phoenix's later drug use (in order to numb feelings of pain).
Ex: "How could I be so blind, mis-sighted, not to see there's something wounded deep.
Anyone could scratch your surface now, it's all amphetamine
You're blasting yourself into the present to blur some past indignity".
Yeah, pretty sure this is about the drug-induced demise of River Phoenix - who was often said to be the James Dean for a new generation. The title of the song sounds like a play on the saying: "Live fast, die young" often associated with Dean.
In any case Phoenix was a good friend of Michael Stipe's - however you want to interpret that - and Stipe was reportedly so devastated by the young actor's death that he sunk into a deep depression and experienced writer's block for a period of five months. R.E.M. also dedicated their "Monster" album to River.
The first verse seems to reference the (alleged) abusive treatment Phoenix claimed to have suffered as a child at the hands of the quasi-religious cult his parents were involved with - which in turn may have led to Phoenix's later drug use (in order to numb feelings of pain).
Ex: "How could I be so blind, mis-sighted, not to see there's something wounded deep. Anyone could scratch your surface now, it's all amphetamine You're blasting yourself into the present to blur some past indignity".