In 2007, at the Dublin rehearsals, Michael Stipe told the story of how These Days marked an epiphany for him at the age of 25 after coming out of a dark period (presumably referring to the making of Fables Of The Reconstruction and the band crisis that followed). It's hard not to feel renewed or revitalised when you hear this song, it marks a new direction for R.E.M. and a new style of vocal delivery and lyric-writing for Stipe. The line "hope despite the times" particularly resonates with me at the moment, as I'm sure it could do with anyone for a whole manner of reasons, that's the great thing about R.E.M. songs is you can take what you want from them, each listener has his/her own interpretation of what the song means to them.
For some reason I was dreading covering this song because I was nervous about my ability to do a good job of it. But I now consider it one of the best covers I've done. It has enough instrumentation to make it dense but never "over-produced". Aside from the guitars, bass and drums it features a piano echoing the bass during the middle 8, very subtle organs that only really flourish during the final chord of the song and a subtle synth sound during the choruses and the third verse. Also, as was common for Bill Berry around the time of Lifes Rich Pageant and Document, the song features elaborate percussion, especially during the middle 8 where all sorts of percussive sounds can be heard including what sounds like a rattle snake!
If the term "joyful noise" could ever be used to describe an R.E.M. song then it would be this one. A great song and a pleasure to cover.
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