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R.E.M. — Bittersweet Me
Album: New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Avg rating:
7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1072









Released: 1995
Length: 4:01
Plays (last 30 days): 0
I move across, innocence lost
All flashing pulsar
I move across the earth in my new pattern shirt
I pass satellites

"You're so bitter," your complaint
I can't give you anything
I don't know who you're livin' for
I don't who you are anymore

I'd sooner chew my leg off
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I move across, candy floss
I move like a tank
I move across the room with a heart full of gloom
I'm stronger than you think

Oh, my peer, your veneer
Is wearing thin and cracking
The surface informs that underneath
The underneath is lacking

I'd sooner chew my leg off
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

You move across, innocence lost
All static and desire
You're blue in the face from navel gaze
You set yourself on fire

You strip down and lay yourself out
I know you can't fake it
But are you tired and naked?
Are you tired and naked?

Yeah, I'd sooner chew my leg off
Than be trapped in this
How easy you think of all of this as bittersweet me

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore

I couldn't taste it
I'm tired and naked
I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore
Comments (91)add comment
Good band but this one always felt a bit dry for my tastes 
So agree with Malobeth. This album is RICH. Love this song. Important for me in 1996
Love REM 
I really miss these guys. Always loved their music.
 kurtster wrote:
just found the vinyl, unopened, in my collection.  debating whether or not to open it or sell it.
 
In my opinion sell it, if the train spotting types are willing to buy it, give them the pleasure of ownership and spend the proceeds on the R.E.M. back catalogue. 
Beautiful Transition
just found the vinyl, unopened, in my collection.  debating whether or not to open it or sell it.
Absolutely fantastic album. SO many great songs. Also, as far as I'm concerned, REM finished high with last two brilliant albums.
I still think that their "blah" is brilliant stuff.
From their "Blah" period (i.e., post-1992). I do like Electrolite, though.
 vandal wrote:
I like it, but it does borrow a bit from Man on The Moon. . .  (which is funny to say, because I believe this pre-dates MoTM) 
 
You believe incorrectly.  Man On The Moon is from Automatic For The People, which predates this by five years or so, IIRC.

Everybody in my alien space craft loves this song... we be dancing cross-eyed buck ass naked and jiggling organs like Willy Shakes...
can we download some of these awesome pictures???
That transition from Air - Talisman was seemless. I'd never have imagined that could work but, again, wow, Bill.....

marvelous...  love it...  we be dancing...
 
 gandalfbmg wrote:
Their best post-Automatic song?

Well, I think Bittersweet Me is a fine, solid song, but not too special or exciting. New Adventures In Hi-Fi alone has at least 5 that I like better (How The West Was Won, E-Bow The Letter, Leave, So Fast So Numb, Electrolite). I really like that record.

Some more late R.E.M. favorites: Lotus, At My Most Beautiful, Walk Unafraid and Parakeet from Up, which is pretty uneven and overlong as a record but has a nice atmospheric and experimental vibe.

The Great Beyond. I've Been High from Reveal. Their last decade was disappointing, though. Until The Day Is Done was a lone positive surprise. 


Their best post-Automatic song?
 romeotuma wrote:


I'll dance to this...

 
 

Now that could upset your roomates lol {#Dancingbanana}
 ChardRemains wrote:

REM started going south when Michael Stipe started enunciating.  Fables is probably their last decent album IMO.  My favorite is the Chronic Town EP produced by Mitch Easter.


 

They did start to get overly cute with the lyrics, and it led to their downfall.  I liked it much better when they were hard to understand.  The long gradual decline started with Green.  Still, Green was great, so were the next few CDs, but they fell off the cliff by the mid-90s with Monster and it was all mediocre from there on out.  No band has stayed on top as long as they did though -  they had a great run and nothing to be ashamed of.  They always were and still try to be a college, intellectual band, but you can only do that for so long.
I like it, but it does borrow a bit from Man on The Moon. . .  (which is funny to say, because I believe this pre-dates MoTM) 

I like this one, including the crunchy guitar tone.
sounds like all there other stuff but thats good


 ProgFusion wrote:
horstman wrote:

To those who think that REM went south after IRS, it's really more of an evolution, an ability to create music with far more funds, cash, free time, to break free of their traditional bonds.


