Backstory, I remember when REM came out with this song. I heard it on the radio. Profound song and very meaningful at the time and given the number of covers, it still is.
To be fair, I still prefer the original, though that’s harder to find now. There is an OFFICIAL YouTube version. There is an excellent Tori Amos cover of it that has also come out that is also very meaningful for me.
I periodically look back at some of these songs and this is one of them.
I looked at this interview where it is clearly SO HARD for him to go back to that moment. A moment that so many of us hold such substance for. There is still a clear impact to Michael that he viscerally reacts to, but has also moved beyond.
Thank you Michael Stipe for giving us this moment to decide for ourselves, the meaning for us. And I’m sorry that is was so clearly a traumatic time.
