Probabilistic Jukebox: "1,000,000" by R.E.M.

Painting titled White Cat with Bee by Harry Beard, 1877

Didn't I say a while ago that I was going to start padding these Jukebox entries by listing the first 10 songs that pop up on Winamp when I press the old "Randomize List" button? Well, here's what I got last night.

1. R.E.M. - "1,000,000"
2. Superchunk - "With Bells On"
3. The Strapping Fieldhands - "Tickled with Olive Branch"
4. The Go! Team - "The Power Is On"
5. The Velvet Underground - "New Age"
6. The National - "The Thrilling of Claire"
7. Unrest - "Love to Know"
8. Belly - "Untogether"
9. The Awkward Stage - "T-Rexia Nervosa"
10. Jenny Toomey - "Cheat"

Not a bad mix of songs there, but I'm glad that and REM song came up first - there's been some chatter about REM on the popular music forums lately because of the recent re-release of Fables from the Reconstruction. Discussions about REM can get pretty heated - one post I read even asserted that it is not possible to be a fan of both REM's early albums and their later work. That's just a ludicrous overstatement, obviously, but maybe there's something to it.

Take "1,000,000", the first song on the second side of the band's first EP, Chronic Town. Michael Stipe's vocals on the song are mixed higher than the rest of the EP, so the lyrics are much clearer to the listener, but, apart from this anomaly, the song is miles away from what REM was doing later in their career. The song has a primal simplicity, with Stipe growling the verses over a single chord. There's not much to the chorus, either - a simple repeated hook and a little guitar jangle. Having listened to it a couple times in a row, I have to wonder why I like this song as much as I do - there's really not much to it. Even the bridge doesn't do much, and REM prided themselves on great bridges in their early songs (because Peter Buck couldn't play a decent guitar solo, allegedly).

This song represents the first stages of REM's songwriting and the ferociousness of their early live sound - by the time they recorded Murmur, the band had already moved on to more ambitious compositions and arrangements. But, if I had to choose, I would easily toss these very early songs aside aside in favor of the great albums they would record later in their career. The question of when they stopped recording great albums is a matter open to discussion, though.

"1,000,000" by R.E.M.