I'm one of those people, and I don't think they used their success to "break free of their traditional bonds," rather, I think they got lazy, and went mainstream.

I have one of REM's early albums, namely "Fables of the Reconstruction" from 1985, and the the music on that album is experimental, and unique. I love it.

But their later stuff is so mundane. For every reasonably good song they made, like this one, they made others like the mind-numbing "Losing My Religion," with its no-effort-expended cliched lyrics.

 

"the surface informs the underneath the underneath is lacking" {#Moon}
They found all the right chords for this one...... that's for sure.
 peter_james_bond wrote:
Oh my peer,
Your veneer is wearing thin and cracking
The surface informs that underneath,
Underneath is lacking

Love those lyrics. {#Music}
 

Thanks for that, yes, good stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I love just about everything by REM...but this is my least fav album.  A good song, but IMHO just no up to the feeling of most of REM's past work.
 handsomened wrote:

Yes, I agree, sooo goooood for the earsssssss

 

Yes, great audio therapy!!
 romeotuma wrote:


This song is cool...
 
Yes, I agree, sooo goooood for the earsssssss

Oh my peer,
Your veneer is wearing thin and cracking
The surface informs that underneath,
Underneath is lacking

Love those lyrics. {#Music}
 ProgFusion wrote:
REM started going south when Michael Stipe started enunciating.  Fables is probably their last decent album IMO.  My favorite is the Chronic Town EP produced by Mitch Easter.
horstman wrote:

To those who think that REM went south after IRS, it's really more of an evolution, an ability to create music with far more funds, cash, free time, to break free of their traditional bonds.

I'm one of those people, and I don't think they used their success to "break free of their traditional bonds," rather, I think they got lazy, and went mainstream.

I have one of REM's early albums, namely "Fables of the Reconstruction" from 1985, and the the music on that album is experimental, and unique. I love it.

But their later stuff is so mundane. For every reasonably good song they made, like this one, they made others like the mind-numbing "Losing My Religion," with its no-effort-expended cliched lyrics.
 


This is  some really sorry shit. {#Puke}
horstman wrote:

To those who think that REM went south after IRS, it's really more of an evolution, an ability to create music with far more funds, cash, free time, to break free of their traditional bonds.


I'm one of those people, and I don't think they used their success to "break free of their traditional bonds," rather, I think they got lazy, and went mainstream.

I have one of REM's early albums, namely "Fables of the Reconstruction" from 1985, and the the music on that album is experimental, and unique. I love it.

But their later stuff is so mundane. For every reasonably good song they made, like this one, they made others like the mind-numbing "Losing My Religion," with its no-effort-expended cliched lyrics.

 leshwatt wrote:

I don't know what I'm hungry for

Your leg, perhaps?

