Lyrics for Country Feedback as interpreted by Nelly

Country Feedback Lyrics
This flower is scorched
This film is on
On a maddening loop.
These clothes,
These clothes don't fit us right
I'm to blame
It's all the same
It's all the same

You come to me with a bone in your hand
You come to me with your hair curled tight
You come to me with positions
You come to me with excuses
Ducked out in a row
You wear me out
You wear me out

We've been through fake-a-breakdown
Self hurt
Plastics, collections
Self help, self pain,
EST, psychics, fuck all
I was central
I had control
I lost my head
I need this
I need this
A paper weight, junk garage
Winter rain, a honey pot
Crazy, all the lovers have been tagged.
A hotline, a wanted ad
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need this
I need this

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 39 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
sepron
09-24-2002

Rated 0 
i really think this is one of my favorite rem songs.
i dont know exactly what hes talking about, but i interpret it my own way it really touches me

Log in to reply
Rosann
09-28-2002

Rated 0 
One of my absolute favorite, too. I had this on repeat play for about 4 days, at one point. I'm messed up. I know.

Log in to reply
jc499
10-13-2002

Rated 0 
I think it's about some guy who's gone and made a mistake with his lover, and now they're not together anymore and they're both pretty depressed and very bitter (these clothes don't fit us right). The person singing desperately wants things to be like they once used to, but it appears that just cannot be: many things were tried to fix the relationship but it just isn't going to be like it used to (self help, self pain, EST, psychics). The person singing realises it's all his fault, and the song just ends in this lamentation of what he could have had, and knows it's all his fault. It's a very depressing song. On the road movie dvd they play this live. It's amazing on there because Michael Stipe gets down on his knees once he's stopped singing, and the guitar keeps going, and it as this really wailing/painful sound which helps carry the song's emotion perfectly.

Log in to reply
Little_Baby_Nothing
04-27-2003

Rated 0 
beautiful song. it's about a long marriage that's about to break up - the "clothes" that don't fit are what the couple wore on their wedding day.

Log in to reply
Country_Feedback
04-11-2004

Rated 0 
maybe the line, "you come to me with a bone in your hand", is referring to them comment of standing there with your dick in your hand. ie. wasting time, i dotn know though, just a weird view on it.

Log in to reply
Relinquo1
05-01-2004

Rated 0 
I think I read somewhere that this is Michael Stipe's favorite song that he wrote.

Log in to reply
jmaguire
11-11-2004

Rated +1 
I think that interpretation of the "bone in your hand" has more to do with a metaphor for having nothing more to bring to the relationship. A bone is a meatless, and when you come with a bone in your hand there is nothing there to give.

Great song though, especially for those of us who have gotten out of bad relationships that we spent way too much energy trying to save.

Log in to reply
President Macho
12-19-2004

Rated +2 
Michael Stipe improvises lyrics overtop a desolate, aching chord structure while Peter Buck commands very Neil Young like feedback as accents on certain emotional phrases. This is a tone poem more than a song and has meant a lot to me since the day I broke down acheiving my first musical catharsis. I played this song over and over when I was 15 while my mother was in surgery for breast cancer and my Uncle Fred was being buried after a long fight with brain cancer including many strokes along the way. As Stipe pleads "I NEED THIS" I knew that I did too.

Log in to reply
jasonwentcrazy
12-22-2004

Rated 0 
Stipe invariably tells the audience that this is his favorite song. He wants us to look closer at it. And the lyrics are obviously break-up stuff, to be sure, but I am also of the opinion that Michael is referring to his own sexuality when he sings this one.

Log in to reply
mental_copper
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
the live performance that jc499 talks about is also on my Perfect Square DVD may not be the same one but it is awesome

Log in to reply
bronyraur
01-13-2005

Rated 0 
what a beauty...its so open to anyones interpretation, like any individual can interpret this song any way they want ...cause it can mean whatever you want it to

Log in to reply
glaze
02-11-2005

Rated +1 
IMO, the writer (Stipe) is not claiming all of the blame, for the failed marriage or destruction of the relationship, which is clearly what the song is about.

"these clothes don't fit us right ... "

Clearly, as one said, either the clothes they were married in don't fit them anymore OR possibly just the clothes they both wore when they were younger, or metaphorically this could also represent the cloth or fabric of the relationship, which composes the relationship's "clothing"

Regardless, Stipe is completely assigning blame as well, though he claims he's to blame ... a typical exaggeration when you're trying to soft pedal a tough message. His blame is shrouded slightly, but pointed ....

"You come to me with a bone in your hand" ,,,
His lover always comes to him with some sort of BONE to pick with him. (He never does anything right or she is never happy, in other words).

Then, he follows with "you come to me with your hair curled tight." which can only be taken as meaning that he feels his lover is always too uptight about everything, as in, "did you curl you hair too tight or what?"

Then, it's all cemented by his next comments, revealing that his lover ALSO, always comes to him with his/her positions and excuses for everything, "all ducked out in a row" (perfectly laid out and ordered), finishing with, "You wear me out, you wear me out."

