That's when Wendell Gee takes a tug Upon the string that held the line of trees Behind the house he lived in He was reared to give respect But somewhere down the line he chose To whistle as the wind blows Whistle as the wind blows, with me
He had a dream one night That the tree had lost its middle So he built a trunk of chicken wire To try to hold it up But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin And when he climbed inside There wasn't even time to say Goodbye to Wendell Gee So whistle as the wind blows Whistle as the wind blows, with me
If the wind were colors And if the air could speak Then whistle as the wind blows Whistle as the wind blows
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.
I absolutely love this song!! It is so melodic and the banjo part really gives the song an incredible mature soung for four guys that were only in their mid twenties at the time. I love its folky sound!! Ernie Griffin
By Ernie Griffin
Wendell Gee is one of my favorite songs, but what is Mike's background vocal- it drives me crazy!
By starkitten
I gotta say, I agree with the lyrics sheet from the Japanese version of Collected Singles in that it's not "whistle as the wind blows with me," but "whistle as the horn blows from the east" for the first verse (and the first verse only)...
By Josh Smith
Mike's background vocal on this song is perhaps, "Gonna miss you, boy"
By doug
Yeah, that's right. And the lyrics above are wrong immediately before "If the wind were colors" Michael distinctly says "and listen as the wind blows with me" instead of "whistle as the wind blows with me". I think it's the only time in the song he uses listen instead of whistle.
