King Of Birds - Tourfilm

[@galloping5273]

REM have been with me throughout my life…. What an amazing song…especially with the Drivin’ n’ cryin’ intro bolted seamlessly on. Still listening in 2024 (nearly) 40 (FORTY!! 😮) years later… REM music is timeless

[@tommyv8777]

Nothing like Michael's voice and the way he phrased lyrics! Still listening and loving in 2020.

[@df5295]

He can sing anything and make it sound great!

[@francisregala3604]

My favorite song from Tourfilm

[@perrymorrison7606]

Same here in Philly

[@nateriley4067]

3 days until 2023 and I'm staying strong. "I am the King of all I see, my kingdom for a voice..." Goosebumps every-time.

[@tommyv8777]

@@nateriley4067 Yes that is a great line that gives me goosebumps as well! The opening lines, too. Still listening in 2022 and soon 2023!

[@jerryobrien2848]

40 years and still my favorite band .

[@francisregala3604]

Same

[@AK-jj6py]

Everytime I hear this it's magical... what a band and what a performance.I remember taping my tourfilm on cassette so I could hear it in my Walkman on repeat.....Genius. Pure genius

[@johnjankow3462]

I did the same thing!

[@dannysmith3639]

Agree with everything you said

[@thorstenschneider5554]

Same here! :-)

[@mattgilbert7347]

Same here!!

[@lukethegardenman3747]

With the Drivin and crying intro simply sublime and always will be!!

[@galloping5273]

Seamless intro…it’s like it’s made to be together

[@clare538]

Soooooo beautiful. His voice still gives me chills after all these years...

[@carolinekinsler68]

Me too

[@Alan-gi2ku]

Ditto

[@Nevets1073]

I love Tourfilm. This performance is sublime.

[@Oh_I_Will]

Sublime...how so?

[@Nevets1073]

@@Oh_I_Will Really? Am I supposed to explain to you how my opinion of this performance makes me feel? I don't know how to respond to this question. Obviously with any art there is a tremendous amount of subjectivity and each performance or work impacts people in different ways. I've described how this particular one impacts me. I don't feel that there is really a need to elaborate further, honestly.

[@Oh_I_Will]

@@Nevets1073 that doesn’t explain why it’s “sublime” at all….the personal drama is great and all….but why is it “sublime”….I think your just using a buzz word bc your lazy in telling us why you really like this awesome song

[@Nevets1073]

@@Oh_I_Will and I think you're a sanctimonious asshole.

[@mattgilbert7347]

​@@Oh_I_WillSublime can mean both terrifying and beautifully overwhelming

[@melyndagenrich8567]

Wow. This song and video are so moving. They reach a place rarely found. Exquisite

[@williamlanders678]

This is one of the Greatest and Most Relaxing songs I've ever heard

[@Oh_I_Will]

Thousands more out there that move me...don’t pidgin hole yourself

[@ixeyeb]

Damn I love this band...Michael's voice is magical.

[@grranti]

Oh...When that '...birds' riff kicks in!! Chills-still!! (Don't think they'll ever pass) BEST BAND EVER!!

[@JohnReganSeattle]

the best band in the world at this moment; at their most beautiful

[@j.a.c.m.architecte]

One of the greatest bands ever, of all times. Tourfilm has that emotional energy that can make a lifetime memory. They are definitely a living legend, and when the have died, they'll live forever, immortalized by our love to good music with a meaning. Thank you.

[@sunflowereye]

I'm here again. Still one of their best song performed live...ever.

[@markstockel8514]

Drivin' N Cryin - "Walk With The People" intro was Top Notch!

[@moekirby2613]

Love it. REM always supported their local bands way back when.

[@Oh_I_Will]

@@moekirby2613 who else?

[@easywind13]

Driving and cryin drop an awesome "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" in there Austin city limits performance on KZbin highly recommended 👌

[@HelenH96]

this is so wonderful, one of my favourite REM songs, long live the memory of REM, I have been a fan since I was thirteen, will still be listening when I'm old and grey, thanks REMhq for posting :^) x

[@sunflowereye]

My favorite song by R.E.M. - lucky to have heard it at every TX Green Tour show w/ Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians as openers for all four shows - some of the best shows I've ever seen.

[@Oh_I_Will]

sunflowereye I saw them on the Green your as well...Indigo Girls opened

[@travelsinchinese640]

Wow! I've found another fan who thinks this is their best song! Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold!

