[[quoteright:291:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/R.E.M..jpg]]

->"''Take what you see on TV, mix in a guy who's turned 30 and still doesn't have a job, throw in some Uncle Remus stories and add a few flies in amber and you have America.''"
-->-- Michael Stipe of R.E.M.

->''I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract''
->''Explain the change, the difference between''
->''What you want and what you need''
->''There's the key''
->''I, I believe''
-->-- "I Believe"

R.E.M. were an AlternativeRock band from Athens, Georgia, the same city from where TheB52s came a few years before. They were formed in 1980 when University of Georgia student Michael Stipe (vocals) met Peter Buck (guitar), who worked at a record store. They discovered that they shared a similar taste for "art-punk" acts such as Music/{{Television}}, PattiSmith, and the VelvetUnderground. This led them to form a band with two other U of G students, Mike Mills (bass) and Bill Berry (drums). Under the name R.E.M., the band recorded the only single ever released on Hib-Tone Records, "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still." "Radio Free Europe's" combination of punk attitude and folk-rock guitars influenced by PowerPop (especially Music/BigStar) pretty much invented a specific form of AlternativeRock named "jangle pop", and led to them being picked up by I.R.S. Records.

The band initially played with a "murky" style -- their early albums were produced so that no one instrument was more or less prominent than any of the others - but starting with ''Lifes Rich Pageant,'' Michael Stipe began enunciating his once-mumbled lyrics more clearly, and Peter Buck's guitar parts became more prominent. Shortly after this, the band, who had previously seen high levels of critical acclaim and a lot of popularity on college radio but never really had a hit, became hugely popular. ''Document'', the band's last studio album with I.R.S., contained the major hits "The One I Love" and the well-tossed word salad "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." As the 1980s drew to a close, the band had abandoned their old home of I.R.S. Records for the new, more mainstream label of Creator/WarnerBrosRecords, with the first release on the label being 1988's ''Green''. Bolstered by the hit singles "Stand" and "Orange Crush," as well as a ''massive'' 1989 world tour, the band was by all accounts and appearances well on its way to rock stardom.

1991's ''Out of Time'' and 1992's ''Automatic for the People'' turned the group into one of the most popular bands of the early '90s, featuring no less than seven hit singles ("Shiny Happy People," the megahit/SignatureSong "Losing My Religion," "Man on the Moon," "Everybody Hurts," "Nightswimming," "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," and "Drive") between them. However, many older fans detested the band's movement towards a more mainstream sound. The two albums are dominated by keyboards and strings, which very rarely appeared on their earlier albums. Perhaps as a result of this, they released the grunge-glam hybrid ''Monster.'' It was touted as the band's "Return to rock," but despite the success and acclaim of first single "What's The Frequency, Kenneth?", and album sales almost rivaling ''Automatic'', many felt that R.E.M. were just past their peak at that moment.

Subsequent releases never had anywhere near the same staying power as the first five albums, and the band were plagued by personal disaster - most prominently, longtime drummer Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm onstage and retired - but the band still continued on. It seems their career came and went in full circle: they began as a cult band, saw massive success, and eventually dwindled to being a cult band again. Their first five albums - ''Murmur,'' ''Reckoning,'' ''Fables of the Reconstruction,'' ''Lifes Rich Pageant,'' and ''Document,'' as well as ''Automatic for the People,'' are still considered among the best albums ever, though, so it's not as though they've been forgotten.

One notable aspect of R.E.M. was their approach to making music. Whereas most bands have a clear leader, the band was a purely democratic entity. They never did anything unless all members agreed on it unanimously, and every member contributed something to the songwriting.

Just when they had begun to return to form, the band announced on 21 September 2011 that [[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/r-e-m-break-up-after-three-decades-20110921 they had broken up]]. It should be kept in mind that unlike most band break-ups where the musicians ended things on bad terms, it seems like the members still have a healthy relationship and are instead ending things on ''good'' terms, citing the fact that they achieved everything they wanted as the primary reason.

