Wall of Paul

They’ve finally released the long-promised, re-mastered version of R.E.M.’s debut tour de force, “Murmur,” and the sound is pretty amazing, full of spooky echoes, jangling guitars, and otherworldy pianos. There's just no other album like this, not even another R.E.M. album, and there's always something new to be discovered when you listen to it.

You can never quite get to the bottom of the damned thing. That's a pretty big compliment when you consider it's been around for a quarter of a century. Hell, I was only 20 the first time I bought it myself, and now I get tired by nine o'clock, six if it's been a bad day.

Those of you who were around when “Murmur” was originally released back in 1983 will recall that one of its key selling points was the mumbled-poetry vocals of lead singer Michael Stipe. It became something of a parlor game back in the day to sit around and try to decipher exactly what Stipe might be saying at any given moment on the album. You could always make out a few snatches of words here and there. But it was virtually impossible to piece together a full verse, and IRS Records didn’t see fit to include a lyric sheet.

Well, there’s still no lyric sheet, but I’m pleased to report that, with this re-mastering, you can finally understand everything Stipe is saying, and the mysteries revealed are nothing short of inspiring. For instance, there’s this driving passage from “Sitting Still,” which some of you may recall was on side two when you could only get this baby on vinyl:

It’s name work out, we all agree
See cuts down-stop it will red
We could find it in the cyst
We could gather
Throw a fit

Up to climb, Katie vies
A kitchen-size for nightmaring
Sit atop of the big king
Wastin’ time
Sitting still

I’m the sun and you can read
I’m the sign and you’re not here
We could bind it in the scythe
We could gather throw a fit

Or something like that. On second listen, it's not really as clear as I thought it was.

Paul Tatara