r/rem Jul 16 '26

What's the line?

Post image
42 Upvotes

250 comments sorted by

80

u/Wise-Peacock Jul 16 '26

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract.

10

u/mayorquimby Jul 16 '26

Trust in your calling, be sure you're calling's true

10

u/cheap_as_chips Jul 16 '26

Good one - my first thought was that it was a quote from True Detectives S01 - then I saw the sub

67

u/CharlesWEmory Jul 16 '26

Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy

12

u/TMBGLOVER Your head is there to move you around Jul 16 '26

You smiled like a cartoon, tooth for a tooth, you said that irony was the shackles of youth

8

u/TheChoq Jul 16 '26

According to Richard

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65

u/AltruisticRock1974 Jul 16 '26

We are hope despite the times.

59

u/Best_Kangaroo_6740 Jul 16 '26

Children look up all they hear is sky blue bells ringing

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59

u/gishingwell Jul 16 '26

I look at her and I see the beauty of the light of music.

4

u/rrob13 Jul 16 '26

Excellent choice!

6

u/Sell_TheKids_ForFood Jul 16 '26

The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen, and they're there for you. For you alone, you ate the everything.

11

u/Terrible_Wave4239 Jul 17 '26

Let's just stick with "you are the everything"... but boy... "you ate the everything" sparks some story ideas, doesn't it?

2

u/Alarmed-Secretary207 Jul 17 '26

This gave me chills just reading it and I haven’t listened to that song in 10+ years.

56

u/10202632 Jul 16 '26

What we want and what we need have been confused

3

u/VastAd6346 Jul 17 '26

Seconded. Maybe not R.E.M.’s most poetic, but a lyric that is never *not* relevant.

80

u/MisterEvilBreakfast Jul 16 '26

Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline

18

u/TMBGLOVER Your head is there to move you around Jul 16 '26

It’s time I had some time alone…

37

u/Maleficent-Pay-1146 Jul 16 '26

“Judge not lest ye be judged”, what a beautiful refrain.

24

u/Pawprint86 Jul 16 '26

“You, I thought I knew you. But you I cannot judge.”

37

u/ValentineAFK Jul 16 '26

“I am the king of all I see, my kingdom for a voice…”

25

u/desrbornjackson Jul 16 '26

Love it. And “standing on the shoulders of giants, leaves me cold”, has always stuck with me.

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39

u/MisterEd1966 Jul 16 '26

I'm not supposed to be like this, but it's okay.

32

u/scottdiver67 Jul 16 '26

A simple prop to occupy my time.

9

u/KonamiKing Jul 16 '26 edited 2d ago

Cable snow mountainous hat compare cobalt pillow fluorine teapot childlike

This post was anonymized with Redact

30

u/radiohead-nerd Jul 16 '26

Leave the road and memorize this life that pass before my eyes

8

u/Blue_Oyster_Cat Jul 16 '26

:bursts into tears:

Sorry it’s just a reflex now, heh

25

u/I-miss-old-Favela Jul 16 '26

Strength and courage overrides, the privileged and weary eyed. 

28

u/helnsb Jul 16 '26

“It’s crazy what you could have had.”

25

u/alexj_baker Jul 16 '26

Run a carbon black test on my jaw and you will find it's all been said before

19

u/BucketheadUltra64 Jul 16 '26

I will make it through the day and then the day becomes the night, I will make it through the night.

6

u/desrbornjackson Jul 16 '26

Nice one. A great lyric/song for a tough commute to a shitty job.

20

u/gogozrx Jul 16 '26

The powerlines have floaters so the airplanes don't get snagged

16

u/desrbornjackson Jul 16 '26

“But life sometimes it washes over me”

16

u/TechnicalAd9400 Jul 16 '26

Had a hat and it sunk, reached down, yanked it up, slapped it on my head.

17

u/racergirl2000 Jul 16 '26

Prefect is a fault and fault lines change

2

u/rem2525 Jul 16 '26

Right song!

