Harborcoat Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Zardoz28 

Cover art for Harborcoat lyrics by R.E.M.

This song (or at least a large part of it) is about the Jews in Nazi Germany. Listen carefully and you'll hear the line is actually, "they've shifted the STATUTES for harboring ghosts" - statutes as in laws - the laws forbidding the harboring Jewish people in one's home.

This makes the chorus make a lot of sense - Jews weren't allowed to walk around in public without a patch sewn on their coats with the six-pointed star identifying them as such. "Can't go outside without it."