Wolves, Lower was my favourite R.E.M. song for many years. When I first heard it, on Dead Letter Office, it affected me so much because I felt like, subconsciously, I'd heard this before somewhere, which can't have been possible being that I was only two years old when this song was released on the Chronic Town EP.
In my opinion, it is an amazing song considering it was written so early in the band's career. If Peter Buck's claims that he only knew three chords when the band first formed in Spring 1980 then it's a near miracle that 18 months later he was playing a guitar riff as complex as this. But it's the speed that the guitar riff is played at which is most astounding for a so-called "novice guitarist", plus...... there is an even faster demo of this song circulating amongst bootleggers, appropriately titled Wolves, Lower (Fast Version). I don't mind admitting that I didn't play this in one take, it took several attempts to get the bridge 4 note riff sounding only half decent.
I'm also aware there are some overdubs during the middle 8 and verse 3 missing from this cover that I didn't even attempt to re-create! There are rumours of Michael Stipe recording with a trash can over his head - I guess this is the stuff of legends that only producer Mitch Easter and Stipe himself would hold the key to...
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