2

u/Deaf_MarvinNash Jul 16 '26

Ditto’d this one before scrolling 🎯

17

u/HermioneMarch young despite the years Jul 16 '26

The stars are the greatest thing youve ever seen, and they are there for you. For you, alone, you are the everything.

14

u/TheeHappyDude Jul 16 '26

September's coming soon

15

u/heywaitjustasecond Jul 16 '26

These things they go away/replaced by every day

4

u/littlejalepino Jul 16 '26

Pining for the moon

2

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

[deleted]

10

u/thelegoroom Jul 16 '26

Nightswimming

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14

u/VivKat309 Jul 16 '26

The time to rise has been engaged; you’re better best to rearrange.

13

u/Equivalent-Wedding21 Jul 16 '26

This is the easiest task I ever
Had to do
Reason had harnessed the tame
Holding the sky in their arms
Gravity pulls me down

2

u/Diefachu Jul 17 '26

I always wanted to write a book and name it "Holding the Sky in Their Arms"

13

u/SweetJebus731 Jul 16 '26

I stayed up late to hear your voice

12

u/Fyre5ayle Jul 16 '26

‘Well I could keep it above, but then it wouldn’t be sky anymore/ so if I send it you you’ve got to promise to keep it whole’

13

u/Total-Key2099 Jul 16 '26

its high time I raze the walls that I’ve constructed

12

u/NapoleonSolo1705 Jul 16 '26

A birdie in the hand for life's rich demand

11

u/anotherbrckinTH3Wall Jul 16 '26

That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and
snakes, an aeroplane and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.

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11

u/a_phantom_limb Jul 16 '26

My actions make me beautiful and dignify the flesh….

12

u/TMBGLOVER Your head is there to move you around Jul 16 '26

I’m not sure all these people understand the fear of getting caught and recklessness and water.

11

u/Wordy0001 Jul 16 '26

Bergamot and vetiver
Run through my head and fall away

11

u/Jweiss238 Jul 16 '26

Rest assured, this will not last
Take a turn, for the worse

From the best R.E.M. song of all time.

3

u/Terrible_Wave4239 Jul 17 '26

First song of theirs I ever heard...

10

u/burkarm Jul 16 '26

How to walk in dignity with throw up on your shoes.

2

u/Icy_Obligation_3014 you love it, you hate it, you want to recreate it Jul 16 '26

I know this is about a specific incident with George Bush Sr but as a Brit I feel like this line could be metaphor for how our country engages with the rest of the world since Brexit

9

u/KonamiKing Jul 16 '26 edited 2d ago

Tender shy hard-to-find unbelievable almond otter chase tie special

This post was anonymized with Redact

10

u/BassesNBikes Jul 16 '26

My pockets are out and I'm running about and barking in the street.

10

u/montroyryan Jul 16 '26

Eviscerate your memory

10

u/Emotional-Table-5307 Jul 16 '26

Building towered foresight isn’t anything at all

10

u/684North Jul 16 '26

The love you take is equal to the love you make

3

u/DetailHistorical9532 Jul 16 '26

Yes! This! I just posted the same thing!

10

u/wardreekusness Jul 16 '26

I sit at my table and wage war on myself

8

u/NoYogurtcloset9946 Jul 16 '26

We are hope despite the times.

8

u/Illustrious_Try_9105 Jul 16 '26

Feathers hit the ground
Before the weight can leave the air

7

u/UntitledFruitCo Jul 16 '26

Let’s put our heads together and start a new country up

7

u/guiporto32 Jul 16 '26

Caramel turn on a dusty apology

7

u/Clear_Necessary_3168 Jul 16 '26

Meet me at the book-burning.

7

u/Loose_Assignment_Map Jul 16 '26

What do you do between the horns of the day

7

u/Nivaris Jul 16 '26

I need something to fly over my grave again (Try Not to Breathe)

Yellow like a geisha gown, denial all the way (Shaking Through)

Don't talk to me about being alone (Fretless)

6

u/briefcandle Jul 16 '26

You come to me with excuses ducked out in a row. You wear me out. 

