Birdie in the hand for life's rich demand The insurgency began and you missed it I looked for it and I found it Miles Standish proud, congratulate me
A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe
Life's rich demand creates supply in the hand Of the powers, the only vote that matters Silence means security silence means approval On Zenith, on the TV, tiger run around the tree Follow the leader, run and turn into butter
Let's begin again, begin the begin Let's begin again like Martin Luther Zen The mythology begins the begin Answer me a question I can't itemize I can't think clear, you look to me for reason It's not there, I can't even rhyme here in the begin
A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe Example: the finest example is you
Birdie in the hand for life's rich demand The insurgency began and you missed it I looked for it and I found it Miles Standish proud, congratulate me
A philanderer's tie, a murderer's shoe Let's begin again begin the begin Let's begin again
Written with all of us on acoustic guitars in Michael's living room. We had twenty degrees weather, and we were all huddled up in our jackets, trying to write songs for the album. I had that one little riff and that was it. We just kind of sat and made it up, and as we went, 'Let's change this - let'smake it so it never repeats'. The original version was about a minute longer ant nothing was the same all the way through, except the riff. There were five different choruses, no bridge, no melody. Peter Buck 1986
Quotes collected from 'R.E.M. - In Their Own Words' by Peter Hogan
Lyrics are based on fans interpretations and are not official.
All R.E.M. originals written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.
This song rules, the perfect opening to 'perfect square'. I'm loving the guitar riff.
By crushwitheyeliner
I have seen this in "Perfect Square" as well. I can't wait to see it live.
I have long thought that you have to be southern, from the deep south USA (like Georgia), to truly "get" R.E.M.'s lyrics. Here is a good example... "tiger run around the tree, follow the leader, run and turn into butter" is a reference to Little Black Sambo books that you probably had to be white and from the south to have had them read to you as a child. The clever little boy, chased by tigers had them run around the true until they melted into butter, then he climbed down and enjoyed them over some pancakes. (stereotypes and racial implications notwithstanding). Growing up with these stories was a fact of life if you are near mine and R.E.M.'s ages in the south.
