• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About
  • Archives
  • Contact

Medialoper

We're Not Who You Think We Are

Sitting Still

Certain Songs #1695: R.E.M. – “Sitting Still”

December 3, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Murmur
Year: 1983

. . .

File Under Par

Probably because it was one of their earliest songs, “Sitting Still” is perhaps the purest straight-forward rocker on Murmur, accomplishing two things at once: uptempo joy and wistful nostalgia, which is a pretty neat trick, actually.

“Sitting Still” was originally released as the b-side of the Hib-Tone “Radio Free Europe” single, and the take on Murmur is the same one they used for the single, absent a new Mike Mills bass part and some fixed vocals, which probably accounts for relative simplicity in terms of both the arrangement and the instrumentation.

Kicking off with a massive Bill Berry snare drum hit, followed by Peter Buck smashing ringing chords on his Rickenbacker and Mike Mills playing about 15 basslines at once, “Sitting Still” gets off to a rousing start which overcomes the fact that I still have no idea which Michael Stipe singing on the first verse.

[Read more…] about Certain Songs #1695: R.E.M. – “Sitting Still”

Filed Under: Certain Songs Tagged With: Murmur, R.E.M., Sitting Still

Primary Sidebar

Lopy

Search

Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2389: Soundgarden – “Spoonman”
  • Certain Songs #2388: Soundgarden – “Black Hole Sun”
  • Certain Songs #2387: Soundgarden – “Head Down”
  • Certain Songs #2386: Soundgarden – “My Wave”
  • Certain Songs #2385: Soundgarden – “Jesus Christ Pose”

Copyright © 2022 ยท Medialoper