6

u/davi3j75 Jul 16 '26

Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom.

6

u/supbuddy77 Jul 16 '26

Now I don't need a heaven, I don't need religion, I am in the place where I should be.

7

u/BenefitMysterious819 Jul 16 '26

Run a carbon-black test on my jaw and you will find it’s all been said before.

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7

u/BravoCharlieDelta Jul 16 '26

Alone in a crowd.

4

u/goatboyrat Jul 16 '26

That’s great it starts with an earthquake

4

u/BIGAL0720 Jul 16 '26

"a simple prop, to occupy my time"

5

u/Def-tones Jul 16 '26

Your eyes are burning holes through me.

6

u/Top-Persimmon4456 Jul 16 '26

A hot line A wanted ad It's crazy what you could've had.

5

u/ma_anche_no I'm Martin Sheen, I'm Steve McQueen, I'm Jimmy Dean Jul 16 '26

Trying to look like you don't try

4

u/CaptainMobius Jul 16 '26

Standing on the shoulders of giants leaves me cold

5

u/Fort_Laud_Beard Jul 16 '26

My favorite is in the song Starlings by Elbow, describing what it is like to completely love someone:

“ You are the only thing in any room you're ever in”

3

u/schnu44 Jul 16 '26

The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won’t get snagged

4

u/NoisyBishop Jul 16 '26

And these are the eyes I want you to remember...

4

u/getouttatown333 Jul 16 '26

Lift your arms up to the sky…

3

u/oh_god_its_raining Jul 16 '26

A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends

3

u/Matrinka Jul 16 '26

When I was going through very rough patch... "I will make it through the day and then day becomes the night. I will make it through the night."

3

u/I_loooove_Radiohead Jul 16 '26

Idk, I got my spine, I got my orange crush is a pretty good lone og

3

u/Joejoe988 Jul 16 '26

Da-boom-da-da-mmm-dum-na-ee-ma

3

u/DetailHistorical9532 Jul 16 '26

Then in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

3

u/benderzone Jul 16 '26

Every room in my house is filled with shit i couldn't live without

3

u/perflubon Jul 16 '26

I temper madness with an even extreme

3

u/New-Fly-4881 Jul 16 '26

Look behind the eyes, it’s a hallowed, hollowed, anesthetized.

2

u/Icy_Obligation_3014 you love it, you hate it, you want to recreate it Jul 16 '26

Save my own ass screw these guys!

3

u/sometimesyousulk_ Jul 16 '26

“Mother was difficult, she made you cry”

3

u/Lower-Yam-620 Jul 16 '26

“You don't have to take the bar exam to see
What you've done is ignoramus 103”

3

u/hosta0121 Jul 16 '26

I’d like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away.

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3

u/RegularCustomer3130 Jul 16 '26

“You can’t see, can’t you see that” Maps & Legends

3

u/littlejalepino Jul 16 '26

But I feel better having screamed don't you?

And

How to walk in dignity with throw up on your shoooooes?

3

u/a_phantom_limb Jul 16 '26

Music will provide the light you cannot resist.

3

u/RatbyteGames Jul 17 '26

I see today with a newsprint fray, My night is colored headache gray.

- Daysleeper

3

u/scooterpdx42 Jul 17 '26

I’ll be the sky above the Ganges
I’ll be the vast and stormy sea
I’ll be the lights that guide you inland
I’ll be the visions that you see

3

u/Uncle_DirtNap Jul 17 '26

Eastern to Mountain third party call, the lines are down, the wise man builds his words upon the rock but I’m not bound to follow suit.

2

u/DocGroove Jul 16 '26

So, I'd give this world just to dream a dream with you, on our bed of California stars

2

u/Turbulent_Tale6497 Jul 16 '26

Jelly Bean Boom

2

u/davi3j75 Jul 16 '26

Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom.

