Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

Oh, I'm not speaking of lyrics. Rather, song structure. Stand and Shiny Happy People are composed like very basic pop songs, radio staples in the late eighties and early nineties.

Also, I always thought Shiny Happy People was about the Tiananmen Square massacre. Something about the press release that the chinese gave and how it was mistranslated.

Originally Posted by JJJ567

Strange...as much as I love the band I have never actually listened to Around the Sun and Reveal. I was sort of putting them off just because of their reputation as sub-par albums. I have the bulk of their discography on my computer and on other formats. I should probably find a non-cassette version of Green though, haha.

Originally Posted by Burning Down

"Stand" sucks, I agree with that, and the video they made for it is absolutely horrendous. "Shiny Happy People" sucks for the most part, but I personally like it. It's not my favourite though, and I hate how the majority of people who know REM just for their singles automatically associate them with "Shiny Happy People." It's pathetic and I believe the band has even said so.



Well that's kind of ironic isn't it? I also think that "Stand" ruined the flow of Green, which is one of my favourite albums regardless of that song.

I also heard somewhere that "Shiny Happy People" is not technically a 'happy' song as the band had written it as a response to protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Originally Posted by Rickenbacker

Stand and Shiny Happy People aren't meant to be looked at as serious songs. They were both written to make fun of the popular music on the radio those days. The problem was that people were stupid enough to think that those songs were great pop songs, and they charted highly. I'm sure Michael was cracking up when he heard that his song that was written to make fun of pop music had become a pop song!

Originally Posted by JayJamJah

Watch what happens when we change just a three little words (by my doorstep)

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95Doppelganger

Yeah if I could get a big one, say from Neil Young or something, id stick it in. I'd just get sick.

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

Yeah thats what puts me off the 'Green' album as it has some sh*t on it. Another album I think is worth mentioning is 'Murmur' (a very early one from 1983- maybe their debut) as 'Radio Free Europe' is a good song.

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

I dont look at them as 'serious songs'. Whether they were written to make fun of pop music or not, they still suck & even worse became popular. Surely Michael would have known that catchy songs like that (however bad & especially in the 80s) would climb the charts.

Originally Posted by Burning Down

I love Murmur. And the fact that Rolling Stone named it "Album of the Year" in 1983 (over Thriller!) just makes it even better



Who knows what Michael was thinking when he penned the lyrics to those songs, especially "Stand". In regards to "Shiny Happy People", if you just watch the video it seems like they're just going through the motions. They all look distracted! Michael's said that he's grown to appreciate the song, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Bill and Mike hated it and I don't know about Peter.

Originally Posted by JayJamJah

Watch what happens when we change just a three little words (by my doorstep)

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95Doppelganger

Yeah if I could get a big one, say from Neil Young or something, id stick it in. I'd just get sick.

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

Yeah, its a pretty swell album. As for Michael Jackson's Thriller...no comment (I feel this is the best option in order to avoid 4 pages of arguing about Michael Jackson). All I will say is that it truly was class when Jarvis ****er hijacked his gig at the Brit Awards in the 90s and pulled a moonie .

Originally Posted by Burning Down

Don't worry, there are CD copies!