Best version of this and the song should have made the record.

I was at this show the sound was soooooo bad, we left

it's good but clearly dated....god bless Mr. Easter

Brilliance. This is so good. Thanks.

Love me some R.E.M. and think they are easily in the top 10-15 of all-time greatest bands, but I think it's pretty obvious why this wasn't ever played again. LOL

To this day........ One of REM's best tunes !

Brilliance

Johnny hibbert he was a Atlanta local music promoter who had his own record label hib tone records he signed the band to a one year deal he also had sole publishing rights to anything released on hib tone records he also hade control of creating his own mix of the songs a deal i believe the band was able to get out of later but this is his mix of radio free Europe and im kinda glad its out there i prefer the original but this is kinda cool and whacky

Still think one of REMs best tunes

Incredible.

This is the absolute best of REM Man this brings back some memories

If I remember correctly, this eventually evolved into “Everybody Hurts”.

Great very great❤

Best look for him.

I like how seriously Stipe takes his "Superman" mime. "I must raise both arms so that deaf people know who this song is about."

"The powerlines have floaters so airplanes won't get snagged" ❤

georgia on my mind

Cool alt version

stay off that highway

Que cover horrível!

??????????? Don't think they ever did THIS again. Misguided.

I could see this finding a place on Murmur. Was it too cheery? Maybe..

Oh this is atrocious. The echo makes my head hurt. I love that their reaction was "we're still figuring out our sound, but it's definitely not THAT."

I live in Passaic.Somehow I missed this show.Goddamn me!

very cool

Mr. Zekley out-Michaels Michael in showmanship in this performance!

I am with you guys!!

"go tell crusade" sneaks in from 1985's "Driver 8" Stipe was chewing on the lyrics for years. Kinda the way we saw Low and Belong on Tourfilm89.

Don't mind a touch of keyboard, but the chorus here doesn't sound as good as on the album, I liked stringy, accoustic guitar sound higher in the mix.

Looking at your watch a third time Waiting in the station for the bus Going to a place that's far So far away and if that's not enough Going where nobody says hello They don't talk to anybody they don't know You'll wind up in some factory That's full-time filth and nowhere left to go Walk home to an empty house Sit around all by yourself I know it might sound strange but I believe You'll be coming back before too long Don't go back to Rockville, don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville and waste another year At night I drink myself to sleep And pretend I don't care that you're not here with me 'Cause it's so much easier to handle All my problems if I'm too far out to sea But something better happen soon Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back Don't go back to Rockville, don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville and waste another year It's not as though I really need you If you were here I'd only bleed you But everybody else in town only wants To bring you down and that's not how it ought to be I know it might sound strange, but I believe You'll be coming back before too long Don't go back to Rockville, don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville and waste another year Don't go back to Rockville, don't go back to Rockville Don't go back to Rockville and waste another year

There's a secret stigma, reaping wheel Diminish, a carnival of sorts Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel Stranger, stranger to these parts Gentlemen don't get caught, cages under cage Gentlemen don't get caught Box cars are pulling out of town Box cars are pulling out of town Box cars are pulling out of town Cages under, cages under, cages under cage Cages under, cages under, cages under cage There's a secret stigma reaping wheel Stranger, stranger to these parts Chronic town, poster torn, reaping wheel Diminish, stranger Boxcars are pulling a carnival of sorts Out of town, out of town

Is he singing some of this in German, or just his usual "Stipe" language?

Wow. I've never heard this version. And I'm one of the biggest REM fans out there.

Ewwwwwwwewwwwwwwwwww.

Too Cool for School! 😮

don't underestimate REM - one great band

I was at this show!!

Came here from the Beato interview with Mike Mills. It's obviously REM but still somehow sounds nothing like them. Eerie enough that it's hard to even evaluate it.

Thank you for uploading.

Thank you for uploading.

Thank you for uploading.

Thank you for uploading.

Thank you for uploading. interesting.

Thank you for uploading.

Thank you for uploading.

Here I am, in June 2024, loving this song as much now as I did when it was first released.

Happy 39th Anniversary today to Fables of the Reconstruction ✌️💙🎶🔥🔥

Wow. I'd read about this many years ago, but never realised that it had surfaced. I thought that R.E.M. would have destroyed all evidence, given how much they hated it. My opinion? It's actually not as bad as I imagined. The chorus effect that was added to Peter's guitar makes it sound weirdly like early Cure. It's not exactly caked in synths like it was rumoured, but they're still incongruous-sounding and they're unnecessary embellishments that add nothing to the song. The Murmur version - like the rest of that record - sounds weirdly timeless, but the production on this version carbon-dates it to the early-1980s. I think the band were so horrified with it because Hague took something that they made and messed with it to such a degree that they didn't think it even sounded like them. Kind of like if you went to the barber, told him what you wanted, but he then gave you a stupid haircut that didn't suit you for no other reason than because he thought it was fashionable. Ironically, they band became born-again synthesiser enthusiasts 15 years later, but the two records that made the greatest use of them (Reveal and Around the Sun) are by far their two weakest.

The dry drums sound so much better than the reverb heavy released mix!

Where did you find this?