“We’re not doing this to buy a fur coat and a Cadillac, we’re trying to do something else.” And there it is - everything important about R.E.M 👍

I remember listening to REM, seriously, for the first time in my dorm room at the Univ. of Georgia in 1986. Those first records mesmerized me. It blew me away when they became so big globally. I always thought they were our band down in the south. Freaking love them, always will.

Great little find this, thanks for posting. I think what makes REM one of the greatest bands of all time was their absolute steadfastness in just being themselves. That’s why I love them, and I respect that they knew when to call it a day. Murmur is probably the best album of the 80’s.

Stipe was and always has been an impressionistic singer....and often....an impressionistic writer..........and an artist most of all...thanks man....

Thank you for sharing this. R.E.M are one of the best bands of all time.

For people of a certain vintage, there's something about watching a VHS recording again in this HD age... especially when it's about music you remember fondly from that period.

REM is nostalgia pure nostalgia, their songs were always bittersweet. Love them ❤️

NightSwimming and Find the River, gotta be my two favorite REM tunes.

That Mr. Stipe pulls out the word 'nascent' then asks, "Is that a word." and that word be precisely what he is pointing to, is poetry in notion... 05:30

Thanks for sharing, it's my favorite band.

Cannot imagine what my teenage years would have been like without REM. Got to see them on the Green tour, amazing live. I long for those days. That's the problem with nostalgia, it's not what it used to be

I’ve seen a million R.E.M documentaries - and this one might be the best.

25:14 those are some of the wisest words I've heard a successful musician say. 100% true. It takes a big person to not just know it, but actually live by it.

Jangly arpeggios; no guitar solos; not blues music; great baselines; excellent background vocals; riffs; and of course interesting lyrics and lead singing.

Just found this. Thank you. Love this band since the 80s.

The music business ain't for the weak, nor is it built for longevity in some cases....REMs body of work is complete, it is an essential and vital body of work, that is a cornerstone of Alternative rock, and arguably unsurmountable by those who attempt to parallel, or surpass what these 4 men have created. To me, it won't ever happen, not the way it did with 4 dudes from Athens Ga......

I won't disagree with anyone, that Mike Stipes voice, is the signature sound of REM, without his voice, they are just another band. But I also know that each and every member of REM, is part of the complex puzzle that makes REM who they are, I feel minus anyone in the band, it's not the same, including especially the man on the kit

Great post. Thanks for putting this up!

i grew up in orange county new york. . i know what this band is all about. greatness,

Thank you for posting this :)

Thanks for uploading, what a joy :-)

Athens GA, loved partying there in the 90s.

Thanks for posting. This is great.

I enjoyed…Thx for posting 🎶👍

With REM , I can't think of a fave song, cos I'd be there forever !

great watch, thanks for posting

Thanks for posting, nice doc

Very lovely🤩

I really like the comment (13:46) from Micheal about using the voice as emotion, and as an instrument, as that chimes with how I look at vocals. When you have a 3 minute pop song, the lyrics are written, and sometimes repeated and often rhymed in a verse / chorus / verse and seem somewhat fake simply to fit into the thread of the song. Many times I've listened to pop songs and changed the words to fit into how I feel, but I've kept the same tone and harmony. The lyrics the band used, to me, simply did not fit into my emotional experience, so I use my own words as I'm singing.. There are songs out there that are meaningful and hit the right note, words and poetry that seem to speaking directly to me ( my experience of this was the band James, when I was in my 20's. Tim Booth seemed to speak directly to me, and that band will always be in my heart). But, realistically, who needs to hear the lyrics of a singer, who's experience of life is different to mine? I don't need to know about his failed life with women, his poverty strewn small town - but I need to hear his emotion about it. Through his voice, and how he sings, I can understand - because we all have those same emotions. I listen to a lot of foreign music - at the moment I'm listening to: Japanese 60's funk, Chinese 80's pop songs, and my ultimate favourite; 1940's Thai music. I don't need to know these languages to understand the emotion of the singer. The tone, that is all I need to hear - fear, sadness, heartbreak, it's all there in the singer's voice.

