R.E.M.: Young And Full Of Grace

"File Under Water"~ written on the spine of Reckoning

When R.E.M. swept onto the scene in the early 80s - June 28, 1984, to be exact - they embodied a hybrid of hippie and punk that was pure exhilaration, the jump-up-kick-your-ass-with-your-heels kind of bliss. It was the Commodore Ballroom, Granville Street, Vancouver, in the days when $20 would get a kid from the suburbs a baggie of Sensimilla that could be rolled into a few submarine fatties. I was 16, had just finished grade 11 at Semiahmoo Senior Secondary in White Rock, and was spending my days listening to Reckoning, along with the Smith's debut, in the plush, shag-carpeted environs of my family living room.

With my older brother’s cream coloured Ibanez wedged tightly between my left arm and lap, I strum-whipped “Pretty Persuasion” with the same frenetic acuity Pete Townshend displayed in concert a few years before at that concrete abyss known as Seattle’s Kingdome.



I was ready to happen and R.E.M. provided lift off. Now the Commodore serves alcohol, and as a lad of merely 16 I was three years shy of the legal limit. But I refused to let that be an obstacle. I invited along my secret weapon: a large friend, as huge as a Samoan wrestler. Steve was bad-ass, so much so he was the first in all of Surrey to drive an orange, Russian-made Lada as a way of protesting western imperialism. He could also look ten years older and meaner than any one I’d ever seen.

When we finally got to the Commodore and climbed the red carpet to the hallowed entrance, no questions were dare asked. It was my first time ever inside the fabled ballroom and R.E.M. provided the purpose and soundtrack to that sacred right of passage. Sadly, I don’t have a set list, but I do remember many of these songs played the night before in Seattle’s Music Hall:

Moral Kiosk / Driver 8 / Catapult / Hyena / Camera / Pilgrimage / Talk About The Passion / Seven Chinese Brothers / So. Central Rain / Pretty Persuasion / Gardening At Night / 9-9 / Windout / Old Man Kensey / Radio Free Europe / Little America
encore 1: Sitting Still / Burning Down / Pale Blue Eyes / 1,000,000
encore 2: So You Want To Be A Rock'n'Roll Star / Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)

I also seem to recall “Femme Fatale” and “No Fun”, but that could be the beer and smoke. It was the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship that continued until last week when they dropped the curtain. I was at the gym, my iPod on random when “I Believe” kicked in. I thought to myself, “Damn, this is a fine song...good lyrics too.”

I Believe

When I was young and full of grace
And spirited - a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor not to tell

I believe in coyotes and time as an abstract
Explain the change, the difference between
What you want and what you need, there's the key,
Your adventure for today, what do you do
Between the horns of the day?

(chorus)
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

When I was young and give and take
And foolish said my fool awake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor, on your honor
Trust in your calling, make sure your calling's true
Think of others, the others think of you
Silly rule golden words make, practice, practice makes perfect,
Perfect is a fault, and fault lines change

I believe my humor's wearing thin
And change is what I believe in
I believe my shirt is wearing thin
And change is what I believe in

(repeat chorus)

When I was young and full of grace
As spirited a rattlesnake
When I was young and fever fell
My spirit, I will not tell
You're on your honor, on your honor
I believe in example
I believe my throat hurts
Example is the checker to the key

I believe my humor's wearing thin
And I believe the poles are shifting

I got home, read the news and took a deep breath...for change is what I believe in.