The band:
* Michael Stipe: Vocals (1980-2011)
* Peter Buck: Guitar, mandolin (1980-2011)
* Mike Mills: Bass, backing vocals, keyboards (1980-2011)
* Bill Berry: Drums (1980-1997)

Studio albums:
* ''Chronic Town'' EP (1982)
* ''Murmur'' (1983)
* ''Reckoning'' (1984)
* ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' (1985)
* ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' (1986)
* ''Document'' (1987)
* ''Green'' (1988)
* ''Out of Time'' (1991)
* ''Automatic for the People'' (1992)
* ''Monster'' (1994)
* ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' (1996)
* ''Up'' (1998)
* ''Reveal'' (2001)
* ''Around the Sun'' (2004)
* ''Accelerate'' (2008)
* ''Collapse Into Now'' (2011)

Other releases:
* ''Dead Letter Office'' rarities compilation (1987)
* ''Eponymous'' best-of compilation (1988)
* ''Not Bad for No Tour'' promotional EP (2001)
* ''In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003'' best-of compilation (2003)
* ''And I Feel Fine: The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982-1987'' best-of compilation (2006)
* ''R.E.M. Live'' (2007)
* ''Live at the Olympia'' (2009)
* ''Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982-2011'' retrospective best-of compilation (2011)
----
!!R.E.M. is the TropeNamer for:

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Not the origin of the phrase, but certainly the most well-known by far.
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: See above.

!!The band also provides examples of:

