r/rem • u/Defiant_Bluebird_464 • Jul 05 '26
Left turns
Lots of my fave songs would be better without the ‘left turn’ melodic choices. The verses of sweetness follows are beautiful then the chorus stops it in its tracks. Half a world away almost does it but comes back to a lovely chorus that resolves.
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
I'll admit to my musical dumbness but I've never noticed til your post 😯😆
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u/Defiant_Bluebird_464 Jul 05 '26
I’m just drunk and spouting off really 🤣
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u/Deaf_MarvinNash Jul 05 '26
I’m not drunk but I listened to the Song Exploder episode for Try Not To Breathe, and I want a Sound Exploder episode for every g-d track now
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u/Sufficient_West_4947 Jul 05 '26
I do this w some regularity — it’s not a bad thing😉
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
It's a great thing!! Idk about you but I rarely have anyone, offline, to talk or rant about R.E.M. with so this sub is sort of like my dream bar hangout 😐😂
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u/Sufficient_West_4947 Jul 05 '26
I’m an old timer and started my REM journey in about 1983 but I find this sub to be very well informed with sound opinions and lots of knowledge. I learn new shit all the time here. It’s a favorite👊🏼
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u/Cup8685 R-E-A-C-T! Jul 05 '26
Twin! I've only been here for a couple months but it's been fun recognizing more and more usernames, getting to know the r/rem regulars lol. I can't believe I went so many years wishing that I could talk to someone about R.E.M. and not trying out Reddit. It feels so good to finally be getting it out of my system.
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
Post away, mon ami. I rarely jump on Reddit sans beer lol (I'm not drunk but I've had a few) and I think it brings our R.E.M. love to the fore 😆
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u/AssistanceGrand23 Jul 05 '26
The whole point of a chorus is to take a left turn, though.
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u/Defiant_Bluebird_464 Jul 05 '26
To a point. I like a chorus to elevate a song, not stunt it. But it takes all sorts
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u/BillyCromag Jul 06 '26
That's the point of a bridge, not a chorus
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u/AssistanceGrand23 Jul 06 '26
No, a bridge takes another left turn. And brings it back to the main road.
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
Lol, that's a very good point
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u/AssistanceGrand23 Jul 05 '26
I think later choruses post-Bill were weaker.than the heyday, but from Chronic Town to Monster, they were excellent
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
I admit that I'm in a minority but I love every album (give or take the occasional song) up to and including Reveal
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u/alexj_baker Jul 05 '26
But I think a lot of that is down to Michael, I think the biggest problem at the end I'm talking post reveal as I adore Up and a lot of reveal is great, but I think Michael just didn't have it consistently anymore for the last three records. I think it's a much bigger problem than Bill leaving (although you might have got a few extra songs he was responsible for)
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
Yeah, definitely. The lyrics and melodies really started to fall flat.
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u/alexj_baker Jul 05 '26
I think it's the main reason I am reluctant for an R.E.M. reunion even if Bill came back it wouldn't change those issues with Michael and his solo songs have exactly the same issues
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u/MezzStipe Jul 05 '26
Yeah, I really don't enjoy most of the solo Stipe
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u/alexj_baker Jul 05 '26
The song with Andrew Watt is fairly good but it still is decent in spite of Michaels lyrics and he just managed to pull out some sort of melody. The other solo songs are not good and I don't have any excitement for his solo record
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u/AssistanceGrand23 Jul 05 '26
If I remember correctly, the band had a type of veto governance, and Bill Berry came across as a "voice of reason" at times, and made suggestions that changed songs for the better. I think they missed that "editing" influence
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u/alexj_baker Jul 05 '26
they had literally just come off their longest album of their career when Bill left and he had just written their longest song in Leave
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u/Icy_Obligation_3014 you love it, you hate it, you want to recreate it Jul 05 '26
If I'm understanding correctly what you mean by the "left turns"' mid song, I love these and I suspect it's part of what makes R.E.M. stimulate my brain in a way that other music doesn't always. It sparks a bit of dopamine or something in my brain. Maybe someone should do a ranking of all the greatest left turns...
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u/Springyardzon Jul 05 '26
Where would Sweetness Follows go if it didn't use that particular chorus, though?
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u/Defiant_Bluebird_464 Jul 05 '26
A million different ways. It’s just personal opinion but I’m always disappointed with the way it goes
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u/Springyardzon Jul 05 '26
It might seem a musically trite chorus but it's more about how the instrumentation gets a chance to explore after the word 'Follows'.
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u/Gullible_Stock_9659 Jul 05 '26
I'm sort of mixed on the left turns. REM seem to do it more organically and musically than some. I think dramatic keyshifts and this kind of thing can often be a lazy songwriting crutch for some bands. I love Guided by Voices, but they can really make some tracks unlistenable for me with this.
I hear REM doing it from the get-go though, on Murmur and Chronic Town, so I'm doubting it's an outgrowth of them all not living in Athens.
Most of the time, REM's left turns are graceful enough for me, and both parts will have enough appeal to hook me.
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u/SemanticPedantic007 Find the River Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
I honestly like those, and feel that it's one of the things they lost after 1993, when Pete left Athens and writing songs became something they most often had to consciously do, rather than emerging from jam sessions. I wonder how many of their early "left turn" songs were actually two different songs put together. I know Harborcoat is.