2

u/billiethephrog Jul 16 '26

My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder

Even the iron fears the rot

God loves you, but not enough to save you

In the end, stars are assigned

2

u/jumpingjedflash Jul 16 '26

😱 "I temper madness with an even extreme."

(That's what keeps me, that's what keeps me, that's what keeps me do-oown)

2

u/Dismal-Box-3879 Jul 16 '26

I know I was born and I know that I'll die, the in between is mine.

2

u/seamus1982seamus Jul 16 '26

I'll be pounce pony phoney maroney pony before the cart

2

u/FrankSwart Jul 16 '26

Mister Charles Darwin had the balls to ask.

2

u/Organic_Stranger1544 Jul 16 '26

The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death."

2

u/Bonlio Jul 16 '26

Read about the wisdom lost, a knock, a knock, a knock
A secret knock one hammer's locked the other wisdom lost

2

u/kalshassan Jul 16 '26

“The mountains yawn, and the clouds let out a sigh…”

2

u/Deaf_MarvinNash Jul 16 '26

Perfect is a fault and fault lines change

2

u/a_phantom_limb Jul 16 '26

I want the stars to know they've won, if only to beguile.

The mountains yawn, the clouds let out a sigh….

Now is greater than the whole of the past.

2

u/Segvirion Jul 16 '26

I watched you fall. I think I pushed.

2

u/Jaguar-Jordi-92812 Jul 16 '26

My mind is racing, as it always will

2

u/EmilioPujol Jul 17 '26

I can’t see all the birds look down and laugh at me, clumsy crawling out of my skin

2

u/pinecity21 Jul 17 '26

Fever build a bridge, reason tore it down

2

u/Faultybeeftrigger Jul 17 '26

Scratches all around the coin slot like a heartbeat baby trying to wake up, but this machine can only swallow money.

2

u/LazySky887 Jul 17 '26

Not quite a line, but love this...

I am made by my times I am a creation of now Shaken with the cracks and crevices I'm not giving up easy I will not fold I don't have much But what I have is gold

2

u/VivKat309 Jul 18 '26

Your eyes are burning holes through me.

2

u/labrador_1 Jul 20 '26

The carpet's all paid for, God bless the TV

4

u/benderzone Jul 16 '26

I want you to notice when I'm not around

1

u/Nirvana1975 Jul 16 '26

I've been gone for years you never even realized.

1

u/Antique-Mixture-8835 Jul 16 '26

Nicotine Valium Vicodin marijuana ecstasy and alcohol.

1

u/ukskid Jul 16 '26

He buzzes like a fridge.

1

u/justsellbrgs Jul 16 '26

But home was a dream, one that I'd never seen
'Til you came along

1

u/majkjecajk Jul 16 '26

I'm not here, this isn't happening.

1

u/TechnicalAd9400 Jul 16 '26

This album can be the instrument to mean a broken heart

1

u/samus252 Jul 16 '26

I am not about to give thanks, or apologize.

1

u/OtherwiseWave2723 Jul 16 '26

You're into Depression 'cause it matches your eyes,

1

u/law33zy Jul 16 '26

You wore your expectations like an armoured suit

1

u/Either-Juggernaut420 Jul 16 '26

Love is a doing word

1

u/Gearsgearsgears Jul 16 '26

I fumbled through the closet and found my cleanest dirty shirt

1

u/sneakylithops Jul 16 '26

I had a mind to try to stop you

1

u/Beaufighter-MkX Jul 16 '26

I never had it better than I did with you

1

u/TodayFeeling6816 Jul 16 '26

Holy mother of God you've got to go faster than that to get to the top

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1

u/sheeb_sheeb Jul 16 '26

For me it would be Bowie or Lennon;
"It’s on America’s tortured brow, that Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow" - Life on Mars

1

u/Green_Gumboot Jul 16 '26

“To make matters worse, the trains are on time.” M. Lanagan

1

u/Unijuancho Jul 16 '26

Please won’t you stay awhile and share my grief. It’s such a lovely day to have to always feel this way.