* AlbumTitleDrop:
** The title to the EP ''Chronic Town'' is found in the song "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)".
** The same happens with "Circus Envy" on ''Monster.''
** Stipe wonders "Have I missed the big reveal?" from ''Reveal's'' "I've Been High".
** Also, "Begin the Begin" from ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' comes very close to doing so, mentioning "Life's rich demands." No pageants, though.
** ''Collapse Into Now'' gets its title drop amidst all of Stipe's mumblings in the closing track, "Blue".
** ''Around the Sun'' and ''Accelerate'' both have an actual title ''track''.
** ''Up'': [[CaptainObvious Numerous occasions.]]
* AlliterativeName: Mike Mills, Bill Berry.
** The song "Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter".
*** AddedAlliterativeAppeal: From "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)":
-->"'''Music/LeonardBernstein''', '''L'''eonid '''B'''rezhnev, '''Creator/LennyBruce''', and '''L'''ester '''B'''angs"
* AlternativeRock: One of the TropeMakers.
* AnAesop: The message of "Everybody Hurts" is "Don't kill yourself."
* AntiLoveSong: "The One I Love". Many people take it as a straightforward love song, despite the aggressive music and such decidedly non-romantic sentiments as "A simple prop to occupy my time."
* ArcWords: Water, rain, and ocean recur on ''Reckoning'' (marked "file under water") and fire and lightning recur on ''Document'' (marked "file under fire"). Parodied with ''Eponymous'', which is marked "file under grain," seemingly for no reason other than to reference the cover photograph (depicting a field of... grain).
* AudienceParticipationSong: "The One I Love," "Man on the Moon," "Everybody Hurts," "Drive," and "Losing My Religion" all qualify.
** The audience supplies the shouts of "Get up! Get up!" during live performances of, well, "Get Up."
* BeamMeUpScotty: The song "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was named after the phrase that an attacker of news anchor Dan Rather repeatedly screamed while attacking him. However, what the attacker (later identified to be William Tager, who thought that the media were beaming signals into his mind and that if he could find the right frequency he could block the signals) actually said was "Kenneth, what is the frequency?" according to Dan Rather himself.
* BigAppleSauce: "Leaving New York", kind of. Michael Stipe considers New York his "adopted hometown".
* BigOlEyebrows: Bill Berry sports an impressive pair; they made the cover of ''Life's Rich Pageant'', all by themselves.
* BlackSheepHit: See the note on Creator Backlash and "Shiny Happy People" below.
* BookEnds: "Monty Got A Raw Deal" begins and ends with the line "Monty, this seems strange to me".
** ''Collapse into Now'' ends with a reprise of its opening song, "Discoverer".
* CallToAgriculture: Bill Berry quit the band to become a farmer.
* CanonDiscontinuity: While they still play material from the two albums live, Peter Buck has disowned both ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' and ''Around the Sun''. Also, it's probably a good idea not to bring up "Shiny Happy People" around Michael Stipe.
** He hasn't disowned ''Fables'', he was just disappointed in it. He's reevaluated it in recent years, most notably for its deluxe edition. However the whole band disowns ''Around the Sun''.
*** They haven't as they've spoken kindly of it in later interviews and enjoy playing songs from it live. It's more of a case of "good songs but we killed them in the studio".
* CensorBar: The video for "Pop Song 89" has Michael Stipe and a few female dancers. All are topless... and all have bars covering their nipples.
* CensoredTitle: "Star Me Kitten". The song actually says "Fuck Me Kitten".
* ChorusOnlySong: "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".
** "Low" arguably fits this trope as well.
** "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" ''almost'' qualifies, were it not for "and waste another year".
** "The One I Love" is an inversion: more people know the verses ("This one goes out to the one I love...") instead of the chorus (Michael Stipe [[IncrediblyLongNote holding the word "fire" for an entire bar]] while Mike Mills sings "She's comin' down on her own" repeatedly in the background).
* ChristmasEpisode: Taking after Music/TheBeatles, the band released exclusive singles to members of their fan club around Christmastime every year from 1988 to 2011.
* CloudCuckooLander: Michael Stipe.
** Bill Berry was implied to be this in the early years, mainly because of his monobrow.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Many a listener mistakenly perceived "[[AntiLoveSong The One I Love]]" to be a {{Silly Love Song|s}} when it first came out, which most likely contributed to it being such a big hit (EpicRiff aside).
* ConceptAlbum: Several of the songs on ''Automatic for the People'' are about death in some way or another.
* {{Corpsing}}: In "Voice of Harold", Stipe stifles his laughter after reading the line "J. Elmo Fagg" for [[HoYay obvious reasons]].
** He also cracks up in "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" after the line "...and a reading from DrSeuss", as he apparently [[ItIsPronouncedTroPAY couldn't pronounce the name right]], saying "[[ClassicalMythology Zeus]]" instead of "Seuss."
* CreatorBacklash: The band ''hates'' "Shiny Happy People" (especially Stipe) and refuses to play it in concerts. They originally refused to add it to compilation albums. Though the song was announced to be apart of the tracklist of their career-spanning greatest hits release, ''Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011'', most likely being the "Part Garbage" mentioned in the title.
