How are there not more comments for this, the most beautiful of songs? The imagery here is pretty vivid, it always reminds me of running through summer fields and floating down country rivers; lines like "I have got to find the river/Bergamot and vetiver/Run through my head and fall away" bring me back to summers spent in the country.
The song is, of course, about trying to grow up so fast ("Hey there little speedyhead"), only to look back as an old man and be overwhelmed by the beautiful memories. It's about trying in vain to communicate to the young what lies ahead, when "There is nothing left to throw of ginger, lemon, indigo, coriander stem, rose of hay ... all of this is coming your way." But, alas, the words fall on deaf ears, the young man's "strength and courage overrides the privileged and weary eyes of river poet search naivete."
This is said to be a very personal song for Michael Stipe, and it shows through in his voice and the cryptic, quickfire nature of his words. Everything comes together in this song to make it REM's best.
How are there not more comments for this, the most beautiful of songs? The imagery here is pretty vivid, it always reminds me of running through summer fields and floating down country rivers; lines like "I have got to find the river/Bergamot and vetiver/Run through my head and fall away" bring me back to summers spent in the country.
The song is, of course, about trying to grow up so fast ("Hey there little speedyhead"), only to look back as an old man and be overwhelmed by the beautiful memories. It's about trying in vain to communicate to the young what lies ahead, when "There is nothing left to throw of ginger, lemon, indigo, coriander stem, rose of hay ... all of this is coming your way." But, alas, the words fall on deaf ears, the young man's "strength and courage overrides the privileged and weary eyes of river poet search naivete."
This is said to be a very personal song for Michael Stipe, and it shows through in his voice and the cryptic, quickfire nature of his words. Everything comes together in this song to make it REM's best.