I don't know what I'm hungry for
I don't know what I want anymore
{#Whistle}


Yes.  Crank it up!   
GChevy410 wrote:
Mute, as with nearly every REM song
Crank it up, as with nearly every REM song! To those who think that REM went south after IRS, it's really more of an evolution, an ability to create music with far more funds, cash, free time, to break free of their traditional bonds. Bands evolve. Sometimes that evolutions is downward or not original. U2 has bee accused of this (maybe rightly so!) but that' creativity. Sometimes it works, sometimes it fall flat on its face. I think at the end of the day, Michael Stipes and crew will be able to look back at the day, kick back and smile. And I'll be smiling with them.
bigB_3 wrote:
Please stop talking about your sex life. This is a family forum.
Ha! That's the way we should treat all the RP trolls.
pushkinjim wrote:
Mediocre, lousy, boring!
Please stop talking about your sex life. This is a family forum.
Mediocre, lousy, boring!
ladybinnath wrote:
This is pleasant. But that's not a compliment for a band that once was so much more than pleasant.
Well put. Their edginess is gone from this one.
This is pleasant. But that's not a compliment for a band that once was so much more than pleasant.
I think this is their most underrated album, 10 easy
YES!!!!!! THOSE GREAT COLLEGE DAYS!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!
Has anyone else had these lyrics go through your head during a break-up? "I'd sooner chew my leg off.."
7 8
TJOpootertoot wrote:
REM = sucky So sad.
Removed the superfluous stuff for ya. No need to thank me,I'm just doing a service for mankind.
Extra nice.
99 wrote:
No kidding. New Adventures in Hi Fi is certainly no Fables of the Reconstruction but Green, Out of Time and Automatic were all solid albums on the WB label. I even enjoyed a few songs on Monster.
Yup. Automatic's the borderline for me, that album is great throughout (with the exception of everybody whines). though there certainly were moments of both green and oot that presaged a disappointing future. didn't like a track on monster. 7 for this one, it's about the best later rem song i've yet heard.
TJOpootertoot wrote:
WB REM = sucky = lamest, most unoriginal "they sold out!" argument in rock history except for the guy who yelled "Judas!" at Bob Dylan. So sad. TJ
No kidding. New Adventures in Hi Fi is certainly no Fables of the Reconstruction but Green, Out of Time and Automatic were all solid albums on the WB label. I even enjoyed a few songs on Monster.
dmax wrote:
That's so out of touch on his part. "Guitar band"? Nothing wrong with that. The Stones and the Velvets and almost every other freakin great rock band is anchored in their guitars. IRS REM = best band in America WB REM = waste of time
WB REM = sucky = lamest, most unoriginal "they sold out!" argument in rock history except for the guy who yelled "Judas!" at Bob Dylan. So sad. TJ
RobK wrote:
I have to agree...that is, with the other listeners who have said you don't know what you're talking about. You think those of us who liked New Adventures haven't listened to enough old R.E.M.? Puhleaze. I've got 'em all from Chronic Town on just like everybody else, and they've all been worn down to nothing from repeated use. First the tapes and then the cd's that replaced the tapes. Of course we know and love the vintage stuff that made them great. Just because those days are gone means they can't make great music anymore? Says who? I think you're the one who needs advice on how to listen to R.E.M. You've missed out on a lot of good stuff since the Green album, when you apparently threw in the towel. Oh and just for the record, Nomar, R.E.M. is a band, not one person.
Well said. I, personally, have enjoyed the evolutionary ride of REM.
odd. it's odd that he's asking if i'm tired and naked. because he already said that he was both tired and naked.
Nomar wrote:
I have to wonder how M. Stipe can sleep at night knowing that he used to give us such gems as "Don't go back to Rockville" and "Exhuming McCarthy," and now all he can do is pump out this drivel. Anyone who thinks this is the best REM has to offer needs to spend some quality time with their earlier stuff - and "Monster" certainly doesn't qualify. Think pre-"Green."
I have to agree...that is, with the other listeners who have said you don't know what you're talking about. You think those of us who liked New Adventures haven't listened to enough old R.E.M.? Puhleaze. I've got 'em all from Chronic Town on just like everybody else, and they've all been worn down to nothing from repeated use. First the tapes and then the cd's that replaced the tapes. Of course we know and love the vintage stuff that made them great. Just because those days are gone means they can't make great music anymore? Says who? I think you're the one who needs advice on how to listen to R.E.M. You've missed out on a lot of good stuff since the Green album, when you apparently threw in the towel. Oh and just for the record, Nomar, R.E.M. is a band, not one person.