** Though in the booklet that accompanied ''Part Lies...'', Peter Buck mentions that, despite how much the other members regret the song, as well as how dumb and silly he thinks the song is, he has come to appreciate it. Just below Buck's comment, Stipe mentions that despite his feelings about the song, he does realize that the fans do enjoy it which ultimately led to him finally including it in a compilation album.
** They also have a similar opinion of their album ''Around the Sun''.
* CreatorBreakdown: ''Fables of the Reconstruction'' and ''Up'' were recorded on two separate occasions that the band was on the verge of breaking up -- the former because of intolerable conditions in [[strike:Britain]] general in 1985; the latter because of the fallout from Bill Berry's retirement.
** Around The Sun was this also, the band were depressed about 9/11, the Iraq War, and exhausted from touring, and almost broke up then. Their utter boredom is evident in most of the songs. However, they were so disappointed in Around The Sun that they did not want it to be their last album, so wanted to return to their rock roots.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Fables of the Reconstruction'', ''Automatic for the People'', ''Accelerate''.
* DeadpanSnarker: The other three have/had their moments (especially Bill Berry), but [[TheSnarkKnight Peter Buck]] takes the cake.
* DevelopmentHell: "Just A Touch", the first song the band ever wrote, turned up on their fourth album.
** "Romance" was written and performed before the band's first album and recorded for it but would not be released until the ''Made In Heaven'' soundtrack in 1987.
** "All The Right Friends" was one of the band's earliest songs and was performed as early as 1980 and recorded in 1983 for their first album, but would not be released until 1993 when it appeared as a bonus track on the CD version of ''Dead Letter Office''. However, the band rerecorded it in 2001 due to the producer of ''Vanilla Sky'' wanting an old style R.E.M. track and the band having revisited it live around that time. So the old version was remastered a few years later.
** "Pretty Persuasion" and "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" both originate from 1980 but would not appear on an album until their second in 1984.
** "Get On Their Way" (AKA "What If We Give It Away?") was performed in 1981 but would not appear on an album until their fourth in 1986.
** The fantitled "Ha (We Still Get Paid For It)" from 1981 would not be developed until a full song until part of it turned into "Burning Hell" in 1984 and the other half formed the basis for "Oddfellows Local 151" in 1987.
** "Hyaena" was recorded for the band's second and third albums but wasn't released till it appeared on their fourth.
** "When We Were Young" (aka "Throw Those Trolls Away") was recorded for the band's third album, and the title was even written on the inner sleeve. It was performed live around the time. The band decided not to include it at the last minute. It was reworked into "I Believe" which was recorded for their fourth album.
** The band's cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" was recorded in studio 10 years after they had started performing it live.
** "Bad Day", which was recorded in 1986 but not released because Michael Stipe thought it was too personal.(Instead they wrote "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" around it.) They eventually rerecorded it in 2003 and only after that was the original version released.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: While it's often averted, subverted, inverted, or downright ignored, ''Murmur'' could've hardly been a more apt title given Stipe's infamous vocal performances.
** ''Accelerate'' is a much faster and aggressive album than its predecessor Around The Sun.
*** ''Collapse Into Now'' hints at their impending breakup.
* {{Expy}}: Subverted with "Photograph". It sounds to most listeners like Natalie Merchant is an expy for Kate Pierson due to her similar vocal style, but she actually co-wrote the song.
** "Photograph" was started in the ''Automatic For The People'' sessions but they could never come up with a way to finish it. Stipe got bored of the song. They pulled it out of the vaults for a rape prevention charity album, and asked Natalie to finish off the lyrics. She ended up co-singing it as well, and it became a little known classic that could have been a hit.
* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: The band members met as students of the University of Georgia in Athens.
* FallingBass: "Gardening At Night", diatonic version in the intro and coda and a Mixolydian variant of it in the verse.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: ''Collapse Into Now'', their last album, depicts the band on its cover ''waving''. They also refused to tour for it.
* FunWithAcronyms: R.E.M. is the acronym for "Rapid Eye Movement", a phase of sleep; the band sometimes refers to it being "Rapid Ear Movement". The band have also mentioned that it's not intended to stand for anything and just pulled it out of a dictionary at random.
-->'''Peter Buck''': [[LampshadeHanging I wish we'd picked a name we didn't have to explain all the time...]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Michael may or may not be saying "fuck it" right before the last chorus of "Ignoreland." The processed vocals make it rather difficult to tell.
* GratuitousPanning: The main guitar line of "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" is panned entirely to one side. There's also a weird, mechanical, tribal percussion part in "Monty Got a Raw Deal" panned entirely to one side. It's only really audible if you're listening carefully, though.
* HeyItsThatVoice: Yes, that is Patti Smith singing the chorus of "E-Bow the Letter."
