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Length: 4:15
Plays (last 30 days): 1
It seems like it's all, it's all for nothing
I know the barricades
And I know the mortar in the wall breaks
I recognise the weapons, I've used them well
This is my mistake
Let me make it good
I raised the wall
And I will be the one to knock it down
I've a rich understanding of my finest defences
I proclaim that claims are left unstated
I demand a rematch
I decree a stalemate
I divine my deeper motives
I recognise the weapons
I've practised them well
I fitted them myself
It's amazing what devices you can sympathize
Empathise
This is my mistake, let me make it good
I raised the wall
And I will be the one to knock it down
Reach out for me
Hold me tight
Hold that memory
Let my machine talk to me
Let my machine talk to me
This is my world,and I am the World Leader Pretend
This is my life, and this is my time
I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit
It's high time I razed the walls that I've constructed
It's amazing what devices you can sympathize
Empathise
This is my mistake, let me make it good
I raised the wall
And I will be the one to knock it down
You fill in the mortar
You fill in the harmony
You fill in the mortar
I raised the wall
And I'm the only one
I will be the one to knock it down
A bit shit this and a shit band
And a shit comment.
A bit shit this and a shit band
Agree!
Somebody trying to be REM
Ummm....
Guess not. Some people are very literal around here.
Quote from Michael Stipe: "It's a tribute to Leonard Cohen, using military terms to describe a battle within. I was so proud of the lyrics and my vocal take that I refused to sing it a second time. I did it once. That was it."
No, I understood it when I saw teen angst poetry in junior high school. It's the same: "deep."
Early REM was so freaking great. I told anyone who would listen that they were - the Dead included - the best American band. But after Bill Berry left they just lost it all.
![yes](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yes.gif)
Doesn't anyone understand between the lines of this great song? It's not about external politics.
Guess not. Some people are very literal around here.
Quote from Michael Stipe: "It's a tribute to Leonard Cohen, using military terms to describe a battle within. I was so proud of the lyrics and my vocal take that I refused to sing it a second time. I did it once. That was it."
By all means, please do.
To me it's among the 10 best R.E.M. songs.
tedious in every way.
This is one of the top 10 R.E.M.
songs according to almost every poll.
tedious in every way.
![guitarist](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_guitarist.gif)
Exactly. Thank you. So dreary compared to the fresh mysterious band when they first hit it big.
Yep. I played all of Reckoning today and it was a high point of the day. This song, though, is wallpaper.
Algis wrote:
To YOUR moment perhaps. MAGA !
By all means, please do.
Exactly. Thank you. So dreary compared to the fresh mysterious band when they first hit it big.
'Dreary'? Always fascinates me, how perceptions can differ so radically.
Exactly. Thank you. So dreary compared to the fresh mysterious band when they first hit it big.
Personally I’d go a bit later, I think “Out of Time” was the high water point.
Yeah, that last one didn't work out very well.
![](https://f.tqn.com/y/politicalhumor/1/S/7/Z/6/trump-money-proof.jpg)
18 years ago, this song.
How prescient.
agreed
![{#Stupid} {#Stupid}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_stupid.gif)
Otherwise I would have quite liked this.
![{#Ask} {#Ask}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_ask.gif)
Perfectly said.
My personal favourite is still the album 'Lifes rich pageant' when they were young and wild (like me, hehe).
![](https://rhetologue.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/dr-strangelove-riding-the-bomb.jpg)
It's amazing what devices we can sympathize.....
NYC and Paris are very likely the most conceited cities. But conceit is something else. In fact those who recognize, rightly, the folly of conceit are just proving my point all the more --- it IS smart to recognize conceit for what it is, but that is not humility by any means.
I beg to differ: NYC is the most conceited city and justifiably so ;)
![{#Yes} {#Yes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yes.gif)
NeuroGeek wrote:
Perhaps your sample is a bit biased by your current location?
rdo wrote:
NYC and Paris are very likely the most conceited cities. But conceit is something else. In fact those who recognize, rightly, the folly of conceit are just proving my point all the more --- it IS smart to recognize conceit for what it is, but that is not humility by any means.
![{#Yes} {#Yes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yes.gif)
NeuroGeek wrote:
Perhaps your sample is a bit biased by your current location?
rdo wrote:
Perhaps your sample is a bit biased by your current location?
So good.
Lazarus wrote:
sophisticated syncopated beat... great lyrics that once again remind me of John Lennon's Walls and Bridges... we be dancing...
Hey Kaybee, thanks for digging up that old post I'd pretty much disowned already (see the post right below yours).
![{#Lol} {#Lol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
never forget who the RP creator is. he saved santa cruz from deadness for years at KFAT....
![{#Dance} {#Dance}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_dance.gif)
sophisticated syncopated beat... great lyrics that once again remind me of John Lennon's Walls and Bridges... we be dancing...
I don't think it was the music that sucked in the '80s. It was a lot of the radio stations that had been independent and into playing all kinds of music were bought out by commercial radio. As a result, you just didn't hear a lot of the good stuff that was coming out then. I was lucky enough to live in Toronto in that decade and to listen to an excellent station that played a lot of the alternative music from all over - Britain and Europe as well as North America and other places. Sadly CFNY went commercial in the early 90's.
