I’m willing to bet there are few people on this planet that have listened to this song as many times as I have… and I still get chills when I hear it. This is as good as music gets. Thank you. 🙏🏻❤
Oh that’s interesting! I’ll have to think about that one because there are too many masterpieces to chose from. But I’d say I can’t argue with him! Nothing in the world like it.
@@RFC3514 Disagree because in 1991 on MTV Unplugged before they sang this Michael Stipe said this is my favorite song from the R.E.M catalog and remember it so well because it was always my favorite as well and when he said it I said to myself, COOL and great minds think alike 🤘🤘
@@squonk86 - Well, considering Country Feedback came out precisely in 1991, maybe this _was_ his favourite song before Country Feedback. UA-cam won't let me post links, but you can find numerous references to it being his favourite song in interviews, Rolling Stone magazine, etc.
Songs always conjure up images we associate with them of places we were, things we saw & events happening in our lives when we first heard them. I was living in a small town outside Portland, ME when I first heard this song. It was fall of 1986. I was a 4th grader waiting for the school bus to pick us up on a brisk fall October morning when I heard this song playing on the radio in the distance. There was a smell of burning wood from chimneys. Homes around the neighborhood had their fireplaces going. The rustic sound of this song by R.E.M. truly added to the smokey ambiance surrounded by tall pine trees. Whenever I hear this song I remember those very happy times from the carefree days of my childhood.
@tritosac I walked into a bar, Club Soda in Kalamazoo, with some friends. South Central Rain was playing. I immediately said who is this band? My friend said R.E.M. I had never heard of them or the song. I set about that night trying to buy every c.d. (cassette tape back then) they ever made. I did. Still love them.
@Rob Melrose ooh. He's great. Really great! Criminally underrated. But the best backup singer of all time is Keith Richards. "Exile on Main St". And in terms of hitting it perfectly, "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell backing vocals, and not actually saying any words.
It was released too early, corporate radio wasn’t pushing this kind of thing yet. When ‘Stand’ went Billboard Top 10 in ‘89 we were all glad but thinking ‘This is their WORST album in years. Why now?’ Why not the other, BETTER songs? Why? B/c the LA music execs & their corporate radio appendage were starting to clue in that they’d better change, or else alternative radio was going to take over. The listening public was starting to rebel. That’s why.’Stand’ went to Billboard #6 while ‘Fall On Me’ is buried in pre-history.
In 1988 I was listening to R.E.M. in my tiny english bedroom, 3 years afterwards, back in Italy, I was working for Warner Music and got invited to a dinner with them by my manager, whom knew how much I loved them. Peter sat in front of me and left halfway through his meal, probably bored by my scarce conversation, a shy 24 years old girl in pure adoration :( Still feel bad about it but isn't life incredible and wonderful!
Fall on Me. Not another environment song, I hope. I hope it has other meanings. One of their best songs. These are their best songs for me, though I don't know them all, but people always clamor me for my Best of Lists and I oblige, I can't help but be a basically good person. In no order: Losing My Religion So. Central Rain Man on the Moon (helps to have a great video) The One I love Driver 8 Radio Free Europe Nightswimming Fall On Me Drive 8 The Sidewinder sleeps Laughing Not great or just overrated: Everybody Hurts is probably good. I hurt a lot, but I don't quite find the song to be that good and it doesn't help me with my hurt. The song is a little overproduced and saccharine? The End of the World - good song, but without the video I might like it less. Pilgrimage and Catapult are good. I don't understand the whole Murmur buzz. A lot of catchy pretty good songs but only a few stop my hurt.
songs like this get me through hard times. I found this song when it played on the radio, and, being an R.E.M. fan, their songs feel rather comforting when I’m down.
'Fall On Me' is a poetic masterpiece that combines haunting melodies with thought-provoking lyrics. From its ethereal instrumentation to Michael Stipe's emotive vocals, the song transports listeners to a world of introspection and longing
The entire album is highly underrated. Life's Rich Pageant is one of my all-time favorites. Love this album. Great from start to finish, Begin the Begin to Superman.
I used to have it as one of my favourites, but it just happens to have two of my top 3 worst REM songs on it (What If We Give It Away and Hyena, if you were wondering. The other is Stumble). The first four songs on this album are unbeatable, but I'll definitely skip some whenever I'm listening to it, which I can't say about their best albums.
REM is a band that is always positive. And, that's alright with me. My college years were filled with the fabulous sounds of Michale Stipe and the REM band. It's a good thing to have ideals. Even if that's all that they remain. I am profoundly appreciative of the REM band for calming the tension, and filling some of the voids that are ever present in a young person's psyche.
I wore out my R.E.M tapes back in the day….this was one of my faves…..”Buy the sky and sell the sky and bleed the sky and tell the sky” Forever an R.E.M fan ❤️
You know you love something when you wear it out and purchase it again. I've een through the process: tape, CD, vinyl and back to tape. It's just part of me now.