** And KRS-One on "Radio Song."
** [[SonicYouth Thurston Moore]] is a backing vocalist on "Crush With Eyeliner."
** [[Music/TheB52s Kate Pierson]] performed the back up vocals for "Shiny Happy People" and "Me In Honey."
** Q-Tip performs a rap at the end of "The Outsiders."
** On ''Collapse Into Now'', {{Peaches}} shares lead vocals on "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter", Patti Smith sings on "Blue" and "Discoverer", [[Music/PearlJam Eddie Vedder]] and Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras harmonize on "It Happened Today".
* HiddenTrack: "Eleventh Untitled Song" from ''Green''. It's only ever even referred to on the CD, as the unnamed "11.", which it is officially copyrighted under.
** To a lesser extent, ''Murmur'', ''Reckoning'' and ''Monster'' each have a small instrumental tune play in between certain songs (after "Shaking Through" on ''Murmur'', just before "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" and after "Little America" on ''Reckoning'', and after "Bang and Blame" on ''Monster'').
* IndecipherableLyrics: Good luck understanding a word Michael's saying on ''Murmur''!
** Or anything pre-''Fables'', for that matter.
** The chorus to "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" since Stipe manages to compress the entire sentence into one second.
-->Callmewhenytrytawake her up!
** "Star 69." [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein "...something something...]] I know you called, Star 69!"
** "Underneath the Bunker" and the chorus of "Orange Crush", as they are both sung through a megaphone.
* IncomingHam: After a series of increasingly bland (though occasionally brilliant) albums after Bill Berry left, the band let everyone know [[HesBack they were back]] by opening ''Accelerate'' with "Living Well is the Best Revenge," one of the most epically hammy rockers of their career.
-->It's only when your poison spins into the life you'd hoped to live
-->That suddenly you wake up in a shaking panic... WOOOOOOOOWWWW!
* IntercourseWithYou: "Strange Currencies," "Tongue," "Crush with Eyeliner..." Yeah, a lot of ''Monster'' is like this.
** "[[strike:Fuck]] Star Me Kitten" from ''Automatic For The People''.
* TheInvisibleBand: Many early video examples, such as "Fall On Me", "Pretty Persuasion", "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "Orange Crush".
** Also right at the end: The video for "Blue" has Lindsey Lohan, but not the band members.
* IronicNurseryTune: "Drive."
* JesusWasWayCool: The opening lines from "New Test Leper" would seem to fit:
-->I can't say that I love Jesus\\
That would be a hollow claim\\
He did make some observations\\
And I'm quoting them today\\
"Judge not lest ye be judged"\\
What a beautiful refrain\\
The studio audience disagrees\\
Have his lambs all gone astray?
** Voice Of Harold's lyrics are the liner notes from a gospel LP called "The Joy Of Knowing Jesus", so naturally they fit this as well.
* JustJokingJustification: From "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite": "tell her she can kiss my ass, then laugh and say that you were only kidding, [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay that way she'll know that it's really really really really me, me."]]
* LighterAndSofter: "Shiny Happy People" -- it's worth noting the instrumental backing was originally written with a darker theme in mind. ''Around the Sun'' album-wise, if not necessarily the subject matter.
** ''Reveal''.
** Even ''Reckoning'' is this, it is much more jangly and upbeat than its predecessor ''Murmur'', with only a couple of tracks that break from that format ("Time After Time" and "Camera").
** Lyrics-wise ''Out of Time'' can be an example of this, as it showed the band's lyrics moving away from the occasional [[ProtestSong sociopolitical protests]] ("The Flowers of Guatemala", "Orange Crush", "World Leader Pretend") and {{Green Aesop}}s ("Cuyahoga", "Fall on Me") that had become more prominent in the late eighties towards more introspective, personal material.
* ListSong: "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". "Imitation of Life" to a degree.
** "Country Feedback", as well. "Self hurt, plastics, collections. Self help, self pain, EST, psychics, fuck all."
* LonelyPianoPiece: "Perfect Circle".
* LongRunnerLineUp: 17 years with Bill Berry (Type 1) and 13 years without (Type 2).
* LongTitle: "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is the most well-known example.
** ''Collapse into Now'' gives us "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando, and I]]", and one sure to cause awkward line-breaking situations on computer screens, "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter".
** Plus ''Reveal'' had "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)," and then of course there's "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" from ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi''.
** "Living Well is the Best Revenge," from ''Accelerate.''
* LoudnessWar: ''Monster, In Time, Accelerate,'' and ''Collapse Into Now'' seem to be the worst offenders. ''Monster'''s distorted mastering was rare in its time but has since become more common.
* LyricalColdOpen: "King of Comedy" from ''Monster'', "The Wake-Up Bomb" and "New Test Leper" from ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'', and "We All Go Back to Where We Belong."
* LyricalDissonance: "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite." It seems like a fun song, but it's actually about dying in your sleep. Or suicide, depending on who you ask.