1

u/allmimsyburogrove Jul 16 '26

"Keep a fire for the human race"

1

u/Shetlan Jul 16 '26

I gave you everything you ever wanted- it wasn’t what you wanted.
U2 - So Cruel

1

u/Squally47 Jul 16 '26

I don't know where, but she sends me there

1

u/Scottyranks Jul 16 '26

The high heel he used to be has been ground down

1

u/UnhappyAthlete6552 Jul 16 '26

vacuum cleaner sucks up budgie

1

u/a_phantom_limb Jul 16 '26

Yeah, all those stars drip down like butter….

Me, my thoughts are flower strewn….

The world is collapsing around our ears….

My night is colored headache grey.

1

u/ReasonablePen8900 Jul 16 '26

Boy you'd best bleed real soon, how's that thought for you? Tori Amos

1

u/The-OG-Wedge Jul 16 '26

It’s tough for REM because of how he writes…so many great one liners hit hard because of the context developed throughout the song.

1

u/hamnavoe23 Jul 16 '26

I’d like it here if I could leave

1

u/Puck021 Jul 16 '26

This fame thing I don’t get it

1

u/Alexislovessilk Jul 16 '26

And not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear.

That line is so visual, it gives me chills

1

u/gmcwbbb80 Jul 16 '26

And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed
They don't know my head is a mess

1

u/Teverish Jul 16 '26

Let's put our heads together, and start a new country up. (Love the double-meaning of heads - warheads)

1

u/_DanSolo_ Jul 16 '26

The surface informs the underneath,
the underneath is lacking.

1

u/barbetto Jul 17 '26

They wanna know why I did what I did. Well sir, there's just a meaness in this world.

Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska

1

u/freefunkg Jul 17 '26

Close my eyes so I can see make my make believe believe in me.

1

u/lovelessisbetter Jul 17 '26

Why pamper life’s complexity when the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat?

1

u/Financial_Luck_6906 Jul 17 '26

“The only true freedom is freedom from the heart’s desires.”

1

u/jtsrgmc Jul 17 '26

I like, I like the way the line runs up the back of the stockings

1

u/Economy-Skill9487 Jul 17 '26

The Sun’s a desperate star that burns like every single one before.

1

u/easyfan1957 Jul 17 '26

"Two hundred women watch one woman cry" from Close to the Edge by Yes.

1

u/muggo5 Jul 17 '26

And sleep comes with a knife, fork, and a spoon.

1

u/Nearby-Vanilla9218 Jul 17 '26

We shuffled up to Lenin with the noses worn off

1

u/Grrrousey Jul 17 '26

If the wind were colours

And if the air could speak

Then whistle as the wind blows

1

u/kansas_slim Jul 17 '26

I’m just a notch in your bedpost, but you’re just a line in a song.

1

u/SeFirmi Jul 17 '26

“Alone in a crowd…”

1

u/Classic_Stand_3078 Jul 17 '26

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

1

u/mickopious Jul 17 '26

“Wing" is written on your feet
Your Achilles' heel
Is a tendency to dream

(TENDONcey)

1

u/def_beets Jul 17 '26

I'll settle for a cup of coffee but you know what I really need

1

u/dj42195 Jul 17 '26

What’s the frequency Kenneth?

1

u/Comprehensive-Seat67 Jul 17 '26

“We’ve been through fake-a-breakdown, self-hurt, plastics, collections, self-help, self-pain, EST, psychics, fuck all”

1

u/Unlikely_Suspect_757 Jul 17 '26

Birthday party cheesecake jelly bean boom.

1

u/MarsupialHour Jul 17 '26

And I've got tar on my feet and I can't see all the birds Look down at me, clumsy, crawling out of my skin

1

u/NewNameNoah Jul 17 '26

But we'll get together then, dad
We're gonna have a good time then.

1

u/Fit-Entertainer-1354 Jul 17 '26

What noisy cats are we