Finally, after rambling through everything they've been through to fix the broken marriage, he can only summarize by uttering, "Fuck All"

Lastly, the live version is a treat to have the opportunity to hear and if you can find it, R.E.M. played a live version at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit a few years ago and Mr. Young came up on stage and stroked the struts with Peter Buck for the whole song, which is simply amazing. It's fairly available online in various places and shouldn't be missed.

Peace (& R.E.M.)

Log in to reply
HannahTikvah
02-28-2005

Rated 0 
I think that you all who see a relationship in this are probably right about the intent of the song, but I when I sing along with it, it feels like it's about addiction to drugs or cigaretts or something. I really feel this at the "I need this" like when I know it's self destructive to continue but I need to continue smoking.

Log in to reply
barfolimew
03-20-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with you Hannah, I feel that this song is about only one person, going through an incredible amount of emotional distress. Stipe is effectually interchanging the words we with I, and us with me very freely, and only referring to the narrator, whether that be himself or not. This shows the dimensions of the internal conflict, and the problem in deciding between more than one course of action. Its direct reference is ambiguous, and that makes it all the more powerful, allowing it to be applied to any complicated and painful experience that the listerner might be going through.

Log in to reply
SkyWatcher
04-13-2005

Rated 0 
thing the song talks about the old innocent times and the lost old way of life when everyone and everything was more simple and spiritual..''These clothes don't fit us right''... it speaks metaphorically....for the present time which's like a cloth that ain't fit us....and basically it compare the past with the present which's all is automatically and controlled "a wanted ad ''....and finally it ends with the desperately and nostalgic call..''It's crazy what you could've had
I need this''.....

Log in to reply
SkyWatcher
04-13-2005

Rated 0 
i think the song talks about the old innocent times and the lost old way of life when everyone and everything was more simple and spiritual..''These clothes don't fit us right''... it speaks metaphorically....for the present time which's like a cloth that ain't fit us....and basically it compare the past with the present which's all is automatically and controlled "a wanted ad ''....and finally it ends with the desperately and nostalgic call..''It's crazy what you could've had
I need this''.....

Log in to reply
Jakebert
07-15-2005

Rated 0 
This is such an amazing song. This is one of the songs that you don't truely understand until you see the band perform it live, because then you'll hear the truely amazing emotional in Stipe's voice every time he sings it. Beautiful. 'Tis a shame that one of R.E.M.'s best songs is hidden on their worst album.
------------------
http://www.freewebs.com/thejakesite

Log in to reply
whiskeyclonehotel
09-16-2005

Rated 0 
This song reminds of poverty adverts
im not really sure why
its a good song

Log in to reply
Joel
10-28-2005

Rated 0 
the song is obviosuly about a failed relationship( this flower is scorched)- how its dynamics are frustratingly repeated( the film is on a maddening loop. how they arent compatible( these clothes dont fit us right)... the line im blame its all the same is pretty obviously sarcasm, he isnt to blame, hes sick of taking all the blame! i find the last lines most compelling 'its crazy what you could have had' as in its crazy what you pass up, but these things you need cant be given to you by this person...Michaels attitude on relationship is pretty piss poor- no wonder hes single- bemine is a stalker song, the one i love is a cynical song..and theres...but you never called..waited for your calll..blah blah blah...whats up with this dude?

Log in to reply
BobWoodward
03-11-2006

Rated 0 
This song has always been about sadness and regret for me. The beautiful flower is now scorched, the film just keeps going. And I'm to blame for our problems and struggles. Excuses can be seen as drugs, ducked out in a row. Which bring me to what i feel this song is about. Drugs and how they can change your potential. You can go through everything to fix problems, shrinks, friends, but fuck it all. You once were central, you 'had' control but you tried something, be it beer, coke, anyhting and now you need it. It's crazy what you could have accomplished and become, but you settled for an excuse. I often think of kurt cobain when i hear this as well, even though it was written before he died. He could have been the best.

Log in to reply
mark36
05-30-2006

Rated 0 
Always thought the line was "Psychics, fuck off," which is really a great line.

Log in to reply
12345
06-20-2006

Rated 0 
this is probably the only song i know that sounds better live then on the record.

Yes, i like the line "fuck off" too. It's nice and poetic in this case.

Log in to reply
1 Reply
ajhaan
09-14-2006

Rated 0 
Beautiful song. John Frusciante (rhcp) once said that Michael Stipe wrote this song about him. Offcourse, this isn't true, but I guess he could relate to it a lot....

Log in to reply
bruzzer
03-19-2007

Rated 0 
he finally had enough and kills her. paperweight.

Log in to reply
tarantula33
04-13-2007

Rated 0 
I see this as the dissolution of a long-time relationship. Obviously one where the hopes for the future are still vivid and difficult to give up, yet utterly confounded by reality. "These clothes.." line I relate to in that, often when relationships are close to an end, people are mean, angry, desperate, dramatic..emotions they wouldn't wear in happier days. It seems like his partner is trying to distance themself (come to me with excuses) and he has tried all sort of angles to rectify this, which ultimately puts the final nails in the coffin as the line between allowing space and having an existing relationship is so thin. I like that you cacn interpret "I need this" as either he needs the relationship, or the person, or he needs to leave the relationship or the person.

I always thought winter rain was wedding ring, and fuck all was fuck off. It is better as fuck off.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here