Listening now to RP, I'm amazed not only at what is out there now, but a lot of the great music I've never heard on radio before that came out in the 90's and early 2000's.
Rock is not dead!
Hey Kaybee, thanks for digging up that old post I'd pretty much disowned already (see the post right below yours).
![{#Lol} {#Lol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
Everybody in my church be dancing... love it... love this whole album...
I really liked their earlier more lively songs.
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
..you can say that again!..oh wait..
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
Hey fuzzy, Bill just gave your comment a shout out. Thing is, I don't read your comment as a criticism of the lyrics - I interpet your comment as meaning that this song, with the excellent guitar work, would ALSO make a nice instrumental.
Compared to the 60's and 70's, the 80's did suck. Then after that, it was really all but over. I mean, I was born in 1970 and I love the rock since 1980, but let's face it, Rock is dead. Pretty soon NPR will be playing Rock and asking for donations to keep it alive.
I don't think it was the music that sucked in the '80s. It was a lot of the radio stations that had been independent and into playing all kinds of music were bought out by commercial radio. As a result, you just didn't hear a lot of the good stuff that was coming out then. I was lucky enough to live in Toronto in that decade and to listen to an excellent station that played a lot of the alternative music from all over - Britain and Europe as well as North America and other places. Sadly CFNY went commercial in the early 90's.
Listening now to RP, I'm amazed not only at what is out there now, but a lot of the great music I've never heard on radio before that came out in the 90's and early 2000's.
Rock is not dead!
Well, it's only as dead as you want it to be. I guess it also depends on what one's definition of "Rock" is. By the way, the music of 80's did not suck, compared to any era, whether or not you liked it.
I did not make my point very well. I agree. Takes too long to really say anything intelligent here. What I meant basically was that there were so many great bands prior to 1980, and that Rock bands topped the charts in the 70s and 60s and filled the airwaves, it's hard to say Rock is alive in comparison still post 1980. It's clumsy, I know. REM is like the whole reason I listen to music. They got me into good music in the first place. I was pretty clueless before that. I was a poor kid, serioulsy, I had hardly any money for CDs and I did not really talk to people about music until college.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/The_Dictator_Poster.jpg)
I'm surprised that a Christian pastor (Reverend Jim - Vineyard Church of Sweden) would espouse hate of something as benign as music. Or would espouse any kind of hate. I didn't realize that hate was a Christian value - which explains why I'm so bewildered by the GOP primaries.
There was a little band
Revered across the land
Some songs were dark and torrid
When they were good, they were very very good
....
Yo' listenin' ?????
I completely agree with you. I love the lyrics
![{#Arrowd} {#Arrowd}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_arrowd.gif)
I sit at my table and wage war on myself
It seems like it's all, it's all for nothing
I know the barricades, and
I know the mortar in the wall breaks
I recognize the weapons, I used them well
This is my mistake. Let me make it good
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down
I've a rich understanding of my finest defenses
I proclaim that claims are left unstated,
I demand a rematch
I decree a stalemate
I divine my deeper motives
I recognize the weapons
I've practiced them well. I fitted them myself
(chorus)
It's amazing what devices you can sympathize, empathize
This is my mistake. Let me make it good
I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down
Reach out for me and hold me tight. Hold that memory
Let my machine talk to me, let my machine talk to me
This is my world
And I am world leader pretend
This is my life
And this is my time
I have been given the freedom
To do as I see fit
It's high time I've razed the walls
That I've constructed
(repeat chorus)
You fill in the mortar. You fill in the harmony
You fill in the mortar. I raised the wall
And I'm the only one
I will be the one to knock it down
That's funny - I've always thought it was one of their most commercial albums. There's three big "hits" on it...
![{#Beat} {#Beat}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_beat.gif)
You must be listening to something else - this is a fantastic song.
![{#Beat} {#Beat}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_beat.gif)
Well, I don't know if it's the worst, but it's pretty dull. My impression was that this really sounds like an REM song but doesn't have anything interesting happening in it. Kind of a cliche. Am I making any sense?
like your style
![{#Cowboy} {#Cowboy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_cowboy.gif)
![{#Beat} {#Beat}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_beat.gif)
Just relax and let it flow all over you... this song will make you move...
It took a moment, but oh. Wow. Okay - there it is... Eyes closed, mind opened... This could be a script. For now, it's a really great song by R.E.M. I'ma have to get this song, because I just got a great idea for a story - and it's been awhile since I rattled Peter Lenkov's cage... *evil giggle*
![{#Yawn} {#Yawn}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yawn.gif)
You must be listening to the William Shatner cover, because the R.E.M. version is definitely sung.
![{#Wall} {#Wall}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_wall.gif)
![{#Yawn} {#Yawn}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yawn.gif)
I like to think of myself who's pretty hip to REM - but I don't know this song - or even this album - how is that possible - it's not like I'm young and new to the REM scene. Nice song - thanks Bill!
Oh.
No, that was not pretty. Not pretty at all
![{#Lol} {#Lol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
My favorite Michael Stipe sung song. Period.
