Night Garden: Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe [R.E.M.]1981-1996 Song-by-song*

Just when you might imagine "Nightswimming" is as good as it gets, the very next song sets the bar even higher. "Find The River" is certainly in my top five of all their songs. Picking just one favourite song is much too hard because there are so many different elements that constitute a song, so it would be difficult for a single song to contain the best of everything, but the chorus melody in "Find The River" is for me the best they have ever done - I could listen to it endlessly, and I sing it in my head nearly every day (especially on a run through woodland to the beach and ocean).

5/5

 

Find the River - 5/5 - Not that this beautiful song needed any help, but this was also the last song on the last R.E.M. album before I graduated college, so it came into my life at the perfect time and I still cannot hear it without tearing up a little.

 

Artists should create as long as they like regardless of whether they have an audience. By the same token nobody should ever feel obligated to continue following an artist whose work they feel no longer speaks to or for them.

It's kind of odd to be told, in effect, you're a bad person for not liking a particular song. I wouldn't say it's "mean spirited" or "nasty", but it isn't particularly nice.

 

Find the River 3\5

 

Nobody here has done that.

 

I think you would do well by reflecting upon some of the things you have written in this thread.

 

At last, we reach the closing track of Automatic for the People, and oh man, what a closer it is.

"Find the River" is absolutely beautiful. Being the final stroke that really brings the entire portrait of this album together, it's a beautifully bittersweet musing on the end of a life, narrated by an old man who has finally conquered the last of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development: that of ego integrity vs. despair. He has lived his life to the fullest, has parted down generations of knowledge, and is ready to give one last bit of advice before saying goodbye to the mortal world. It's conclusive in a way that's perfectly fitting for this album, summing up all of its themes as adeptly as possible and presenting the closing monologue as the lights dim and the curtains fall.

Taking a minimalist acoustic guitar piece with Michael Stipe's lullaby vocals and layering them atop a comfortingly kitschy harmonica, wailing background vocals from Mike Mills, and tranquil backup from Bill Berry, it's perfectly-arranged and creates a sound that compliments its lyrics to a T. "Man on the Moon" may have been the culmination of the album's efforts, but it never could've been a closing track; "Find the River" meanwhile takes its elements and turns it into something that feels incredibly conclusive, wrapping everything up in a way that leaves a lasting impression.

Simply put, "Find the River" is the best closing track on any R.E.M. album; the Eleventh Untitled Song and "Electrolite" (which I'd forgotten about when discussing the former) are the only two that rival it in quality, but even then, this song far surpasses them both in the sheer power of its execution. "All of this is coming your way," indeed.

5/5.

 

I can imagine that if someone really doesn't like the output of a band after a certain album, that to them it also may reflect badly onto the earlier material. At the very least, it may make the band overall "less perfect" to them.

In that respect, I totally understand when these people say the band maybe should've stopped after album X.

Of course that does not mean that they don't want others to enjoy the material after album X, it's just how they feel personally about it. I don't think you should take it literally.

Personally, I am very happy that R.E.M. continued after AFTP. There's a lot of nice music still to discuss.

 

Find The River 5/5

 

Far and away the best song on the album.

4.5/5

 

Find The River 5/5

After we've had my favourite R.E.M song,we now go to another song that would easily get in my top five.

It really does feel a musical equivalent of a hug after a very mournful album. There's a reassuring vibe to that and it feels very "warm". The river theme throughout the track is good metaphor to cleansing yourself of life's worrys and keep looking to a better future.

Musically it's great again with the simple acoustic guitar, melodica and harmony vocals really proving a excellent bed for the song.

In regards to the harmony vocals if anybody can do those isolated track videos on YouTube,please isolate Mike and Bill's parts. Simply one of the best background vocals I've ever heard.

So to sum up. an astonishing closer to an astonishing record. I've been listening to it for over twenty-five years ago and it's never left my top ten favourite albums and I almost guarantee that it will never will.

 

The same could be said for you and some others here.

If somebody decides to piss all over a song that I've just poured my heart out over, they are the ones who should be criticized, not me for calling them out for doing it. While I've periodically expressed surprise at the reaction I've observed to individual songs or albums, I've never said nor even implied that everybody has to like the same music I do. I've only said that there are certain works of art (songs/albums, in this context here) that I find so revealing and substantial that, if a person doesn't appreciate them, I'm probably not going to find that I have much else in common with that person. That's not the same as saying that they are a "bad person". Anybody who claims that they don't filter out people in this sort of way is lying to themselves. We all do, whether it's using music, film, books, politics, religion, hobbies, etc. -- whatever means the most to us in our lives. We can't make friends with everybody, so we employ these filters to find the people we are better able to forge deep connections and bonds with. It's honestly a coping mechanism for getting through life with a minimum of angst and discomfort.

