"I stay up late to hear your voice" is slightly echoed in R.E.M.'s "At My Most Beautiful" on the Up album, with the lyric "I save your messages just to hear your voice." Both songs are intimate and gorgeous meditations on presence, attentiveness, and emotional investment. The difference is "Untitled" is universal and familial, while "At My Most Beautiful" is decidedly romantic.
I love the idea of this song functioning as a comforting memento, or even a protective talisman for the listener, and a reminder to spread warmth, light, comfort, and strength to those you love, even when you're not near them, and encouraging them to do the same (This light is here to keep you warm / This song is here to keep you strong... Hold him/her and keep him/her strong / While I'm away from here).
It started off as a cool way to end the Green album, but this song became an infectious earworm for me pretty quickly, and not the bad kind. It stuck to my brain and will likely never leave. This many years later, it's one of my favorite songs from R.E.M.'s impressive body of work.
"I stay up late to hear your voice" is slightly echoed in R.E.M.'s "At My Most Beautiful" on the Up album, with the lyric "I save your messages just to hear your voice." Both songs are intimate and gorgeous meditations on presence, attentiveness, and emotional investment. The difference is "Untitled" is universal and familial, while "At My Most Beautiful" is decidedly romantic.
I love the idea of this song functioning as a comforting memento, or even a protective talisman for the listener, and a reminder to spread warmth, light, comfort, and strength to those you love, even when you're not near them, and encouraging them to do the same (This light is here to keep you warm / This song is here to keep you strong... Hold him/her and keep him/her strong / While I'm away from here).
It started off as a cool way to end the Green album, but this song became an infectious earworm for me pretty quickly, and not the bad kind. It stuck to my brain and will likely never leave. This many years later, it's one of my favorite songs from R.E.M.'s impressive body of work.
[Edit: formatting adjustment]