[@christopherdillard6835]

I saw the Reunion Arena show. Loudest concert I’ve attended and I’ve seen a few.

[@mattgilbert7347]

​@@christopherdillard6835I saw them on the Green World Tour as well. Feb '89, Christchurch, New Zealand. The 5th or 6th show of the tour. They played for almost 2&1/2 hours! Local heroes The Bats supported, REM loved em. And wouldn't ya know it, a couple years later when Out of Time came out, two tracks could have been Bats songs!!!

[@barnacles62]

Michael Stipe is a true artist, his lyrics mostly just flowed, and though he headed in a direction with each song, it usually guided him as much as he did it. Mills and Buck the same. This is why this band was still functioning successfully when they decided to quit, after so many years. They were not sellouts to the organized "same ole same ole" music, like pop, what country music has become, and rap, where though each artist is a little different, the music all basically sounds the same, done quick for quick money. The King of Birds, to me, is about a person in their own soul, and realization that they are thought of as no different than the rest of the world, and the agony of thinking they are just another number in the multitude. Yet in this, they know that to themselves they aren`t, and the song is about the battle of these two things within Stipe himself, I actually think, but if not, to whom it may concern. I miss them, the world needs more music like this....

[@gordongrant444]

I miss them too...

[@danbirecki7562]

Song lyric analysis, 😊

[@CatBlood0001]

King of Birds… this taught me how to hold a note and hold it well. I honestly love this song in the deepest part of my soul.

[@scottbartlett4853]

Oh so accurate! Both your comment and the need to push hard to hold that note.

[@woodLG]

I got to see them play at Brown University in like 1984. It was awesome.

[@danpearce4547]

REM were with me from the time a friend gave me my first mix tape with pop song 89 on it in about 1990, to the year they broke up, just before my eldest daughter was born. 2011 felt like such a turning of a page in my life...

[@mustlovepretzels]

Happy Birthday today(January 4) to Michael Stipe. Cheers!🥨

[@maryannstipe8964]

Bill has white gloves on!!! OMG 🤣🤣🤣 I love you guys, your the best!!!!😘🙋

[@morticiadecat]

I had the video cassette of Tourfilm 89, nearly wore it out. Lovely to revisit these songs...

[@garlanpreece2278]

Me too.

[@noisepuppet]

same

[@havesate]

I'm from Holland and i had the exact same casette (and still have). i still love it!

[@evantapper5924]

Same. Startled when this just came through. WOW.

[@Oh_I_Will]

I still have it but don’t have a VCR any longer

[@crashatollah]

The amazing thing is that their earlier tours were even better! REM live is a special treat. btw, they are the world's best cover band!

[@morpheusdezion]

My favorite song from this album. What a fucking band.

[@scottfraser7118]

Me too a think x

[@firstdrive5785]

Best band... ever.

[@dannysmith3639]

Without doubt

[@Oh_I_Will]

Top 25 on my list

[@Alan-gi2ku]

Yep

[@thorstenschneider5554]

I love this one so much.......for more than 30 years now......

[@Nevets1073]

Love the incorporation of "Letter Never Sent" into the ending...

[@mastertapes1420]

Best REM song...Amazing Video...Love every second of it

[@lilianawojciechowska2710]

And why do I miss them like I do?

[@Oh_I_Will]

They have way too many great tunes for me to declare a FAV...in my Top 15 or so

[@ryanphillips4700]

"Aawayeeeeeee" like beautiful sandpaper. stipe - an underrated vocalist

[@ChrisDuncan]

Pure magic.

[@davidscottthayer8078]

Love the Drivin N Cryin cover at the beginning!

[@mustlovepretzels]

Great song from a great concert video "Tourfilm 89". Happy Birthday today(December 6) to Peter Buck. Cheers! 🥨

[@finvandewall2445]

wow, when he sings out that 'away' just wow

[@doncook2054]

Here, listening to REM in 2024; Cool!!!

[@ThePlastocene]

i Found this in high school..Here we are.

[@hexe77100]

now i have goosebumps all over my body!!

[@1REMfan]

This song always had a Doors vibe to me. Love it

[@barros195355]

Mike sua voz ausente ainda entorpece meu coração. A música de vocês toca minha alma. Por favor voltem, o mundo precisa de vocês.

[@eduardomota2429]

Precisamos ainda mais hj !

[@rdesranleau11]

this song brought me to tears when i first heard it in 87

[@laurabuchinger6040]

Love the intro from Drivin' and Cryin'.