If you don't like something I've praised here, that's perfectly fine. But you (generic you) can say "I appreciate how this means a lot to others but I've never been able to appreciate it in that way", or something along those lines. Many participants here have done exactly that. I haven't really ripped on any songs here (maybe "Hairshirt"? Don't think I was around for "Can't Get There From Here"...), but when I've been less complimentary, I've done it in this sort of manner. On the contrary, others have seemingly taken glee in saying things like "5/5? LOL, more like 1/5", which I find extremely dismissive and disrespectful when some of us have just spent a paragraph or two describing how meaningful a song is to us. I wouldn't walk into your living room and take a **** on the carpet after you've just told me how much you love it; why do that to me?

This stuff IS personal - which is perhaps why discussing music in a place like this might, for me, be a fool's errand.

 

I don’t believe I’ve ever made a post in this thread talking negatively about anyone’s feelings about a song other than my own. I discuss my own feelings, and I don’t make references to others’ feelings, except occasionally to say I agree with something someone else has said.

This has generally been a very respectful thread. I’m sorry you don’t agree.

I mostly write my posts before I read what others have said so I can get my thoughts clear in my mind and can be sure my thoughts are my own and are not influenced by things others have said.

I never express surprise at someone else’s opinion, because it’s an opinion!

I honestly don’t know what to say any more, so I’ll just stop.

 

I have to be very careful with my wording here, because I definitely don't want to dismiss your feelings about this, but are you really sure about this? I haven't seen posts like these (to be honest I've only been around since Green, but still).

Yes, some posters here have a very direct, or maybe even cynical writing style when they don't like a song. What I think is happening is that you read these posts, translate them in your head to "LOL, why would you like this song", and then take it personally.

Again, I don't want to dismiss your feelings so please only take this only as an advice: maybe you could think of it like this (this is at least what I'm doing): negative opinions with strong wordings should be just as valid as positive opinions with multiple paragraphs about how we love a song.

Personally I *love* the variety of opinions here. The cynical posts I even find funny most of the time, even though they have been mostly about songs I gave a 4 or 5 out of 5!

In fact, my philosophy is: the fact that opinions about R.E.M. can differ so strongly says something about the music. It is never middle of the road. Which should be a good thing right?

 

Your ego is wrapped up in your opinions and feeling about art, so that when others criticize that art, you take it as an attack on you. Yet these people are responding to the art, not you - they aren't even thinking about you. But you need to turn it into something about you. The art isn't wounded - it's exactly the same - but you are. Is that a good thing for you and for others?

 

“Find The River” is such a fantastic song. It really touches my heart. It’s one of the best album closers ever. Definitely in my top 5 favorite R.E.M. songs. It could be my favorite.

5/5.

 

Agreed.

I'm 100% Team @brownie61 on this.

Despite opinions being all over the map on every. sjngle. song. so far, I've seen nothing but respectful comments from all participants (apart from some very lighthearted and firmly tongue planted teasing). Heck, someone just posted the other day that they think Moral Kipsk is his least favorite song of theirs. I LOVE Moral Kiosk.

I see no difference whatsoever of posting a take on hating a song (which has been done for every song at some point) and saying the band should have quit.

1) it's an opinion on the band, not towards anyone.
2) Who really cares?

This band 100% changed my life. I've got nearly 300 LPS, 7",CDs, fan club items... People here certainly may have loved and been affected by them as much as myself, but not more. That said, I didn't blink once at the statement. It's obviously an opinion and something valid to think about. I don't personally agree, but I don't care for their last album, so I would have been OK for them to wrap it up after Accelerate, in my opinion, a much better album than Collapse Into Now. But you know, I hope this thread reaches that album as I'm anxious to see if people's comments help me change my mind.

 

Any excuse to listen to that song. Thanks for posting.

 

Wow, nearly four full pages on Find the River. What did I miss?

 

Find the River - 5/5 on melody alone. Had no idea about the list of herbs. My favourite: coriander, though I prefer to call it cilantro

 

It might be. My ego is no more wrapped up in this than yours or anyone else’s, and likely less so. You’re one of those who has said some unkind things in this thread and I think that should be noted.

 

I agree and I've been around since post #4.

I might suggest a reconsideration of ignore land.

 

Find the River: a wonderful way to end one of the band’s finest albums. I have nothing to add to the other positive reviews. Another 5/5.

 

Perfect. Their final masterpiece. 5/5

 

I mean, you've said you stopped reading these types of threads because they impacted your mood so greatly that it was causing you severe anxiety and depression when someone trashed a song you liked. When I posted White Lion several pages back and several people dunked on them very harshly, I didn't take it personally, and it didn't affect my mood one iota. That's not me trying to brag or anything, I just don't care. Some of the people doing the dunking were users I like, and I still like them, because I know it had nothing to do with me.

You've also said you wouldn't be friends with anyone that didn't like Automatic for the People. I think it's a fair assumption that you take these ratings/comments to heart more than any of the rest of us. The passion you have for the music is definitely admirable, but if it shifts into having such a profound effect on your psyche, I really don't know if that's healthy.