Green is not my favorite R.E.M. album but is definitely the most meaningful to me and is one of those records that instantly transports me to late ‘88 and early ‘89. I was a senior in high school and my parents had just bought a brand new Volkswagen Jetta, our first car with a tape deck! As was my habit, I made a tape of the record (I’d generally play my vinyl just once to tape it and then play that so as to keep the vinyl pristine) and played it repeatedly while driving around Appleton. The song “Orange Crush,” which was the first single released in December ‘88 and went to #1 on the Modern and Mainstream Rock charts, reminds me of cold Midwestern evenings, driving down the dark streets to after school activities. “Pop Song 89,” the third single released in May ‘89 (#16 Modern Rock chart) has much sunnier recollections – the last days of high school, warm weather, excitement of the prospect of a glorious summer and then on to college. The fourth single “Get Up” (released September ‘89, it did not chart) is one of my favorites from Green. Michael Stipe reportedly wrote it about Mike Mills who always overslept for their recording sessions; it’s also Stipe’s favorite song on the album.

But the most significant song to me is the much-maligned second single “Stand” (it was meant to be a “60′s-esque bubblegum pop ditty” in the spirit of The Monkees, etc.). Do I really like “Stand”? No, not really. But it is the song that most reminds me of my friend Laurie who disappeared 26 years ago. She loved R.E.M. – going so far as to date a dolt who had a more than passing resemblance to Michael Stipe – and we’d do the “Stand” dance in her backyard during our high school lunch hours. She was bright and bubbly, just like the song. “Stand” went to #6 on the US Hot 100 (#1 on the Alternative and Mainstream Rock charts) and to #48 in the UK.

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“Radio Free Europe” is one of my favorite R.E.M. songs, but I also love the quiet sweet sadness of “Talk About the Passion” (also released as a single in Europe, where it failed to chart). “Perfect Circle” is lovely, spacious and sorrowful with actual piano rather than the 80′s ubiquitous synth sound. Mike Mills’ melodic bass prowess is demonstrated on tracks like “Catapult,” a more upbeat song, relatively speaking, on Murmur. “Sitting Still” was the B-side to “Radio Free Europe” and is one of the earliest penned tracks by R.E.M.; they wrote and recorded it in ‘81and the original version appears on Murmur. Reading about the lyrics to “Sitting Still” made me laugh: “Stipe has acknowledged that the first line of the refrain, ‘Up to par and Katie bar the kitchen door but not me in,’ does not mean anything. In a 1991 interview he did provide some insight into a potential meaning, stating that ‘Katie bar the door’ is a Southern expression for barring the door to prevent a child from escaping punishment and is used as a warning that the child better watch out. Another line, ‘We can gather, throw a fit’ has often been misinterpreted as ‘We can gather, throw up beer.’ He has also acknowledged that much of the song is made of nonsensical vowels strung together and that he merely approximates the words when he sings the song in concert.”

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