R.E.M. doing something they had never quite done before and wouldn't do afterwards. First there are the horns. It's funky, as in Stax funky. Not exactly one you can dance to except perhaps if you're Michael Stipe. Like everything on Fables of the Reconstruction it's Southern. Full of that particular part of the world's particular Gothic logic. Michael singing 'Can't get there from here,' while Bill and Mike chant, 'I've been there, I know the way.' The band gave a wonderful performance of the song on The Tube in Autumn 1985 on a bill they shared with Tom Waits. Michael as bleach haired Southern preacher. Here are both songs they played that evening. Driver 8 then Can't.
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