September Sang

For those of you unaware, September Sang is a newly discovered R.E.M. original that was played live once in 1982. It is not one of R.E.M.'s better unreleased songs. It's original form is so fragmented and loose that my attempts to bring it together as a more solid, complete song have stripped it of any character it may have once had. It's one of those cases where half way through the song I wonder why I started it and strive to finish it purely to make the time spent on it so far seem justified!

All that said, it's another rarity for the collection and that is, after all, the idea of this project.

Man On The Moon

This was always going to be the big one as far as I was concerned and it's not one I was originally going to cover, mainly because I was targeting the less known R.E.M. songs and avoiding the big hits. But, I decided to take this on (for a second time, I might add) simply through my love and appreciation for the song.

Man On The Moon is, in my opinion, the best song that R.E.M. have released as a single in their career. It it perfect for the radio without compromising their integrity in the way Shiny Happy People or Stand may have done.

I knew if I was going to take this on it had to be good. That's the danger of taking on the popular songs is everyone's heard them so many times that the inconsistencies with the original aren't missed so easily. I'll let you be the judge of whether this is as good as I'm making out!

The song basically consists of drums, bass, acoustic and electric guitar but over the top of that are the instruments that add to the song's character - the mandolin, the slide guitar and the piano parts during the verses.

And all I'm talking about here is the backing track - the vocals take this song to a new level, especially during the chorus where, by the end of the song, the vocal parts by Michael Stipe and Mike Mills help bring this song to a soaring climax.

I don't think I'll be taking on any more hit singles, this was definitely one I just had to get out of my system and I enjoyed every minute of dissecting every second of this classic song.