** "Hollow Man", at least in the chorus and bridge.
** "7 Chinese Bros" sounds like quite a jolly song. Then you find out it is about an affair Michael had, in which he split up a man and a woman and he went out with both of them behind each other's back. It's wrapped in the guise of a Chinese folk tale called the "Five Chinese Brothers" which is also pretty dark and is basically a metaphor for selfishness. So the song essentially is about Michael's guilt at having being part of said affair, despite having a jolly tune.
*** "Fretless" (an ''Out of Time'' out-take that was featured on the ''Until the End of the World'' soundtrack in 1991 and later the ''In Time'' rarities disk) is about this as well. "He has got his work and she comes easy, they each come around when the other is gone. Me, I think I got stuck somewhere inbetween..." Not jolly, though.
** For that matter, its demo version Voice Of Harold which parlays the most redundant information from the liner notes to a Gospel LP.
* MilitaryBrat: Michael Stipe.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Up to around a 4.
** Has been known to go up to 6 on tracks like the stuff from Monster and Revolution from its session. Also, "Departure" from New Adventures In Hi Fi and several tracks from Accelerate.
** And then there's "Burning Hell" which is quite a riff driven, downtuned rock song that is as close to metal as the band got at the time without being sufficiently distorted.
** Humorously the band describe the early version of "Don't Go Back To Rockville" as being 'Punk thrash'. If it ever gets released it might be one of their heaviest songs.
*** They also recorded an instrumental called "Speed Metal" during the ''Out Of Time'' sessions, which is decidedly not speed metal.
* MoodWhiplash: ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' opens with the jazz-inspired "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us", a super-mellow, super-somber track with Mike Mills playing a meandering piano solo in the middle. Immediately following this is "The Wake-Up Bomb", a high-octane, fast-paced glam rock track. Immediately following ''this'' is the largely-acoustic laid-back JesusWasWayCool track "New Test Leper"... let's just say that ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is an album ''rife'' with these.
* NewSoundAlbum: Actually, most of their catalog, but the most drastic departure was the techno-flavored ''Up'', largely as a result of Berry's departure.
* NonAppearingTitle: "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," though it comes close twice.
** "New Test Leper" from ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'', "Texarkana" from ''Out of Time'' and "Good Advices" from ''Fables'' also count. "Feeling Gravitys Pull" from the latter album comes close in the chorus.
** "Time After Time (Anneliese)" is a subversion; "Annelise" is never heard in the song, but "Time After Time" is.
** "Binky The Doormat", though the chorus comes slightly close with the lyric "I wore my doormat face". The rest of the title is a ''ShakesTheClown'' ShoutOut.
* OneSteveLimit: Possibly the reason why Michael Mills goes by "Mike." Ironically, Michael Stipe's real first name is John.
* PrecisionFStrike. Their lyrics very seldom include profanity, but there are a few cases - aside from the aforementioned "Star Me Kitten", "What's The Frequency, Kenneth", "Ignoreland", and "Horse to Water" all drop the f bomb. "Kenneth" used to [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar slip by on the radio uncensored]], presumably due to IndecipherableLyrics.
** "Bad Day" features the line "save my own ass, screw these guys," which predictably is censored on radio -- and video -- playings.
** "Bad Day" also features the line "Shit so thick you could stir it with a stick" which is one of the few lines to remain identical in both versions of the song (the first was recorded in 1986 as a demo, the second was recorded in 2003 and released as a single). Naturally the first word is censored on radio.
** The 'Fuck all' in Country Feedback and it fits the melancholy stream of conciousness perfectly...
** "Departure"'s excited WordSaladLyrics include "What a fuck-up, what a fighter."
** "Horse to Water" has "Friday night, fuck or fight, a pub crawl."
* ProtestSong: Lots of these -- "Fall on Me", "The Flowers of Guatemala", "Welcome to the Occupation", "Exhuming [=McCarthy=]", "Disturbance at the Heron House" (at least according to WordOfGod), "Orange Crush", "Cuyahoga", most of the albums ''Around the Sun'' and ''Accelerate'' (particularly "Final Straw" and "Mr. Richards").
** "Ignoreland" was a TakeThat aimed at the Reagan administration.
* TheQuietOne: Michael Stipe was ''painfully'' shy in the band's early days, so much so that when the band appeared on ''Late Night with David Letterman'', Stipe actually hid behind Peter Buck so Letterman wouldn't talk to him. He's outgrown it almost completely, though.
** Bill Berry as well, though to a considerably lesser extent, at least before his aneurysm.
* RearrangeTheSong: The live version of "Try Not to Breathe" is somewhat faster and heavier, sounding more desperate and pained than the already-haunting studio version.
* RefrainFromAssuming: Those hearing Oddfellows Local 151 without knowing its title would think it was called "Firehouse" due to that being the entire chorus -- in fact, that was its WorkingTitle.
* SesameStreetCred: "Furry Happy Monsters", possibly the band's only usage of "Shiny Happy People" since it was disowned.
* ShoutOut: James Dean, Martin Sheen, and Steve [=McQueen=] get name-checked on "Electrolite," and "Man on the Moon" was written in memory of AndyKaufman (and became so associated with him that... well, see TitledAfterTheSong below).
** The title of ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' came from a line of dialogue in Peter Sellers' ''[[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Pink Panther]]'' movie ''A Shot in the Dark''.
** "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" namechecks a whole bunch of people with the initials LB: Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhev, Lester Bangs and Lenny Bruce.
** "Rock On" is quoted in "Drive".
** "The Wake Up Bomb" off of ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' tosses out two, one right after the other:
-->"Get drunk and sing along to Music/{{Queen}}\\
