Ana+R

== ==




 * R.E.M- E-BOW THE LETTER **
 *  (1996) **

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 * //Look up, what do you see? //**


 * //All of you and all of me //**


 * //Fluorescent and starry //**


 * //Some of them, they surprise //**


 * //The bus ride, I went to write this, 4:00 a.m. //**


 * //This letter //**


 * //Fields of poppies, little pearls //**


 * //All the boys and all the girls sweet-toothed //**


 * //Each and every one a little scary //**


 * //I said your name //**


 * //I wore it like a badge of teenage film stars //**


 * //Hash bars, cherry mash and tinfoil tiaras //**


 * //Dreaming of Maria Callas //**


 * //Whoever she is //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This fame thing, I don’t get it //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I wrap my hand in plastic to try to look through it //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Maybelline eyes and girl-as-boy moves //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I can take you far //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">This star thing, I don’t get it //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Aluminum, tastes like fear //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Adrenaline, it pulls us near //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It tastes like fear, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Will you live to 83? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Will you ever welcome me? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Will you show me something that nobody else has seen? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Smoke it, drink //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Here comes the flood //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Anything to thin the blood //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Phone, eat it, drink //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Just another chink //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Cuts and dents, they catch the light //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Aluminum, the weakest link //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I don’t want to disappoint you //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’m not here to anoint you //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I would lick your feet //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">But is that the sickest move? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I wear my own crown and sadness and sorrow //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">And who’d have thought tomorrow could be so strange? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My loss, and here we go again //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Aluminum, tastes like fear //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Adrenaline, it pulls us near //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It tastes like fear, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Look up, what do you see? //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">All of you and all of me //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Fluorescent and starry //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Some of them, they surprise //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I can’t look it in the eyes //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Seconal, Spanish fly, absinthe, kerosene //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Cherry-flavored neck and collar //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I can smell the sorrow on your breath //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The sweat, the victory and sorrow //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The smell of fear, I got it //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Aluminum, tastes like fear //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Adrenaline, it pulls us near //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">It tastes like fear, there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Pulls us near //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Tastes like fear. //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Nearer, nearer //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Over, over, over, over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Yeah, look over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you there, oh, yeah //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Oh, over //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you there //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Over, let me //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’ll take you there.. //**


 * //<span style="color: #17365d; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">There, there, baby, yeah. //**


 * Summary **


 * R.E.M
 * Choice of song and information
 * Description and analysis of the lyrics
 * Specific comments


 * R.E.M **

R.E.M was one of the first popular bands singing alternative rock music. The American band is formed by Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. They’ve been popular since they started in 1980 and so have produced many albums which have received highly recognized awards.


 * check that all your tenses are the same

The song you’ve just listened to is collected in the album “In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003” with many other songs which continue being particularly memorable and over the top.


 * over the top = negative (exaggerated)


 * Why do I want to share my feelings for this song? **

To be sincere, I don’t have a favorite song as I can’t avoid discovering new ones which attract me with their sound and overall composition or with which I can even feel identified. “E-Bow the Letter” must be the one song which continues filling me of confusing feelings and with which I question so many doubts with no correct answer. Everything in the song has significance, the confusing and regretful tone of the main singer shows that his affection towards the lyrics he’s singing is real.


 * keep discovering
 * filling me with confusing feelings

In order to help you with the understanding of all of my explanation of the lyrics I’ll clarify the main subject of the song. The letter mentioned during the song is said to be the one which the singer of the group, Michael Stipe, wrote to his friend, River Phoenix, but was never send. Furthermore, the song is dedicated to him as Michael Stipe expresses his preoccupation towards this friend’s addiction to drugs.


 * Lyrics analysis **

The main theme of the song is the negative aspect of drugs. Firstly, the name of the song is important because the fact of mentioning “E-Bow”, a hand held electronic device used when playing the electrical guitar, indicates a feeling of control and domination over the mentioned letter, expressing this way the importance that the singer gives to his drug addict friend, as if their friendship was by far the most important relationship he had.

In my opinion the song is cleverly composed as it starts with the contrast of innocence and responsibility by using soft adjectives such as “sweet-toothed” to describe common boys and girls which have no problems in life. The singer portrays the frustration he feels because of the choices his friend made in life and tries to emphasize how his life should have been without drugs. Moreover, he uses a criticizing tone towards society as if he didn’t appreciate life anymore, as if he was just an external observer with no enough strength to live unforgettable experiences, “This fame thing, I don’t get it” shows this attitude.

As the song develops, the singer repeats continuously “you” to make sure it’s clear that he’s addressing to someone, being specific, to his friend. The repetition of “I’ll take you” conveys the role the singer plays over his friend, as if he were trying to persuade him to leave drugs and follow him through the right pathway. Another clever contrast used in the song is the statement of drugs being harmful for the human body and so a fear towards society but at the same time producing such pleasure feelings as adrenaline.


 * pleasurable

The song is beautifully recorded and it’s a great deal more clever and moving than any other song I’ve listened to. The rhythm of the song is easily the most effective one that could have been used to transmit the despairing feelings of the singer.


 * Favorite parts **


 * “ ****//<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">These corrosives do their magic slowly and sweet” //**

I consider that this line describes perfectly the impact of drugs in humans and the contrast I mentioned before of drugs being corrosive but magical. Because of this feeling that people which taste drugs describe, people feel inquisitive <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> towards the effects of drugs in them and so want to try them, specially teenagers.


 * //<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> “I can smell the sorrow on your breath” //**

This perfect imagery transmits the pain caused by drugs and how they destroy your inside and outside. It’s a very effective line said by the singer to his friend and accompanied by the despairing rhythm of the song it creates a grey vision of sadness and regret.


 * //<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> “I don’t want to disappoint you //**


 * //<span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">I’m not here to anoint you” //**

With this comment the singer tries to make his friend understand that he’s only repeating him to leave drugs because he wants to help him as he’s worried. I consider it’s very common between friends to get angry because of one of them caring for the other but being considered annoying.




 * <span style="color: #e36c0a; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> “//And who’d have thought tomorrow could be so strange?”// **

Drugs change your life so quickly that you suddenly feel trapped and lost.