Oh.
No, that was not pretty. Not pretty at all
Well, if you can find a reliable source for lyrics you can always read them off the iPod while you're playing the songs. (Not that it's the same experience, I'm just saying).
Then again, this was the first R.E.M. lyric printed on an album cover (and the only one in "Green"). Of course these days they print them all... but no one wants to read them!
Compared to the 60's and 70's, the 80's did suck. Then after that, it was really all but over. I mean, I was born in 1970 and I love the rock since 1980, but let's face it, Rock is dead. Pretty soon NPR will be playing Rock and asking for donations to keep it alive.
Well, it's only as dead as you want it to be. I guess it also depends on what one's definition of "Rock" is. By the way, the music of 80's did not suck, compared to any era, whether or not you liked it.
![{#No} {#No}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_no.gif)
Fortunately there were several great songs on the disk, but this CD marks the beginning of their decline for me.
More crap.
![{#Yes} {#Yes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_yes.gif)
The suckage level of Stipe would make a space shuttle implode.
Always striking to me how often those of us with NO MUSICAL TALENT (I include myself here) are so ready to criticize (I don't include myself here, though) those who DO. bokey you have just exposed yourself, I suspect, as one of these who qualify on both counts.
This is a very groovy tune... we be dancing...
This never struck me as a happy, dancy, sort of sung, myself. But I guess I could dance to it.
More crap.
The suckage level of Stipe would make a space shuttle implode.
This is a crucial point, often missed in the "80s-music-sucks" tirades. What you heard on commercial radio sucked, indeed. If you were around a good college FM station, on the other hand. . . .
Compared to the 60's and 70's, the 80's did suck. Then after that, it was really all but over. I mean, I was born in 1970 and I love the rock since 1980, but let's face it, Rock is dead. Pretty soon NPR will be playing Rock and asking for donations to keep it alive.
The two "biggest" 80s rock bands, and two rare cases of wildly popular artists who made great rock in that decade.
So many previously great and succesful acts (including favorites of mine like Bowie, the Stones, and Neil Young) put out a lot of dissapointing music in the 80's. Most of the critically acclaimed rock of the 80's was not heard on commercial radio - as it was in the 70's and the 90's.
This is a crucial point, often missed in the "80s-music-sucks" tirades. What you heard on commercial radio sucked, indeed. If you were around a good college FM station, on the other hand. . . .
Is this about Sting or Bush?
The two "biggest" 80s rock bands, and two rare cases of wildly popular artists who made great rock in that decade.
So many previously great and succesful acts (including favorites of mine like Bowie, the Stones, and Neil Young) put out a lot of dissapointing music in the 80's. Most of the critically acclaimed rock of the 80's was not heard on commercial radio - as it was in the 70's and the 90's.
This is a really good song from a great album...
Yes.
Why, is there safety in numbers or something?
Um, maybe ... sometimes you get into a situation where you're going "this tune is overrated big time" —- like this one.
If you say that about Radiohead, the RP sacred cow, for instance, opprobrium rains down on you.
So yeah, I'll go with safety in numbers.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way.
Why, is there safety in numbers or something?
Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels that way.
![{#Hug} {#Hug}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_hug.gif)
version for the Hispanic community:
la banda REM es, sin duda, de las importantes bandas que dos últimas décadas han aparecido, no se encuentra la intención de nadie en el mundo musical puede, por tanto, poner en duda; creativa, el talento, muy buenos ejecutantes, con el cantante-líder que hace la envidia de muchos bandas, pero hasta buenos músicos pueden ser Desperados a veces para ser desconcertante cuando acelerar demasiado en "Accelerate"; no es el caso de la presente canción
** 7 / 8 **
Ehhhhhhhh, nope, not just you
![{#Stupid} {#Stupid}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_stupid.gif)
('cept for the Phillip Glass)
What kind of day/week/life are you having when Phillip Glass is the only "appealing" music you hear on RP? (Christ Almighty!)
Whatever you're on, please post the info. I don't want any of it. Just my opinion, not an attack or anything.
![{#Drunk} {#Drunk}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_drunk.gif)
![{#Chillpill} {#Chillpill}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/chillpill.gif)
![{#Frustrated} {#Frustrated}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_frustrated.gif)
![{#Chillpill} {#Chillpill}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/chillpill.gif)
![{#Crashcomp} {#Crashcomp}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_crashcomp.gif)
![{#Chillpill} {#Chillpill}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/chillpill.gif)
Is this about Sting or Bush?
this guy always has the best "lost in translation" comments. FTW.
Re Calypsus.
I'll hazard a guess that an on line "translation" program is being used. The message is "lost in translation"
...robyn hitchcock and the egyptians opened when the green tour played houston in '89...
band REM is certainly of the important bands that two last decades had appeared in these, finds that nobody intent to the musical world will be able therefore in doubt; creative, talent, very good executants, with leader-singer that he makes envy to many bands; but until good musicians they can be desperados for times be baffling when they speed up too much "Accelerate", it is not the case of this song
** 7 / 8 **
this guy always has the best "lost in translation" comments. FTW.