139: R.E.M. - Murmur (1983)

April 30, 2024 / Amanda Rodgers

“Murmur just feels like magic. It’s interesting, considering how young they were when they made it and it being their first record — there’s something that feels very old about it.”

–Michael Shannon

We’ve held off on R.E.M. for a while, because the Athens, Ga., quartet is just such a heavyweight in the rock canon. They’re so huge, in fact, that they merit two episodes: one for the mumbly, Byrdsy alt-rock troubadours of the ‘80s, and one for the slightly less mumbly arena rock titans of the ‘90s and onward. We’re starting off with their 1983 debut Murmur, which fueled the rise of college radio with songs that were strangely out of time (so to speak) with the trends of the ‘80s. The compositions on Murmur are so hazy and oblique that they almost resist analysis, and that’s before you even consider Michael Stipe’s lyrics. But John, Mike, Phil, and Ben are willing to give it their best shot, so join them as they embark on a long-delayed pilgrimage west of the fields to discuss one of this podcast’s favorite bands.

Miscellany

Michael Stipe’s take on his early lyrics, as voiced through his AOL account “Stipey”: “lets be reasonable here. youall know that there arent words,per se, to a lot of the early stuff. i cnat even remember them.let it be on those ones.”
Phil’s Gang of Four comparison for “Laughing” is on point, because R.E.M. were fans of the band, and even opened for them a few times in the pre-Chronic Town days.
“Radio Free Europe” was danceable enough to make it onto American Bandstand, which apparently was still on the air in the early 1980s.
The epigraph above isn’t just a random celebrity endorsement: actor Michael Shannon and his musical collaborator Jason Narducy did a full national tour covering all of Murmur in 2023-24.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

John McFerrin (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Phil Maddox
Ben Marlin

Murmur tracklist

Radio Free Europe
Pilgrimage
Laughing
Talk About the Passion
Moral Kiosk
Perfect Circle
Catapult
Sitting Still
9-9
Shaking Through
We Walk
West of the Fields

Other clips used

R.E.M.:

West of the Fields (live at the Olympia)
Stand
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Fall on Me
Dangerous Times (live at Tyrone's, 1981)
Gardening at Night
Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single Version)
Sitting Still (Hib-Tone Version)
Route 66 (live)
7 Chinese Bros.
Voice of Harold
Every Day Is Yours to Win
Blue
(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville
There She Goes Again (live in Toronto)
Wolves, Lower
Can't Get There from Here
Harborcoat
I Believe
Begin the Begin
White Tornado

Others:

Pavement - Unseen Power of the Picket Fence
Classix Nouveaux - Guilty
Jean Sibelius - Symphony No. 5: III. Allegro Molto
Sophie - Hard
Mogwai - Yes! I Am a Long Way from Home
Echo & the Bunnymen - Stars Are Stars

Band/album personnel

Bill Berry – drums, backing vocals, percussion, bass guitar, piano
Peter Buck – electric & acoustic guitars
Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, piano, organ, acoustic guitar, vibraphone (2)
Michael Stipe – lead vocals
Greg Calbi – mastering
Don Dixon – co-producer, additional acoustic guitars, bass guitar (6)
Mitch Easter – co-producer, additional acoustic guitars, backwards guitar (6)

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
R.E.M. - 9-9 (this episode only)

You can buy Murmur and other albums by R.E.M. your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

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