[@Oh_I_Will]

We know we know

[@joycehall4866]

Everybody hit the ground. ❤

[@talpajam]

can never decide btwn. 7Chinese Brothers, Camera, or this one - everybody hit the ground..

[@mattgilbert7347]

Sad lyric. When bombs hit, birds take off in flight, and everybody hits the ground....

[@mergingmarky8274]

2022..2:50..one of several fav Stipe moments ...orig. vrsn too..love his ending improv lyrx/vox on this one esp....a top 3 vocalist for Me...they wld make so much on a reunion tour ..maybe by 2030😂💪🤟🏼🙏🏻

[@leplepi88]

Lyrics; Intro: What we think we need, what they believe we need What we think we see, what they believe we see It's been a long, long wrong And it keeps on go on and on The singer must sing his song And the leader must start the march, then fall behind to walk with the people. A thumbnail sketch, a jeweler's stone, a mean idea to call my own Old man don't lay so still you're not yet young There's time to teach, point to point Point observation (children carry reservations) Standing on the shoulders of giants Leaves me cold Leaves me cold A mean idea to call my own A hundred million birds fly Singer sing me a given Singer sing me a song Standing on the shoulders of giants Everybody's looking on Standing on the shoulders of giants Leaves me cold Leaves me cold A mean idea to call my own A hundred million birds fly Away Away I am king of all I see My kingdom for a voice Old man don't lay so still, you're not yet young There's time to teach, point to point Point observation (children carry reservations) Standing on the shoulders of giants Leaves me cold Leaves me cold A mean idea to call my own A hundred million birds fly Away Away Everybody hit the ground Everybody hit the ground Everybody hit the ground Outro: Water is evening now The catacombs are filling in Who drew the shortest straw? Who drew the shortest straw? Who drew the shortest straw? Who drew the shortest straw?

[@emilio6891]

THAAAAANKS!!!

[@itsneverbeenlike1]

As English is not my native language, I though all my life that in the end Michael mumbles: be true, be sure, be strong, be true, be sure be strong be true, be sure be strong oooo 😮😅 As a youngster it was a bit like a guide/goal to be: sure, strong, true. I wrote it on my schoolbooks. And now I find out the lyrics were totally something else. I am a bit confused. Love R.E.M. 🥰

[@michaelmcdonald8452]

@@itsneverbeenlike1 if you didn't know that first little bit before "a thumbnail sketch" is from a song called "with the people" by fellow Georgians Drivin N Cryin

[@mrbollocks1979]

The best live release ever, by any band in my opinion. Tourfilm is utter genius.

[@nkalantarians]

This song definitely helped keep me going through grad-school.

[@nateriley4067]

Middle school for me...man, it was a bitch!

[@noisepuppet]

A great moment in concert movies.

[@jilldinardo9061]

I listen to this song for motivation... and calming it works.

[@maryannjohnson4288]

Love!!!! Look at you here, so beautiful in every way. 😍😍😍

[@noisepuppet]

Listen and be enlightened, god damn it.

[@MrVoodemar]

mystical performance 👊

[@ubujacks]

Sorry, YEARS later and this is still stoking me. I heart REMHQ

[@forthedisenfranchised4366]

I am the king of all I see, my kingdom for a voice...

[@suzanalemos9271]

Uma das melhores dos anos 80 e 90!

[@masonb9788]

damn.. crying.

[@phototristan]

R.E.M. needs to release this on Blu Ray!

[@burnzie743]

Such a good song

[@francisregala3604]

Best song in Tourfilm

[@mattgilbert7347]

When they played this at the Christchurch Town Hall gig in Feb 89, at the end you could hear a pin drop. So beautiful.

[@Oh_I_Will]

I would hope not

[@notapara2812]

it is a jewel. my love for R.E.M ❤️ 2023

[@AAwildeone]

This song along with Talk About the Passion and I Know It's Over by The Smiths got me through coming out 30 years ago when very bad thoughts were going through my head...now these songs still break me down, but in a good way

[@Oh_I_Will]

Break you down...how so?

[@cotiaratv3651]

The song you listen to as you fall asleep.

[@EvenFlow1970]

Best Tour Ever! Indigo Girls, Throwing Muses. Epic in every way.

[@Oh_I_Will]

I saw them on this tour with Indigo Girls...I honestly can’t remember a thing about those ladies set...I do remember REM’a!!!!

