It Happened Today

I just read the news about R.E.M. deciding to call it quits after 31 years of music. I don’t know why this is shocking me like it is but I am truly shocked. I can’t exactly say that I’m close to physical tears but it’s certainly affecting me emotionally. A band ending is inevitable, really, so I’m not sure why I’m having a hard time digesting this. Then again, I guess I do understand. It’s been a long, long road and I’ve been quite the diehard fan since 1985. I guess all that history between us is just choking me up a bit. I actually feel like I need to give a moment of silence or something like that in honor of them.

The first song I ever learned to play on guitar was R.E.M.’s “Driver 8”, in fact, they were a huge reason why I learned to play in the first place. I worked on that one song for weeks prior to being able to even come close to doing what I’d call “playing” it. Learning that one song essentially gave me enough knowledge on the instrument to start writing my own material. Over the past 24 years, I’ve played that same song countless times and I still make minor adjustments to how I play it, even just recently adding yet another touch that’s even more true to the original. I know and play probably 40% of the R.E.M. catalog. I think I play at least one R.E.M. tune each time I practice guitar. We’ve basically been like family all these years.

I was just commenting not more than a week ago how amazing it’s been having them around all this time. They’ve been one of the few bands that, in my opinion at least, have always been true to what they originally stood for and have always put out content that was up to par. Not every R.E.M. album is flawless, mind you, but I think the band has always tried to do something fresh, a little bit different, and of a higher caliber than most bands that last even half as long as they have. They also never strayed into “success la-la land”, as I’ll call it, when extreme success can sometimes severely alter the very core of a band and its’ members. Somehow, R.E.M. has managed to always keep it realistic and I’ve had nothing but the utmost respect for them in regards to that.

R.E.M. will surely be missed. It surely is the end of an era (even if their actual ‘era’ ended quite awhile ago). I think it’s ironic that a band like R.E.M. disbands while others like U2 insist on continuing, even though they sold out who they were back in 1987 (and yet went on to bigger stardom because of it…go figure). Even in disbanding, R.E.M. stays true to form and display nothing but class, offering multiple statements in regards to thanking their fans rather than trying to act like it’s all been about them. Classy right to the end. They simply ‘get it’ when so many others don’t.

And so, with that, I hand it right back to the band. Thank you, R.E.M., for all the great music that you’ve brought into this world and shared with us. You’ve been one of the biggest musical influences of my life, if not the biggest, in more ways than one. Thank you for everything.

Now might be the right time to start that R.E.M. tribute band after all.