Practice my T. Rex moves and make the scene"
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: The Trope Namer is "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".
* SpokenWordInMusic: Several examples.
** "Voice of Harold" has Stipe listing the address of the United Music World Recording Studios, Inc., among other items.
** "Belong" from ''Out of Time'' and "Chance" from the ''Automatic for the People'' sessions consist of Stipe reading song lyrics to the music track.
** "Blue" from ''Collapse Into Now'' features a distorted Stipe reading a poem while PattiSmith sings sporadically.
* StealthPun: ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' has a collage of Bill Berry and some bison as the cover, as a VisualPun on Buffalo Bill.
* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Mike Mills sings lead on their cover of the Clique's "Superman" from ''Lifes Rich Pageant'', as well as "Near Wild Heaven" and "Texarkana" from ''Out of Time''. In concert, Mills also performed lead vocals on more recent performances of "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville".
* StraightGay / BiTheWay - Michael Stipe.
** He's fairly hesitant about declaring his sexuality one way or another, preferring to call himself "queer".
*** He also refers to himself as an "equal opportunity lech" -- [[BiTheWay he's slept with both men and women.]]
*** He manages to fit in the occasional hint- "7 Chinese Bros." features the line "Smell of sweet short haired boy".
*** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9dJcjUdAYs His mannerisms in this video, coupled with his make-up leave the viewer in no doubt.
* TalkAboutTheWeather: The chorus of "Pop Song 89" asks "Should we talk about the weather?/Should we talk about the government?". The song itself is a mockery of pop music's banality, and its verses similarly throw jabs at pop music clichés (LoveAtFirstSight, SillyLoveSongs) in the band's typical WordSaladLyrics manner.
** "So. Central Rain" mentions rain and "Fall On Me" is supposedly about acid rain.
** "Find The River" is most hardcore fans' favorite REM song for this reason. The song seems to be the last words of a dying person who is at peace with their life and is telling their relatives not to worry. The music fits this, not being sad but being wistful and bittersweet. Essentially then the song is relaxing with a hint of melancholy, but is a tearjerker because it's so beautiful.
* TheUnintelligible: Michael Stipe was this in the band's early years; from 1981 to 1983 it was frequently impossible to tell what he was singing and, even when it was possible to tell what the words were, it was usually impossible to tell what he was singing ''about''. (In 1985, a UK pop magazine reviewing the year's releases commented "Michael Stipe's nonsense lyrics continue to puzzle the gullible.") Amusingly lampshaded by Eddie Vedder when he inducted the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
* TitledAfterTheSong: "Man on the Moon" not only became the title of, and was used in, an AndyKaufman {{Biopic}}, but R.E.M. provided the movie's instrumental underscore and a new song, "The Great Beyond".
* TitleOnlyChorus: "Catapult", "Low", "Talk About The Passion", "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)".
* TheSomethingSong: "Radio Song" and "Pop Song 89".
* UnusualEuphemism: "Star Me Kitten"
** But NOT "Star 69".
* VocalTagTeam: Mostly between Michael Stipe and Mike Mills. Some of the more straight examples include instances between Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Kate Pierson in the chorus of "Shiny Happy People", Stipe and Mills in one brief instance on "Mine Smell Like Honey," and Stipe and Peaches on "Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter." Stipe's "duet" with Patti Smith on "Blue" could also possibly qualify.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The release of ''In Time'' delayed the band's work on ''Around The Sun'', and by the time they got round to recording it they were burned out, plus they had contributed two of the best tracks to the compilation. Had it not been for this, the album might have been better, though it's not as though the compilation was a waste of time.
** A line in "Welcome to the Occupation", off ''Document'', originally read "Hang your freedom fighters." Stipe had intended for it to have a double meaning -- "hang" as in "lynch" and "hang" as in "frame on a wall like a picture" -- but the UnfortunateImplications were present enough that Bill Berry requested it be changed (the line in the finished product reads "Hang your freedom ''higher''").
* WordPureeTitle: The band's name doesn't stand for "Rapid Eye Movement", which is usually pronounced "REM" rather than "R-E-M". It wasn't intended to actually stand for anything - they stayed up late writing names on a blackboard and eventually started running through a dictionary, picking out words at random.
* WordSaladLyrics: ''Chronic Town'' and ''Murmur'' especially, but just about every album has an example of this.
-->'''Peter Buck:''' ''(on the song "Orange Crush")'' I must have played this song like 3000 times in concert and after all this time I still have no idea what the fuck it's about.[[hottip:*:Michael Stipe has always said that the song is about the US military's use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.]]
** Perhaps the band's most notable aversion of this trope is "Everybody Hurts," as Stipe had aimed its lyrical content at teenagers.
* YouAreNotAlone: "Everybody Hurts."
-->So if you feel like you're alone... [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming No. No. No. You are not alone.]]
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''[[TheStinger So hold on. Hold on...]]''