And here ends the string of 8 or higher...ah well. Pretty good, I guess, though just not too exciting.
Mute, as with nearly every REM song
i'm sorry to be a pest, but could somebody please come up with a word besides "drivel" to describe something they don't like?
Ever get caught up in something and then a song comes on RP that you somehow recognize and you reach to turn it up before who realize who or what it is? Sure sign of a song you really want to hear. Happens all the time with me and REM. Like just now...
timc wrote:
I think the biggest issue with Monster (which is not a terrible album by any definition of the term) is that it seems like a let down after the heights of Automatic for the People. Monster is also a departure from classical R.E.M. style, and a departure of that sort is guaranteed to generate animosity.
Monster was just part of the evolution. I remember reading an interview with Buck saying that he was concerned with being known just as a guitar band after Green. He wanted to put all electric guitars in the closet. So with Out of Time and Automatic they went another direction. After two albums (6+yrs) they went back to the electric guitar... and I think they did it well even though Monster is on the bottom half of my REM list.
Nomar wrote:
I have to wonder how M. Stipe can sleep at night knowing that he used to give us such gems as "Don't go back to Rockville" and "Exhuming McCarthy," and now all he can do is pump out this drivel. Anyone who thinks this is the best REM has to offer needs to spend some quality time with their earlier stuff - and "Monster" certainly doesn't qualify. Think pre-"Green."
I've got to disagree completely. I've been a fan since summer of 83 when I first heard Laughing and bought Murmur, then CT, and then bought album immediately on release, got dozens of B-sides and bootlegs, and been to many shows since my first in an A&P-turned-bar in late 83, up to and including the last tour. I've logged more pre- and post-Green quality time than you can imagine. New Adventures stands with their best, and this song stands with their best.
AlanCE wrote:
Is Monster REM's "Rattle & Hum"? I was told the following by a U2 fan long ago: "If you own several U2 albums plus Rattle & Hum, then you're a U2 fan." "but if you own only Rattle & Hum, you're not a U2 fan." :)
I actually think that's a pretty fair statement. But then you could also swap in Out of Time. I know plenty of alt-rockers who only own Monster and plenty of pop folks who own only Out of Time. I would hardly call either of these group's 'REM fans'. Of course, measuring your degree of REM fan-ness by such arbitrary means is rock snobbery and I oppose rock snobbery in all it's forms :P
Videll wrote:
When this CD came out, I believed it was a big step forward after Monster's step backwards.
That's funny because this song would fit on Monster nicely. I loved Monster, nice change for REM. Is Monster REM's "Rattle & Hum"? I was told the following by a U2 fan long ago: "If you own several U2 albums plus Rattle & Hum, then you're a U2 fan." "but if you own only Rattle & Hum, you're not a U2 fan." :)
Nomar wrote:
I have to wonder how M. Stipe can sleep at night knowing that he used to give us such gems as "Don't go back to Rockville" and "Exhuming McCarthy," and now all he can do is pump out this drivel. Anyone who thinks this is the best REM has to offer needs to spend some quality time with their earlier stuff - and "Monster" certainly doesn't qualify. Think pre-"Green."
I was listening to Reckoning just last night :P And I think I said that this was the best song on New Adventures in Hi Fi. NOT one of their best ever. New Adventures is, IMO, one of their weaker albums (sorry, but I put Green and Fables as the other two especially 'weak' albums). That being said, if I were in charge of a 'best of' anthology for REM, this still would be one of my easiest choices for it.
Sample Lyric: "I don't know what I want anymore" super, so why write a song about it? Indulgent old rock star affliction...
Great song - the usual lovely REM melodies in Michael Stipe's voice but not often you hear Peter Buck's guitar churning away so joyously!!
gandalfbmg wrote:
