ReflectionnoitcelfeR

A bit of a deviation from my normal posting. I found this live version of 'Country Feedback' from R.E.M.'s "Out of Time" album and it is absolutely incredible. This song is me. Maybe all the words don't apply to me. Sometimes some of them do. But the feeling of it, the mood, is very much me. I'm introverted and at times moody and brooding. When I heard this song (over and over again on that summer trip) it struck a deep chord with me- and it is still the song I often turn to when I want to reflect- when I've had a bad day and I feel like I need to get away- retreat into the cave of my mind.
And it was fitting. Driving on the open road... out in the Country... quietly distilling what the vast openness of America and experience and God and love and life meant to me... and receiving that Feedback.

When I listen to it now, I'm more tuned in to the guitar- it 'speaks' just as clear, if not more, than the lyrics. I'm generally drawn to European, particularly British, songwriters and guitarists. I feel like they on the whole treat the chords and strings as a language, talking alongside the lyrics- instead of as a musical interlude and little riffs between the lyrics- which is my impression of much American rock/alternative music. Peter Buck is one of the few American guitarists who I feel doesn't do that- and shares my preference for the abstract language of the electric guitar. We'll revisit this thought when I introduce you to Suede in a couple more posts.