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From: [e-mail] (Ron Henry)
Newsgroups: rec.music.rem,news.answers,rec.answers
Subject: Rec.music.rem FAQ (Part 2 of 3)
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Date: Thu, 04 Sep 1997 16:00:21 GMT
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[Continued from Part 1 of 3]

B. ALBUM COVERS, NOTES, AND OTHER PACKAGING QUESTIONS

o B1. "What are those phrases inside the liner notes for 'Monster'?"

Possible alternate names, and working titles, both for the album itself and
various tracks from the album. In interviews the band has described its
process of naming albums this way: they tape a big sheet of paper up on the
studio wall and then variously they write down random ideas when they occur
to them. One might speculate that at least some of this list is derived
from that process.

o B2. "What are the strange symbols on the cover of CD-single for 'What's
the Frequency, Kenneth?'"

The packaging for the CD single for "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" the
first single off Monster, displays some interesting features that newsgroup
members have already remarked upon. Each letter of the title is surrounded
by a circle. A dot at the upper right corner of each circle contains the
rank of the frequency (e.g., "E" the most common letter in English, equals
1) of that letter's occurrence in the English language. Also, found below
each title letter, appears the Morse Code (in dots and dashes) for that
letter. Notched into the circle around the letter are the semaphore
positions (hand-held flags at various angles) of that letter. (See Section
C below for info on the "Kenneth" lyrics.)

o B3. "Why is there a '4' superimposed over the 'R' on the Green cover?"

The story told in interviews is that someone (most likely Michael Stipe)
was typing the name of the album and hit the '4' key instead of the 'R'
(note their proximity on the "qwerty" keyboard). Somebody (again, most
likely Michael Stipe) thought it was a neat idea and carried it on to the
packaging as a faint transparent "4" over the "R" in both "GREEN" and "REM"
on the CD notes, and by "numbering" the fourth song ("Stand") with an "R".
Some later pressings (notably CD club versions) may not have the "4"s on
the cover.

Some newsgroup readers have connected this to the fact that Lifes Rich
Pageant has "OR" in place of "04" in the track listing.

When remarking on oddities in R.E.M. packaging and publicity, always bear
in mind the band's eccentric creative bent. (See also the answer to the
next question.)

o B4. "There's a '5' on Document and a '4' on Green, and wait, there's a
'10' on Chronic Town, and a '9' on Murmur and an '8' on Fables, and a '7'
on Reckoning! Is this some kind of countdown?"

This is an urban legend which even the band are weary of denying. The topic
has also been the subject of many flame wars, and most newsgroup members
don't want to hear any more about it. On AOL in August 1994, Stipe said
this about the so-called countdown theory:

     "the countdown is a silly coincidence. i swear it. pb [Peter
     Buck] sez were going into neg.#;s next, so there. i did put the
     #7 on each record for a while but started getting strange mail in
     volumes about it and so we quit. no reason for 7, it was just a
     cool typo thing [like typefaces on fables]."

o B5. "Who painted the cover art for Reckoning?"

The folk or "naive" artist (the term art critics use), Rev. Howard Finster,
is a friend of Michael Stipe who painted the intricate snake design for the
band. (Presumably Stipe added the song titles.) Rev. Finster also appears
in the video for "Radio Free Europe" (at the end, when they tumble the
little figure down the wooden ramp; note it was filmed at his home). Also,
Michael Stipe has dedicated the song "Maps and Legends" on FotR to Finster
when playing it live. (Some may want to note that Finster later was asked
to do the cover of the Talking Heads album Little Creatures, too.)

o B6. "My copy of the Green LP has names for each side. Are the sides named
on other albums?"

Almost every R.E.M. album bears creatively-named sides. Here's a list:

 Album                         Side A        Side B

 Chronic Town                  Chronic Town  Poster Torn
 Murmur                        (side 1)      (side 2)
 Reckoning                     L             R
 Fables of the Reconstruction  A Side        Another Side
 Lifes Rich Pageant            Dinner        Supper
 Document                      Page          Leaf
 Dead Letter Office            Post          Script
 Eponymous                     Early         Late
 Green                         Air           Metal
 Out Of Time                   Time          Memory
 The Best of R.E.M. (UK)       Us            Them
 Automatic For The People      Drive         Ride
 Monster                       C             D
 New Adventures in Hi-Fi       Hi            Fi

o B7. "Why is the actual song order on Lifes Rich Pageant different from
that listed on the back cover? And do some copies actually list the song
'Superman' as 'Superwoman'?"

Reportedly, the song order on LRP was changed at the last minute, too late
for the cover art to be changed. While it's anybody's guess why this was
not subsequently corrected for later domestic vinyl and CD pressings, it
*has* been corrected for many foreign and record club versions. Bear in
mind that the off-beat creativity of the mixed-up list, and the cryptic
"lyrics clues," is typical of the band.

Note also that some European issues of LRP have the proper track order, but
list "Superman" as "Superwoman."

On a related note, the song "When I was Young" is listed on the sleeve of
Fables of the Reconstruction, but was dropped at the last minute, destined
to reappear later in quite revised form on LRP as "I Believe."

o B8. "What is the name of that last song on Green?"

The instrumental version on the CD-single for "Stand" is called "The
Eleventh Untitled Song (Instrumental)." One can therefore infer that it's
simply called "Eleventh Untitled Song." Reportedly, however, some of this
cut's lyrics were included in a Fan Club mailing under the title, "So Awake
Volunteer," so some people consider that to be its intended title.
Recently, an industrious group reader posted that while browsing the
Library of Congress, he discovered that the song is copyright-registered
under the title of "11", its track number.

o B9. "What is that on the front cover of Chronic Town?"