So bittersweet...takes me back to my youth in the early '90s when me and my group of friends would bar hop and party all night playing jukeboxes from bar to bar. Now I'm 51 and can barely make it to 11:00.
I put this on cassette when it came out in mid- '86. I took the cassette and a few others with me when I went to England in the fall of '86. I remember on grey afternoon going south through Yorkshire on the express train pulled ( and pushed ) by a Type 43- Intercity 125 locomotive doing 125 mph, rain being blown off the windows, a can of John Smith's Yorkshire bitter in my hand and this on my walkman. Utter bliss!
I was 10 back in '86 - and I remember hearing this for the first time on the bus to school. What a time, the coming years were going to be hard, but that kid I was didn't know that yet.
Words are a feeble tool to try and describe how much I love this song; it's pure emotion all the way from Michael's scorched-throat vocal and haunting lyrics, the layers of shimmering harmonies and guitars and the single most glorious, soaring middle-eight in the entire history of music. It's just my opinion but this is the greatest song by the greatest band of all time. All this and still two seconds short of three minutes. That's the art form of rock'n'roll.
+Steve Ford an artistic time capscule from my teen years it somehow articulates much of the pain I went through and now see some others are also going through I 'm an amateur musician myself and enjoy spreading some of my own ideas thanks for listening ENJOY THE EVENING!!
Saw them in Savannah,Ga in the early 80s.Michael Stipes informed us that the band wouldn't play if we didn't quit smoking. "He lost that battle" Great Show!
Can anyone name an environmentally conscious song even one tenth as good as this. Bought it in 1986, saw them play a magnificent version on the Green tour, and whenever I rediscover it I play it 100 times and never ever tire of it.
This the first REM song that I fell in love with! I was fascinated with the lyrics, the contrasting backing vocals, the amazing guitar work. It just all worked for me. "Fall on Me" led me to buy REM cds and discover THE best American alt/indie/rock band in history. Thank you, Mike, Bill, Peter and Michael!
It's hard to believe this brilliant song never got anywhere in the charts,I remember REM playing an acoustic session on mtv and Michael Stipe said at the time it was his favourite song of the REM repertoire,and I see why,it was a brilliant song and to see these men performing it acoustily was something to behold,what gifted men they were,greetings from Ireland.
I find it odd how it didn’t get high in the charts yet appeared on a few of their greatest hits albums (Eponymous, Part Lies, Heart, Truth and Garbage, & Best of the IRS Years). But yes it is very underrated, one of my favorite tracks by them.
I was 22. Pretty much the only reason I turned on MTV was in the hope that I would get to see this again. RInging Rickenbackers and images of American deconstruction.
This is the first REM song on MTV, thanks MTV for introducing me to REM and other great bands and thanks REM for all the great songs in your legendary catalog.
Walking out my door at six in the morning in late 1985, clicking play on the Walkman. This comes on as I walk to high school. Eighties nostalgia is definitely a thing today, probably the concocted comercial strategy of people in media that have brilliantly figured out that gen-x-ers are now middle-aged suburbanites. They have the disposable income now. But it truly was a magical time, at least it was for me.
I'm sitting in the car listening to this song right now. I always liked REM but it reminds me how good they really were and brings back memories of their other songs. Great stuff. Michael Stipe, such a talent. He is one of those singers/songwriters who only comes along once in awhile. REM...thanks for all the great music.
I believe I've finally figured out why I love this song more than all the other REM songs I am so fond of. It's a combination of factors really; Michael really lets loose, that swift surge up the scale in the last sentence of every verse - that's impressive. And not just because I end up sounding like a strangled duck if I try to sing along. Then there's the doubled over harmonies, with Bill's voice in particular providing great counterpoint. Plus the melody. For me, their very best.
The chorus of this song just randomly popped into my head. I knew that it was REM but I wasn't sure of the song title. I'm so glad I found it. What a classic.
It's amazing how this song is about acid rain... yet it could be interpreted in many different ways about things that you have and would like to happen for the good of your life
Wow this just showed up on my cell phone when I was going to check the news and what a great song along with the band. Some kind of godsend and I downloaded it and plated it like 5 times in a row. Still hope they can do a tour again someday and Michael Stipe was the man!
@Somee Dude I remember back in the day I couldn’t figure out their lyrics, but when they released Monster, *whats* *the* *frequency* *Kenneth* made sense
One of the most beautiful songs in the R.E.M catalogue. Superb backing vocals by Mike and Bill,Peter's distinctive guitar and Michael's gorgeous voice and lyrics......superb!
