REM - The Great Beyond

I make no secret of the fact that I see things very differently now to the way I did 12 months ago.

Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes its not a good thing. Little things have taken on a whole new meaning. Big things have lost all importance to me. Its taken me 9 months to come to that conclusion. 9 fucking months.

What I see (and hear) differently is music. Particularly lyrics. Songs that I have known for many years have now taken on a whole new meaning. Not all songs. But my mind is open to new songs. Ive been listening to a lot of Tom Petty, John Mayer, Oasis and even the Dixie Chicks over the last few days. THE DIXIE CHICKS!!!!!!!! What the fuck is going on????

Lyrics have always meant something to me. My wedding vows were 90% song lyrics. I quoted Madonna, Anthrax, Split Enz, Springsteen and No Doubt. Yes - I quoted Anthrax lyrics in my wedding vows. Anytime ever that anyone questions my metalness, ill tell them that very fact. Maybe one day ill put the vows here. Maybe one day I wont.

So on the recent epic roadtrip Paul and I took in the US, we listened to lots and lots and lots of tunes. 2500miles of tunes. We made 25 mix CD's, his 20gb Zune, my 160gb iPod and then there also was the CD's we purchased over there - I alone purchased 120 discs. So we had lots of tunes to choose from.

On the Columbus to Chicago (via the Indy 500 track) leg of the trip we listened to some REM. Ive always liked REM. Great tunes. I think Monster is their best album. Paul had his version of their greatest hits on his Zune, so we listened to that. His version got rid of the "filler" and he replaced it with the "killer". I only had the generic version of the greatest hits on my iPod. Well - sort of generic. Mines the Japanese version with the bonus rarities & b-sides disc. But anyway, on came The Great Beyond and it just floored me.

I first heard it back in 1999 when Sydney radio station Triple M played it as a world premiere on the Andrew Denton breakfast show. I recall thinking the music was great, but the lyrics confused me. I learnt later it was part of the soundtrack for the Milos Forman / Danny DeVito movie, Man On The Moon - based on the life of comic Andy Kaufman. Even though its a song from the soundtrack to a movie about an eccentric comedian, it still confused me.

And all this talk of time
Talk is fine
And I dont want to stay around
Why cant we pantomime, just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Being here with wings on our feet

See what I mean?

But then on that drive to Chicago, I heard the song again and I just got it. I want to tell you why I just get it. But I cant. Its like the words are in me to say something, but they dont make sense when I say them. But even that makes sense to me on the inside.

This chorus in particular just makes sense;

Im pushing an elephant up the stairs
Im tossing up punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

and then the second chorus makes almost as much sense;

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great beyond

I want to say why I get it. But I just cant.

REM
The Great Beyond
Man On The Moon Soundtrack

Ive watched the stars fall silent from your eyes
All the sights that I have seen
I cant believe that I believed I wished
That you could see
Theres a new planet in the solar system
Theres nothing up my sleeve

Im pushing an elephant up the stairs
Im tossing up punchlines that were never there
Over my shoulder a piano falls
Crashing to the ground

And all this talk of time
Talk is fine
And I dont want to stay around
Why cant we pantomime, just close our eyes
And sleep sweet dreams
Being here with wings on our feet

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great beyond

I want the hummingbirds, the dancing bears
Sweetest dreams of you
Look into the stars
Look into the moon

Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great, answers from the great
Im breaking through
Im bending spoons
Im keeping flowers in full bloom
Im looking for answers from the great, answers from the great, answers