[@thais2415]

this song is great

[@domlosquadro1083]

Hey is a legend.. classic voice political lyrics.. class class

[@domlosquadro1083]

Legendary song, political reasoning with poinient lyrics and chords

[@Jeff-lx4vx]

Hello All, Huge R.E.M. fan from way back and this version of the song has always seemed almost mystical to me. Literally gives me goose bumps it's so beautiful. One thing I've never been able to figure out is where the first few lines in the 'intro' came from...'what we think we need, what they believe we need...'. They are not on the Document version and I've always been curious. Thanks in advance for any information!

[@alfiegee3975]

Maybe Finest Worksong was before in the set and it was kind of a refrain of the "what we want and what we need" line.

[@bartlebyscrivener674]

Jeff Gunther Got your answer. It's from an old Drivin' n Cryin' Song - a Georgia band that REM supported at the time - a song called 'With the People' from the album 'Mystery Road'. Great song and some intelligent southern rock music. Check out Honeysuckle Blue - amazing song on same album. I was at this show from Tourfilm - most of it filmed from Macon Ga show. Truly amazing moment.

[@jeffgunther4582]

+Bartleby Scrivener Thanks! Sorry it's taken me so long to see this and get back to you! I will definitely check out Drivin and Cryin and that album in particular

[@garlanpreece2278]

Driving and Crying was a really good band back in the day. Saw them at Georgia Southern (college then) back in 89 or 90...

[@noisepuppet]

Bartleby Scrivener Stipe cowrote that with Kevin Kinney iirc. Similarly, the intro to "I Believe" on Tourfilm was a song called Future 40s cowritten by Stipe with Syd Straw.

[@gregkiteos1936]

This version is so beautiful. I recognised the snippet of _Letter Never Sent_ but what are the other two songs? I think they are both non-R.E.M. songs. Edit: Having read the comments, I learnt that the intro is a snippet from the Drivin' n' Cryin song _Walk With the People._

[@barbaraseagle8693]

Pure Magic!!

[@EvenFlow1970]

Best Tour EVER!

[@Oh_I_Will]

I saw it...good show...not the best though

[@jamesatkinson3037]

the best live version of a song, and an rem song.

[@ColossalCrib]

Monumental

[@ArtHernandezphotorepair]

this has to be my favorite REM song

[@ubujacks]

days later and this is still stoking me.

[@jean-baptiste6479]

The guitar part is really good

[@SuperUrsusmaritimus]

Fearless (PinkFloyd)-->King of Birds(REM)-->California One (Decemberists)

[@mjf8897]

uncredited 5th member of the band: the breeze

[@rarapas]

I love this song :)

[@DJRoil]

Huge R.E.M. fan but never really cared for the album version of this song. This arrangement is so lush and beautiful, it's my favourite Peter Buck performance of all time. It reminds me so much of "The End" by The Doors, in that context the lines "everybody hit the ground" and "who drew the short straw" are especially haunting.

[@bladesonly]

this is a perfect song. ask if you want to know what i mean.

[@claudioacquista8683]

Gerry Riani what u mean?

[@lawrence6258]

Feed The Birds. It's magical.

[@dannford-premiersothebysin9057]

Michael Stipe is just a beautiful human~~

[@mokuho]

I love REM from México!

[@ManifestNightmare]

Man, the audience couldn't keep time at all at the beginning. Incredible that they just barreled through, because it would have totally thrown me lol

[@TheTOCM]

Tour Film on VHS... Wish I had a player right now......

[@StratsRUs]

First saw them on this tour when I was 18.They were in colour though.

[@yongadog]

Cannot believe how good Peter is on the mountain dulcimere.

[@vladvodopadable]

Those guys saved me once

[@gordongrant444]

Incredible vocal. Much better version than the record's.

[@Oh_I_Will]

Oh Gawd no....this is good In itself but musically speaking the album version is the definitive in my book

[@gordongrant444]

Silly to argue with a fellow REM fanatic. Both versions are great. I just prefer the live punch and abandon of Michael's vocal on this one. All love.

[@ColossalCrib]

Extraordinary performance

[@lisas5211]

REM FOREVER ❤

[@777driver3]

As good as it gets

[@brianmcpeake2509]

Michael at his absolute best!

[@cotiaratv3651]

Every game of chicken must come to an end.

[@shipofthesun]

Sublime.

[@mrblisterfist]

~Class!

[@2011blasss]

The best band

[@circinus7781]

Be sure, be strong, be true

[@lotusgreen84]

❤

[@cotiaratv3651]

Still here, thanks for asking.