Michael Stipe was so emotional during the recording of this song that when they finished, he literally callapsed after finishing the song, who van blame him, the song was about loosing a very close friend in a flood 😢
It makes me so happy to read the other comments that this is their favorite REM song...i loved this song from the first time I heard it. Beauty of the first degree.😊🌠🌫⛅🌝🌞
I just found this song again. I loved it years ago, would pop into my head spontaneously. It Has a hauntingly, beautiful quality. Lyrics, music and the way all three overlay their voices.
Kids of today will never have the joy of waking up, getting ready or going to school with R.E.M sneaking on to your radio, a true pleasure I took for granted.
That's so evocative. I remember getting up, getting ready for school 1983, maybe 9th-10th grade, and hearing "Radio Free Europe" for the first time, and just STOPPING everything to process it. Saw them at the Fox in Atlanta in '84.. Little America Tour. Dreams so Real opened. I got Mills, Buck and Berry to autograph my ticket stub outside their bus. Stipe wasn't having none of THAT!
Michael Stipe has one of those unnaturally resonant voices. I can sing on time and in key. Good enough to front a club band as long as the sound guy knows how to eq for a guy who's not Michael Stipe and never will be. No matter how much I practice. He is a gift to humanity. I'm blessed to have enough training and enough love for music to really hear and ponder his rare gift, along with his lifelong dedication to perfecting it.
Had a friend in New York summer 1987 he loved heavy metal and despised pop music when I played the intro to this song his eyes grew huge and he loved it
Yes 💯 Ive been a huge REM fan since Murmur my first album I bought from them in '83 & of course Lifes a Rich Pageant, which this song is on, along with Superman. I've always thought this was their best tune. I really miss my college days at UCLA, when I was Jammin to This Group, along with like Millions of others🎵🎶🤟🩵👏😁
The song is absolutely too beautiful to describe. My intro to REM. Wow. The song is also essentially Michael Stipe's favorite of all their music. He has said so.
This song (and vid too, so rarely!...) transcends the musical boring-logic he tried to (and did) eschew as a devoted, long term independent artist. This song, one among many brilliant R.E.M. songs, is for me and many the pinnacle of what can be true, pure rock, now - even like 2018 now.
No you’re not! 😃 I distinctly remember that one day that year I had the TV on but wasn’t really paying attention until I heard the wonderful beginning of the song, then the harmonies and the evocative lyrics totally blew my mind. That’s also how I found out about the band back in the days 💖
Some groups write such good choruses that you get excited during the verse looking forward to hearing the chorus yet again. REM is one of those groups. They also wrote fantastic bridges tying everything together in their songs.....brilliance!
Welcome to those who discovered R.E.M., like I discovered... many other other artists whether they were after their time, timeless, or even "of a time". I think R.E.M is all of these. And YES I was one of thousands who moved to Athens, GA to drop out of UGA and play in bands at the The Downstairs, The 40 Watt, Rockfish Palace, and The Uptown Lounge (where Peter Buck once, apropos of nothing, asked why my legs were so big).In the late 80's-early 90's before "Superman" blew up, the band hung out in Athens like regular folk. Back in '83 my choices were the Police or Motley Crue, no problem with either, R.E.M stood out. Radio Free Europe blew my mind with it's audacity. I came to this post because I was trying to learn the guitar part to "Fall on Me". Almost there. I highly suggest seeing/hearing R.E.M.'s national TV debut on Letterman if you haven't, or again , even if you have. ua-cam.com/video/2tRVSucPZPs/v-deo.html I saw that as a 14 year old. They played "South Central Rain". I'm willing to bet that all of you folks who say " Fall on Me" is your fav/one of your fav R.E.M. songs, also love "South Central Rain". Bit of a rant in'it? Glad to see R.E.M. getting all the new fans. Don't believe they'd ever reunite, but I'd love it. WHO's with ME??!!
The IRS years were just glorious! This is my first REM song; it was 1986, and the song was totally different from everything I had listened up to then. I was 12 years old.
I Love R.E.M and Mike Stipe's voice...badly missed. Saw them live in Manchester many moons ago. This song has been very inspirational to me and led me to make a creation of my own and to send out a message to everyone out there to reduce our carbon footprint! Come view!
R.e.m..wow!...brings me back to a simpler time in my life...beautiful and intelligent lyrics ...sweet symphony of Micheal stipee,,peter buck and Mike mills ..and Mike berry..rest in peace..life's rich pageance on of my very first albums before any internet or sell outs hip hop or rappers..God bless it's labels and warner brothers for sponsoring such a great band.
@@Catbee222 yeah but could you actually understand the lyrics in the early songs? The way he sang and the lyrics were so dense I was like wait,what’s he singing 🤷♂️
Being a huge R.E.M. fan paid off as I won front row tickets on their Monster tour years ago. It was a radio phone in contest which I was lucky enough to get through, then had to guess the song after playing about 5 seconds of the intro. This was that song. Love, love, love it and love R.EM. always.
Me too! As a 15 yr old punk rocker in 1986!!! Unto today.....so many great songs and memories. When I don't want to be in a mosh pit I put on some R.E.M.