They go from Gardening at Night to Nightswimming...lol .

This is a really good REM doco!

*REMember when all this was just a memory of a wistful momentum moving shouldered onward sideways*

My best memory. R.E.M

Awesome

so good

The mixing board in the studio is enormous. I find it amazing, that each and every button and knob, has a purpose. It looks like overkill, but I can only suppose that an engineer understands how to operate the board

Mike Stipe went to my high school. This is the only reference I’ve ever heard him vaguely mention it. Wow, cool.

Yeah people don't mention Night Swimming enough and so fun to sing along with

Very special band

That intro was pretty epic.

You can tell Melvyn Bragg is so checked out at this point.

5:34 BAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA, gotta love Stipe.

@Nigel... You aren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, are you, Nigel? Oh dear. I’m guessing someone is making plans for Nigel.

Finally someone (Bono) figured out who Peter Buck is by his comments in this documentary - he plays like he's saying f-off! He's not into the publicity of it all but loves music. I always had a tough time figuring out his disdain for recognition - now I get it

I always heard words in the songs....from Chronic Town on

Anybody knows where can I find the version of gardening at night of this video? Thanks

Pretty sure that Tube live footage is from 84, not 86

If someone could edit out Bono’s inexplicable appearance in this otherwise great piece, that’d be great.

AT LEAST IT CUTS OUT HAVING TO FIX THE TRACKING ON VHS, AND THE ADVENTURES OF THE TAPE CHEWING UP OR SNAPPING ALTOGETHER.

R.E.M. were like a mix of Steeleye Span and Sex Pistols - at least as long as Berry stayed. Also notable was the absence of blues in their music.

BUCK MILLS BERRY......altogether now ME!!🙃🤗

Would love to hear Bono try to explain the lyrics to 'Sitting Still'...

3:40 to 4:04 so Smells like teen spirit like

There's a strong sense of "Fuck off, Bono"

They couldn't have got a worse, more disinterested commentator than Bono, could they.

Do these guys hate Monster they never talk about the process on that, and although not their best it was a sick album imho.

Is that Tom cruse at 29.24

Bono ... what a crock.

They were a brilliant band but I think Michael Stipe started to take himself too seriously. Much like Bono, Sting, Roger Waters and many other rock musicians did.

Yeah you were the only person in the state of Illinois who appreciated punk rock. Ok Michael. Love REM but damn that dude is dramatic

Bono really didn’t add to this ,nothing really interesting to say apart from sort off ,weirdly criticise

Would of preferred to hear the opinions of Joe Shmoe, instead of Bono.

How could this show host possibly have mispronounced Bono as BO-no? Holy crap, last I checked U2 was pretty big in the UK even back then.

Why is bono in this? Nnnnngh

"...Georgia, a largely rural state." Um, most states in the U.S. are largely rural- after all, it's the third largest country in the world.

Why is the audio so fucked up on this?

Bono¨s band are no way near the level of REM.

2nd Best band in the world

Michael Stipe was the weirdest guy I ever seen 🙁

Peter Buck was the reason they split up

Stipe reminds of Samson in the bible who lost his god like power when he lost his hair.

Uh, Bono, it's nice that you're so supportive of R.E.M. & Michael Stipe, but Michael Stipe's writing has absolutely nothing to do with Jack Kerouac's writing.

The Smiths being 1st

Does anybody understand what any REM song is about? No because all Stipe can write is a bunch of random lyrics that sound good but are ultimately meaningless. They are not great songwriters.

Only two bad albums in their stellar career: Reveal and Around the Sun.

Editing is terrible on this. They play songs throughout that have no correlation to what period of music or song is being talked about at the moment. Some editor got payed for slapping footage and interviews together randomly. Go back to editing college whomever you are that did this waste of time years ago. Horrible.