Song of the Day: R.E.M. - It Happened Today (2011) Sometimes there are so many exceptions to the rule that the rule can hardly be called such, even if people still assume it to exist. Such is the case with the alleged lack of value of late career albums that get good reviews from Rolling Stone magazine, but probably still suck. It happens all the time: We see a once great artist well into their third or fourth decade of recording has a much ballyhooed new album out, Rolling Stone gives it four or five stars and calls it a great return to form, we buy it, and it turns out to be Mick Jaggers Goddess in the Doorway. And then it sits on our shelf collecting dust for 10+ years as we wonder why we were swindled into falling for Jann Wenners nostalgia yet again. But, and heres a but so big that its not even that big (if that makes sense; it does to me)-- theyre not all like that. A handful of late-career albums are legitimately wonderful, and actually are that great return to form that we read about. As I said, there are so many exceptions that they can hardly be called such, even if they still happen far less than the reverse. Tom Pettys Wildflowers is probably the second best album of his whole career, and Ive often referred to it as the best album ever released by a rock artist over 40. (Perhaps a dubious honor, but whatever.) Bruce Springsteens Magic is also wonderful, as are Johnny Cashs American Recordings, the Elton John/Leon Russell team-up album, and so many others. But one of my favorite examples is the final R.E.M. album, 2011s Collapse Into Now. Its debatable whether or not R.E.M. knew this would be their last album while they were creating it. Some signs definitely point to yes, especially if youre looking for them, but its never been confirmed. Either way, it acts as a wonderful career summation. Im a nostalgic person by nature, so I tend to enjoy things that deliberately romanticize the past, as long as the manipulation levels arent too egregious. It Happened Today starts out great. It has a wonderful acoustic strum that recalls the bands folky beginnings, a great Michael Stipe vocal, and lyrics that pull that National-trick of sort of making sense even though they dont. But the song really kicks into another gear just past the two minute mark, when the melody turns into a truly epic Ooohhhhh-Oooohhhhh-Oh-Oh-OhOhhhhhh singalong. Im probably extrapolating a meaning that isnt at all there, but it has this feel like the band is passing on its wisdom to us through sonic osmosis. Its like the elder tribal Wiseman transferring his knowledge to the young buy through some ancient ritual that involves lots of chanting and peyote smoking. My personal memory: at my Bar Mitzvah, my grandfather--the immor(t)ally named Rabbi Dick Hertz--grabbed my temples with both of his hands, metaphorically gave me the wisdom of the Jewish faith, and pronounced me a man in the eyes of our ancestors. At the time, it seemed kind of weird. I kept looking around the sanctuary with this look that read Dude, why is this guy grabbing my head and speaking in tongues? But in hindsight, and even though Im no longer religious at all, I guess I kind of get it. The old and wise feel the need to provide transference to the young and naive. It is ritualistic, but its something that all cultures share, even the culture of rock and roll. And this song feels to me like R.E.M.s version of the ritual. That chanting that encompasses the last two minutes of the song has a power within it that could only come from a band on their last legs, 30 years into their career, who once owned the world and is now ready to pass it on.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 19:46:59 +0000
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