Hearing this song live took my breath away. I had heard the album version several times but it took listening to it live to really understand what an incredible song this is.
Not sure why, but this song along with 'Losing My Religion' and 'So. Central Rain' remind me of the Pacific Northwest. I Grew (still growing) up in coastal valley Oregon myself...
![R.E.M. - "Fall On Me" [Live from Austin, TX]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-0wsEzK-yJA/mqdefault.jpg)
Michael's voice is beautiful here. He hits every note perfectly.
I’m willing to bet there are few people on this planet that have listened to this song as many times as I have… and I still get chills when I hear it. This is as good as music gets. Thank you. 🙏🏻❤
FaCT 🎯
There were a bunch of us. You’re not alone.
I challenge you since this was and IS my all time fave song by REM. Good taste bro!
I'd have to say I'm sorry you'll have to step aside I remember buying this cassette back in 86 and it's still my favorite to this day LOL
Agreed 100%.
One of the greatest songs ever recorded. Period.
Absolutely agree.
Can't disagree it's a gem
@@dannyadamson5580 a G.E.M. ... by ... R.E.M.
Falling in love with it over and over
Probably my favorite REM song, and there are quite a lot of great REM songs.
Mike Mills, for my money the most underrated person in rock.
The Paul McCartney of R.E.M.
I don't think anybody rates him low
@raithrover1976
Did you just say the Edge, of U2 fame?
@@raithrover1976 That is so true
not underrated at all. Highly appreciated by all who know value and all who matter!! ❤
Stype said he proudest of this song in the entire REM catalog. I agree w him. Song is beautiful!
Oh that’s interesting! I’ll have to think about that one because there are too many masterpieces to chose from. But I’d say I can’t argue with him! Nothing in the world like it.
its lovely!
Stipe, on the other hand, says his favourite REM song is Country Feedback.
@@RFC3514 Disagree because in 1991 on MTV Unplugged before they sang this Michael Stipe said this is my favorite song from the R.E.M catalog and remember it so well because it was always my favorite as well and when he said it I said to myself, COOL and great minds think alike 🤘🤘
@@squonk86 - Well, considering Country Feedback came out precisely in 1991, maybe this _was_ his favourite song before Country Feedback.
UA-cam won't let me post links, but you can find numerous references to it being his favourite song in interviews, Rolling Stone magazine, etc.
Songs always conjure up images we associate with them of places we were, things we saw & events happening in our lives when we first heard them. I was living in a small town outside Portland, ME when I first heard this song. It was fall of 1986. I was a 4th grader waiting for the school bus to pick us up on a brisk fall October morning when I heard this song playing on the radio in the distance. There was a smell of burning wood from chimneys. Homes around the neighborhood had their fireplaces going. The rustic sound of this song by R.E.M. truly added to the smokey ambiance surrounded by tall pine trees. Whenever I hear this song I remember those very happy times from the carefree days of my childhood.
This reminds me of the Bob Dylan video he did for "Subterranean Blues."
@tritosac I walked into a bar, Club Soda in Kalamazoo, with some friends. South Central Rain was playing. I immediately said who is this band? My friend said R.E.M.
I had never heard of them or the song. I set about that night trying to buy every c.d. (cassette tape back then) they ever made. I did. Still love them.
Mike Mills background vocals are brilliant.
Absolutely.
Defintly
Yes sir, Michael Stipe it's 1 of a kind, but R.E.M. wouldn't be the same without Mike Mills!
or Peter Buck, who did much of the writing and created that alternative sound on his guitar.@@edv8339
@Rob Melrose ooh. He's great. Really great! Criminally underrated. But the best backup singer of all time is Keith Richards. "Exile on Main St". And in terms of hitting it perfectly, "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell backing vocals, and not actually saying any words.
This song only peaked at #94 in 1986. I think it's their best tune ever. Highly underrated.
remhq
I find it odd how many say it’s underrated even though it appeared on a couple of their greatest hits albums
@@RYMAN1321because it only went to 94 on billboard
Some songs are just too good for radio.
It was released too early, corporate radio wasn’t pushing this kind of thing yet. When ‘Stand’ went Billboard Top 10 in ‘89 we were all glad but thinking ‘This is their WORST album in years. Why now?’ Why not the other, BETTER songs?
Why? B/c the LA music execs & their corporate radio appendage were starting to clue in that they’d better change, or else alternative radio was going to take over. The listening public was starting to rebel. That’s why.’Stand’ went to Billboard #6 while ‘Fall On Me’ is buried in pre-history.
In 1988 I was listening to R.E.M. in my tiny english bedroom, 3 years afterwards, back in Italy, I was working for Warner Music and got invited to a dinner with them by my manager, whom knew how much I loved them. Peter sat in front of me and left halfway through his meal, probably bored by my scarce conversation, a shy 24 years old girl in pure adoration :( Still feel bad about it but isn't life incredible and wonderful!