This is by far the best song on New Adventures, which is IMO second or third from the bottom of the list of REM albums. This and "Leave" are the only songs on New Adventure that are really make me wanna get up and cheer. I really don't get how people don't like Monster (re: comments that this was an improvement after Monster). Maybe I'm biased because my tastes are largely a product of the early 90's alt-rock movement and like REM's attempt to fit in, but I never get tired of hearing Monster. Not a lot of "WOW" singles, but a solid, consistent album (unlike New Adventures).
I think the biggest issue with Monster (which is not a terrible album by any definition of the term) is that it seems like a let down after the heights of Automatic for the People. Monster is also a departure from classical R.E.M. style, and a departure of that sort is guaranteed to generate animosity.
"Are you tired and naked?" No, but thanks for asking! :-s
zaknafein wrote:
I've spent a lot of time with the the band's IRS albums. Those are pure classic no doubt, but NAIHF gets my vote as the most underrated album in their catalog. I think had they edited out a few of the weaker tracks, it would have gotten the respect it deserves.
I definitly agree with you. I believe those who stoped listening to REM after there days with IRS are missing some really great music and NAIHF is an amazing album with some of the most meaningful lyrics Michael has ever written.
Originally Posted by dern: this is the weakest of all the songs on this great album. lots of folks gave up on this band a couple of records before "hi fi", but not me and it has paid off. "Up" is incredible.
This is absolutely my favorite track on this album. This song is REM making pop-rock all it should be.
I don\'t believe I\'ve heard this before. I have to agree with many of the comments below. This reminds me of the \"green\" and earlier albums, which is the REM I liked. I may have to check out this album.
just a different flavor of rem, still tasty. not every rem song has to be "don't go back to rockville" or "driver 8." m. stipe has a wide range of approaches to writing a song, and i give him credit for that.
Originally Posted by Nomar: I have to wonder how M. Stipe can sleep at night knowing that he used to give us such gems as "Don't go back to Rockville" and "Exhuming McCarthy," and now all he can do is pump out this drivel. Anyone who thinks this is the best REM has to offer needs to spend some quality time with their earlier stuff - and "Monster" certainly doesn't qualify. Think pre-"Green."
I've spent a lot of time with the the band's IRS albums. Those are pure classic no doubt, but NAIHF gets my vote as the most underrated album in their catalog. I think had they edited out a few of the weaker tracks, it would have gotten the respect it deserves.
Originally Posted by Nomar: I have to wonder how M. Stipe can sleep at night knowing that he used to give us such gems as "Don't go back to Rockville" and "Exhuming McCarthy," and now all he can do is pump out this drivel. Anyone who thinks this is the best REM has to offer needs to spend some quality time with their earlier stuff - and "Monster" certainly doesn't qualify. Think pre-"Green."
I'm afraid I agree to a large extent, though I do think you shortchange the triumvirate of Green/Out of Time/Automatic for the People - and reveal has a couple of lovely moments. Pre-Green, if you want rocking music from REM, it can be found much more engagingly done than what Monster/UP produced. "Can't get there from here" and "Driver 8" come to mind, for instance.
This is by far the best song on New Adventures, which is IMO second or third from the bottom of the list of REM albums. This and \"Leave\" are the only songs on New Adventure that are really make me wanna get up and cheer. I really don\'t get how people don\'t like Monster (re: comments that this was an improvement after Monster). Maybe I\'m biased because my tastes are largely a product of the early 90\'s alt-rock movement and like REM\'s attempt to fit in, but I never get tired of hearing Monster. Not a lot of \"WOW\" singles, but a solid, consistent album (unlike New Adventures).
This CD \"New adventures in Hi-Fi\" is great. Songs like this one and \"Leave\" are undoubtly the best of REM.
Originally Posted by lily33: echo thoughts from just below. best track on this cd, imho.
When this CD came out, I believed it was a big step forward after Monster's step backwards. It had a lot of "old school" feel & I was praying that it would be the beginning of a series of great discs. But Bill Berry left & we've been left with "Up" & "Reveal" which are OK recordings...it just hasn't been the same since Bill took up farming.
This song is pretty good, but it's the line "I'd sooner chew my leg of than be trapped in this", delivered in Stipe's slightly aloof, somewhat irritated tone that qualifies it for the pop song hall of fame!