50 Days of R.E.M. # 12 I Believe

'When I was young and full of grace. And spirited a rattlesnake...'

One of the finest couplets Michael Stipe every wrote. A barnstorming song too, there are moments when it really soars. A transitional one too. Originally begun by the band on the Fables sessions, it became something quite different, though still essentially rooted in where they'd been before when they recorded it for Pageant. Beefed up with Don Gehman's fabulous production. They were on their way to the stadiums. But in their case, unlike so many, that was not necessarily a bad thing.