They are gay, so don't feel bad
That triple harmony...brings me to tears.
Same.. so beautiful
Me too, such a beautiful song
Yes..it reminds me to just " be" still & feel it. Absolutely beautiful.
Me too!! it touches my very soul.
Same. Haunting
Don't care what anyone says. But REM are one of the greatest bands ever.
Would you care if I agreed with you?
I absolutely agree
Fall on Me. Not another environment song, I hope. I hope it has other meanings. One of their best songs. These are their best songs for me, though I don't know them all, but people always clamor me for my Best of Lists and I oblige, I can't help but be a basically good person.
In no order:
Losing My Religion
So. Central Rain
Man on the Moon (helps to have a great video)
The One I love
Driver 8
Radio Free Europe
Nightswimming
Fall On Me
Drive 8
The Sidewinder sleeps
Laughing
Not great or just overrated: Everybody Hurts is probably good. I hurt a lot, but I don't quite find the song to be that good and it doesn't help me with my hurt. The song is a little overproduced and saccharine? The End of the World - good song, but without the video I might like it less. Pilgrimage and Catapult are good. I don't understand the whole Murmur buzz. A lot of catchy pretty good songs but only a few stop my hurt.
@@Erasmustherobot
@@Erasmustherobot
songs like this get me through hard times. I found this song when it played on the radio, and, being an R.E.M. fan, their songs feel rather comforting when I’m down.
Very few bands have used voices as an instrument quite the way R.E.M. did - pure magic……!!!!
AIC (cantrell-staley ) magic too
@@purayduraremhq
After 39 years of loving their music, this will always remain my favourite ever song.
Genius is not learnt these guys just had it.
He flies on a private jet that kills everyone. BOOO. BOOO.
They play this song at work. I swoon ever time it comes on.
@@framodcoleremhq
'Fall On Me' is a poetic masterpiece that combines haunting melodies with thought-provoking lyrics. From its ethereal instrumentation to Michael Stipe's emotive vocals, the song transports listeners to a world of introspection and longing
Lifes Rich Pageant has so many treasures on it. Fall On Me, Flowers Of Guatemala, I Believe etc etc etc
r.e.m wrote so many incredible songs that deserve so much more popularity, this may be the best example of it
The entire album is highly underrated. Life's Rich Pageant is one of my all-time favorites. Love this album. Great from start to finish, Begin the Begin to Superman.
I really like "Fables of the Reconstruction". One of my favorites is "Maps & Legends"
I used to have it as one of my favourites, but it just happens to have two of my top 3 worst REM songs on it (What If We Give It Away and Hyena, if you were wondering. The other is Stumble). The first four songs on this album are unbeatable, but I'll definitely skip some whenever I'm listening to it, which I can't say about their best albums.
I just read that this album was critically acclaimed...
My favorite too
People weren't ready for it.
Don't fall on meeeee!
Michael's voice, omg there's no words for it. Simply one of the best.
"There's the progess, we have found a way to talk around the problem." One of my favorite lines from a song. Brilliant tune.
My favorite REM song, which is a high feat. The weaving of those voices...there are no adequate words.
REM is a band that is always positive. And, that's alright with me. My college years were filled with the fabulous sounds of Michale Stipe and the REM band. It's a good thing to have ideals. Even if that's all that they remain. I am profoundly appreciative of the REM band for calming the tension, and filling some of the voids that are ever present in a young person's psyche.
I wore out my R.E.M tapes back in the day….this was one of my faves…..”Buy the sky and sell the sky and bleed the sky and tell the sky” Forever an R.E.M fan ❤️
And few fans know this song is about nuclear war.
it's gonna fall
The history of aviation...
You know you love something when you wear it out and purchase it again.
I've een through the process: tape, CD, vinyl and back to tape. It's just part of me now.
So bittersweet...takes me back to my youth in the early '90s when me and my group of friends would bar hop and party all night playing jukeboxes from bar to bar. Now I'm 51 and can barely make it to 11:00.
It sucks getting old. I'm 42, married, with 3 kids. And all I can think of is my young days.
I am 59 and party more than I did at 20 LOL
Yeah !
123gwf Yup, I'm a member of that club.
I'm 19 and worried that I'm not making best use of the time now.
I put this on cassette when it came out in mid- '86. I took the cassette and a few others with me when I went to England in the fall of '86. I remember on grey afternoon going south through Yorkshire on the express train pulled ( and pushed ) by a Type 43- Intercity 125 locomotive doing 125 mph, rain being blown off the windows, a can of John Smith's Yorkshire bitter in my hand and this on my walkman. Utter bliss!
I like your comment very much. Our hearts are waiting for sth out there sounding like the end of this dytopian world.May be this song will work.
