(Reprinted from the church newsletter of First Congregational Church of Tallmadge, Ohio, UCC)
The band R.E.M. officially retired
this month, after 15 albums and thousands of concerts over more than thirty
years. They started as a group of
friends from Athens, Georgia, became a favorite of the college scene, and then
became nationally prominent in the 1990’s with songs like “The One I Love,”
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” and “Losing My Religion” before
fading from their peak of success during the past decade.
I’ve been a fan since I first
heard them in the early 90’s and have seen them live three times. Betsy and I last saw them in concert at
Blossom about seven years ago. I used to
play their songs in a band with my friends, and I still listen to them when I’m
working out. I imagine that there are
many other R.E.M. fans in this church, while many of you have no idea what I’m
talking about.
I want to pay tribute, because
here is a rock band who managed a long career of touring and writing music
without scandal, without succumbing to the excesses of rock and roll temptation,
and without wanting to kill each other.
They’re still friends. They
showed that you can be mature and kind, and also have a great time and be just
crazy enough.
They showed that you can write a
thoughtful, hit song about how people struggle with religion and
spirituality. Hit songs don’t have to be
shallow, and losing your religion doesn’t have to mean becoming a shallow
person. I’ve always thought that the
alternative to bad religion is good religion.
Many people lose the religion of
their earlier lives, because it was scary, judgmental, exclusive, or
incomprehensible. Sometimes religion is
harmful, and sometimes it seems so harmless and facile that you wonder what’s
the point? All of these are distortions
of the holy religion that binds us together with God and with one another. I don’t know what the members of R.E.M. call
their religion, but I’m thankful that they shared their struggles with honesty
and integrity.
R.E.M., Thanks for the music, and
may your retirement be blessed.
2 comments:
Even better is that they went back and recorded one final song after they knew they would break up: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/pop-life/r-e-m-r-i-p-thank-you-for-running-it-into-the-ground-20110922
Probably the greatest last song ever recorded by a band that I've ever heard. It almost brought a tear to my eye the first time I heard it. I would expect nothing less from them.
And here's a nice article about them: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/pop-life/r-e-m-r-i-p-thank-you-for-running-it-into-the-ground-20110922
Love the band. I have a lot of good memories of their music.
Thanks, David! Did you mean to link to something about their last song? I haven't heard it, and hadn't even heard about it until you wrote.
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