Listen Here: Everybody Hurts

For as long as I can remember, R.E.M. has been my favorite band. While they've been around my whole lifetime, I am not sure when I initially became conscious of them...I know I had tapes of their music, so it must have been after albums, but before CDs.

I wouldn't call myself a superfan by any means, I have always reserved that for very important bands like NKOTB. But there are very few songs by R.E.M. that I don't like. One of my favorite memories is driving up from my freshman year at college to see them, for the first time, with tickets my uncle got for me, on a road trip with my friend Houser. It was also the last time I got to see my grandmother, which makes the whole trip, and memory, more special. Later, Houser wrote out all the lyrics to What's the Frequency, Kenneth for me. I probably still have that somewhere.

They recently called it a career, and came out with a pretty awesome retrospective album, which I promptly downloaded (how about that; I have them on 3 mediums!)(not cool, I know). I play my music on shuffle, so never know what's coming  next.

The other day, Everybody Hurts popped on, and whoa, my mind went reeling. This song came out my senior year of high school, and I remember the first time I heard it was a few days before my senior retreat. I remember that because on the way to said retreat, I was told that one of the girls with us had tried to commit suicide a night or two before, and I remember wishing I could go buy the cassette single for her and let her know that she wasn't alone. (I am happy to report that said girl is alive and happy and well, and I have no clue if this rumor was true) This song got me through tough times, too, in that way that only a somber song can.