I was 10 back in '86 - and I remember hearing this for the first time on the bus to school.
What a time, the coming years were going to be hard, but that kid I was didn't know that yet.
Words are a feeble tool to try and describe how much I love this song; it's pure emotion all the way from Michael's scorched-throat vocal and haunting lyrics, the layers of shimmering harmonies and guitars and the single most glorious, soaring middle-eight in the entire history of music. It's just my opinion but this is the greatest song by the greatest band of all time. All this and still two seconds short of three minutes. That's the art form of rock'n'roll.
+Steve Ford What you said.
+Steve Ford a perfect example of a living breathing fantastic song by gifted musicians!!!! LOng live REM
+Steve Ford an artistic time capscule from my teen years it somehow articulates much of the pain I went through and now see some others are also going through I 'm an amateur musician myself and enjoy spreading some of my own ideas thanks for listening ENJOY THE EVENING!!
+pvtrichter88 you too lovely (:
+Steve Ford Everything you say about this song is true;yet I am even more enamored of "Perfect Circle."
Saw them in Savannah,Ga in the early 80s.Michael Stipes informed us that the band wouldn't play if we didn't quit smoking. "He lost that battle" Great Show!
Can anyone name an environmentally conscious song even one tenth as good as this. Bought it in 1986, saw them play a magnificent version on the Green tour, and whenever I rediscover it I play it 100 times and never ever tire of it.
I can!
We Are Never Apart by Nick Mulvey
Somewhere Only We Know by Keene
Van Halen Right Now
This the first REM song that I fell in love with! I was fascinated with the lyrics, the contrasting backing vocals, the amazing guitar work. It just all worked for me. "Fall on Me" led me to buy REM cds and discover THE best American alt/indie/rock band in history. Thank you, Mike, Bill, Peter and Michael!
It's hard to believe this brilliant song never got anywhere in the charts,I remember REM playing an acoustic session on mtv and Michael Stipe said at the time it was his favourite song of the REM repertoire,and I see why,it was a brilliant song and to see these men performing it acoustily was something to behold,what gifted men they were,greetings from Ireland.
I find it odd how it didn’t get high in the charts yet appeared on a few of their greatest hits albums (Eponymous, Part Lies, Heart, Truth and Garbage, & Best of the IRS Years).
But yes it is very underrated, one of my favorite tracks by them.
I had just turned 20 when this album was released in the summer of 1986. Thirty-two years later, it still blows me away!
I was 22. Pretty much the only reason I turned on MTV was in the hope that I would get to see this again. RInging Rickenbackers and images of American deconstruction.
Life’s Rich Pageant might be my favorite album
This is the first REM song on MTV, thanks MTV for introducing me to REM and other great bands and thanks REM for all the great songs in your legendary catalog.
This sounds like 120 Minutes
Yes!
Walking out my door at six in the morning in late 1985, clicking play on the Walkman. This comes on as I walk to high school. Eighties nostalgia is definitely a thing today, probably the concocted comercial strategy of people in media that have brilliantly figured out that gen-x-ers are now middle-aged suburbanites. They have the disposable income now. But it truly was a magical time, at least it was for me.
What a great description. I feel like I was there. Even though I was only born that year.
R.E.M has nothing but gold in their discography. Change my mind
The day I fall out of love with this song, I'll know that I'm dead.
wow!! brilliant
Same here
swallow the rapture
I love this song because it's great for the reason it's so gorgeous
💯!!
I'm sitting in the car listening to this song right now. I always liked REM but it reminds me how good they really were and brings back memories of their other songs. Great stuff.
Michael Stipe, such a talent. He is one of those singers/songwriters who only comes along once in awhile.
REM...thanks for all the great music.
33 years later and this song still blows my mind!
I now feel very old!
I believe I've finally figured out why I love this song more than all the other REM songs I am so fond of. It's a combination of factors really; Michael really lets loose, that swift surge up the scale in the last sentence of every verse - that's impressive. And not just because I end up sounding like a strangled duck if I try to sing along. Then there's the doubled over harmonies, with Bill's voice in particular providing great counterpoint.
Plus the melody. For me, their very best.
It fell straight into my life when it was complex - but in a good way.
Like the late 80s, I just wish it were longer!
Bill Berry - It's gonna fall
A beautiful song. It has a thing that most songs today don't have. It's called melody.
Glorious harmony too
Well, I could keep it above
But then it wouldn't be sky anymore
So if I send it to you, you've got to promise to keep it whole
REM has no equal.
The chorus of this song just randomly popped into my head. I knew that it was REM but I wasn't sure of the song title. I'm so glad I found it. What a classic.
This song is so Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sounding .. it's just got that flow.
It's amazing how this song is about acid rain... yet it could be interpreted in many different ways about things that you have and would like to happen for the good of your life
Wow this just showed up on my cell phone when I was going to check the news and what a great song along with the band. Some kind of godsend and I downloaded it and plated it like 5 times in a row. Still hope they can do a tour again someday and Michael Stipe was the man!
The Unplugged 1991 version is also fabulous - can listen to them both endlessly.
I had forgotten just how beautiful the vocal harmonies are on this one. Just lovely.
My all time favorite REM song...and that's saying much...what a great band.
My favorite R.E.M song. The one that just made me realize this is my band.
This is my favourite R.E.M. song, with its jangling guitar and luscious harmonies. Oh, any my favourite word in the song: "PROgress".
Thank you for making me cry. Again. I have lived long enough to feel hope fading.
Criminally underrated song.
Hi I recommend a song called 'The Bond Villain' by Robert Nix
Every time I hear this song.. it sends shivers up my spine...seriously
Me too ! 🤓
I had this album in college and wore it out! This was my favorite song
Went to UGA during REM heyday. This song, as well as Night Swimming, still get me every time.
What a beautiful symphony… Wow!!! So happy to be an REM fan since 1992
Indie radio stations poured out REM back in the day.
@Somee Dude I remember back in the day I couldn’t figure out their lyrics, but when they released Monster, *whats* *the* *frequency* *Kenneth* made sense
Well, I could keep it above. But then it wouldn't be sky anymore ... even 30+ years later that line gets me
One of the most beautiful songs in the R.E.M catalogue. Superb backing vocals by Mike and Bill,Peter's distinctive guitar and Michael's gorgeous voice and lyrics......superb!
Michael Stipe was so emotional during the recording of this song that when they finished, he literally callapsed after finishing the song, who van blame him, the song was about loosing a very close friend in a flood 😢
Alt/Indy kings of the late 80's and early 90's. Absolutely crush it with this song.
It makes me so happy to read the other comments that this is their favorite REM song...i loved this song from the first time I heard it. Beauty of the first degree.😊🌠🌫⛅🌝🌞
🌇😉
Is this John Tyrese daughter
Find the river
I just found this song again. I loved it years ago, would pop into my head spontaneously. It Has a hauntingly, beautiful quality. Lyrics, music and the way all three overlay their voices.
One of those songs that brings back good memories for me!!
The first half of R.E.M..'s catalogue mans so much to me. They were a viscerally-important band.
Kids of today will never have the joy of waking up, getting ready or going to school with R.E.M sneaking on to your radio, a true pleasure I took for granted.
Not so!
That's so evocative. I remember getting up, getting ready for school 1983, maybe 9th-10th grade, and hearing "Radio Free Europe" for the first time, and just STOPPING everything to process it. Saw them at the Fox in Atlanta in '84.. Little America Tour. Dreams so Real opened. I got Mills, Buck and Berry to autograph my ticket stub outside their bus. Stipe wasn't having none of THAT!
Love playing along with this song on my drum kit. Rock solid beat!! Am 60 years young, and have been playing drums for 50 of my years. Thanks R E M!!
Michael Stipe has one of those unnaturally resonant voices. I can sing on time and in key. Good enough to front a club band as long as the sound guy knows how to eq for a guy who's not Michael Stipe and never will be. No matter how much I practice. He is a gift to humanity. I'm blessed to have enough training and enough love for music to really hear and ponder his rare gift, along with his lifelong dedication to perfecting it.
Had a friend in New York summer 1987 he loved heavy metal and despised pop music when I played the intro to this song his eyes grew huge and he loved it
A bunch of very smart, kind, and unbelievably talented songwriters and musicians. They don't make'em like that anymore, and they never will. Cheers.
Proud to have been the on-line editor for this video, at Crawford Post in Atlanta, with Dan Aguar, line producer.
This song may be the culmination of REM's greatness.
Yes 💯 Ive been a huge REM fan since Murmur my first album I bought from them in '83 & of course Lifes a Rich Pageant, which this song is on, along with Superman. I've always thought this was their best tune. I really miss my college days at UCLA, when I was Jammin to This Group, along with like Millions of others🎵🎶🤟🩵👏😁
The song is absolutely too beautiful to describe. My intro to REM. Wow. The song is also essentially Michael Stipe's favorite of all their music. He has said so.
He's on you tube saying Country Feedback is his favourite. This song is a million times better than Country Feedback IMHO.
Same, this song was a big part of my youth.
This song (and vid too, so rarely!...) transcends the musical boring-logic he tried to (and did) eschew as a devoted, long term independent artist. This song, one among many brilliant R.E.M. songs, is for me and many the pinnacle of what can be true, pure rock, now - even like 2018 now.
The first REM song I ever heard. I then became a fan.
@@ManchesterBlackSheep Absolutely stunning.
Had to listen to it, it's still beautiful, Micheal perfect voice gives me goosebumps, I can't stop listening.
My very favorite R.E.M. song of all! Reminds me of good days.
Pretty song
i THOUGHT I WAS ALONE.
No you’re not! 😃
I distinctly remember that one day that year I had the TV on but wasn’t really paying attention until I heard the wonderful beginning of the song, then the harmonies and the evocative lyrics totally blew my mind.
That’s also how I found out about the band back in the days 💖
Same for me
This is REM that I remember, probably their best moment, classic !!
My favourite R.E.M song. i love the final chorus when Bill Berry joins in with Michael Stipe and Mike Mills
Some groups write such good choruses that you get excited during the verse looking forward to hearing the chorus yet again. REM is one of those groups. They also wrote fantastic bridges tying everything together in their songs.....brilliance!
1:32 This part is magical! It's like The Smiths soul in the song.
This song I loved. The way one felt as a youth. So beautiful, so haunting. Don't fall on me, cries Chicken Little!!
This song is timeless.....ageless.....perfect.
Welcome to those who discovered R.E.M., like I discovered... many other other artists whether they were after their time, timeless, or even "of a time". I think R.E.M is all of these. And YES I was one of thousands who moved to Athens, GA to drop out of UGA and play in bands at the The Downstairs, The 40 Watt, Rockfish Palace, and The Uptown Lounge (where Peter Buck once, apropos of nothing, asked why my legs were so big).In the late 80's-early 90's before "Superman" blew up, the band hung out in Athens like regular folk. Back in '83 my choices were the Police or Motley Crue, no problem with either, R.E.M stood out. Radio Free Europe blew my mind with it's audacity. I came to this post because I was trying to learn the guitar part to "Fall on Me". Almost there. I highly suggest seeing/hearing R.E.M.'s national TV debut on Letterman if you haven't, or again , even if you have. ua-cam.com/video/2tRVSucPZPs/v-deo.html
I saw that as a 14 year old. They played "South Central Rain". I'm willing to bet that all of you folks who say " Fall on Me" is your fav/one of your fav R.E.M. songs, also love "South Central Rain". Bit of a rant in'it? Glad to see R.E.M. getting all the new fans. Don't believe they'd ever reunite, but I'd love it. WHO's with ME??!!
Stipe has written some beautiful music, saw them do this live..timeless
I've listened to this song over and over, especially after my husband died. It's how I feel.
Hey real hardest, such an incredible band. I was fortunate enough to see them twice in the early and mid 80s
The IRS years were just glorious! This is my first REM song; it was 1986, and the song was totally different from everything I had listened up to then. I was 12 years old.
I Love R.E.M and Mike Stipe's voice...badly missed. Saw them live in Manchester many moons ago. This song has been very inspirational to me and led me to make a creation of my own and to send out a message to everyone out there to reduce our carbon footprint! Come view!
R.e.m..wow!...brings me back to a simpler time in my life...beautiful and intelligent lyrics ...sweet symphony of Micheal stipee,,peter buck and Mike mills ..and Mike berry..rest in peace..life's rich pageance on of my very first albums before any internet or sell outs hip hop or rappers..God bless it's labels and warner brothers for sponsoring such a great band.
Another great song by R.E.M. Their early stuff was fantastic.
Yeah
@@Catbee222 yeah but could you actually understand the lyrics in the early songs? The way he sang and the lyrics were so dense I was like wait,what’s he singing 🤷♂️
Early stuff?
This live was one of the best live performances I've seen in my life. Rock in Rio 2001. I was 14.
Will forever and always be my most favorite REM song.
Being a huge R.E.M. fan paid off as I won front row tickets on their Monster tour years ago. It was a radio phone in contest which I was lucky enough to get through, then had to guess the song after playing about 5 seconds of the intro. This was that song. Love, love, love it and love R.EM. always.
This was my favorite song the moment I heard it a LONG time ago, and it still is. Thank you R.E.M. I miss you already.
Me too! As a 15 yr old punk rocker in 1986!!! Unto today.....so many great songs and memories. When I don't want to be in a mosh pit I put on some R.E.M.
Hearing this song live took my breath away. I had heard the album version several times but it took listening to it live to really understand what an incredible song this is.
Can still remember seeing thsi video (and hearing the song) for the first time. Something about that orange type.
Much underrated !!One of their best!!!Just me,Rock On!!!💯👍😃🤩😜
Not sure why, but this song along with 'Losing My Religion' and 'So. Central Rain' remind me of the Pacific Northwest. I Grew (still growing) up in coastal valley Oregon myself...
John Peel (RIP) played this once on Radio 1 decades ago and I instantly became a REM fan 😊❤️
I total recall my bestest Lee and I -payday- "That's right!" We hit I10 bound for the Big Easy singing together (horribly) this album. Best times.
I just listened to this in my car this morning, I haven’t heard it in years. Great inspiring song.
The lines "Feathers hit the ground / before the weight can leave the air" are worth more than all the whole discographies of the 90% of current bands.