The Spitting Gargoyle on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

o B10. "Whose half-face is on Lifes Rich Pageant?"

Bill Berry's. Gruesome makeup and photography courtesy Stipe. The
spliced-together photos constitute a visual pun ("buffalo bill").

o B11. "The spine title of my copy of Fables is Reconstruction of the
Fables, not the other way around! Do I have a limited ed. or something?

Alas, no. It's neither a misprint, nor rare, and the "two" titles indeed
refer to one and the same album. The "real" title of the album is circular,
you might say ("Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the
Reconstruction of ... [ad nauseam]"). You'll notice that on one side of the
CD booklet, it says "Fables of the" and on the other side it says
"Reconstruction of the." You can flip the booklet and use either cover you
wish. The spine of the CD says "Reconstruction of the Fables," whereas the
face of the disc itself says "Fables of the Reconstruction," but with
"Reconstruction" printed upside-down, and "of the" printed vertically, it
can be read either way. (However, note that the newer European reissue
discs just have "Fables of the Reconstruction")

Anyway, it's a play on words, like much of the band's genius. Does it mean
"tales about the post-Civil War period in American history," or does it
mean "putting back together those tales of old in our own weird way"...? It
all depends on which way you show the cover.

o B12. "Who is that on the cover of Document?"

Michael Stipe, hiding behind a camera. Note there are several images
superimposed over each other at different angles. The car is a black
Checker Marathon (the kind of car most cabs used to be) which Michael used
to drive.

o B13. "On the Reckoning liner, it says 'Help Carl Grasso.' Who was he?"

Carl Grasso was reportedly the art director (or product manager) for IRS
back then; supposedly the band used to drive him nuts with what they would
and wouldn't allow on the album covers. Grasso is also credited for album
design on Murmur.

o B14. "Is the Chronic Town EP available separately?"

As a regular release, it is only available as part of the Dead Letter
Office compilation album. However, there are reportedly a number of limited
edition box sets that include CT on a separate disk within the entire
multi-album package. An example of this is the UK set called The Originals
released in 1995 with CT, Murmur, and Reckoning included with new
packaging.

o B15. "Why isn't the song 'Revolution' on New Adventures in Hi-Fi, like
all the other new songs they were performing on the Monster World tour?"

The choice of whether to include a song on an album is one only the band
itself can really comment on, but recall that `Revolution' really dates
back to the time of Monster's release (some of the "possible song names" on
the album notes of Monster refer to versions of "Revolution", so it really
should be considered an outtake of that album.) Besides, most of the song's
many contemporary political references (O.J., Ollie North, etc.) had become
outdated by the time of the release of NAIHF, and this is also a likely
reason for the song not having been included. (Nonetheless, I'd look for it
as a track on a future maxi-single release.)

o B16. "I thought there was a R.E.M. song called 'Sponge' that was on the
radio in 1995. I don't see it on New Adventures."

The song "Sponge" recorded by R.E.M. is actually a composition by Georgia
singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, and R.E.M's cover of the tune is included
on the compilation record Sweet Relief II along with other Chesnutt songs
performed by various bands. The proceeds of the album go to a charity fund
that assists musicians with medical expenses (Chesnutt himself is a
parapalegic). The song "Sponge" comes from his album West of Rome (which
Stipe produced) and he did an interesting (if loose) "cover" of R.E.M.'s
"It's the End of the World..." for the Surprise Your Pig R.E.M. tribute
album.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. THOSE DARN LYRICS; AND OTHER MUSIC-RELATED QUESTIONS

o C1. "What are the words to the chorus of 'Sitting Still?'"

A few years ago, Michael Stipe claimed in a Rolling Stone interview that
the chorus begins "Up to par, Katie bar the kitchen door but not me in."
Careful listening, however, leaves some listeners dubious about "door" at
least. In the album version of the song, it sounds more like "signs" (which
makes a certain amount of sense given the song was reportedly inspired by
Stipe's sister's teaching deaf children.)

In an AOL posting regarding this song Stipe said:

     "Sit. still -- come on now, that is an embarrassing collection of
     vowels that i strung together some 400 yrs ago! Basically
     nonsense... 'Katie bar the kitchen door' is a southern term that
     meant you better watch out."

The second line of the chorus has been confirmed by a friend of the band as
being, "Setting trap for love, making a waste of time, sitting still" which
careful listening confirms.  In this author's opinion, therefore, the
entire chorus is, "Up to par Katie bars the kitchen signs but not me in,
setting trap for love making a waste of time, sitting still."  You may,
however, hear it differently.

o C2. "How exactly do you people think Michael Stipe could have written
lyrics for some songs on Murmur, Reckoning, etc. without having specific
words in mind? He is often quoted as saying 'the earlier songs don't have
lyrics per se.' How does he do that? Seems ridiculous, but at the same
time... witty."

Chris Piuma suggested, on r.m.r: "Take a song that you like but can
remember only a few lines to. Now, while not listening to it, sing it. Most
people either sing 'la la la doo doo doo' or they start making up nonsense
words. Now record yourself doing this. Write down what you sang. It will
probably come out as more or less meaningless stuff that revolves around
that line you did know. OK, now take your lyrics and edit them so that they
fit the song (syllable-wise) and so that the words make sense and the
sentences make an odd sense but the paragraphs make no sense. Then, when
you sing the words, distort them into sounds which might seem like
completely different words. Use this process as an editing tool."

"Voila! You soon have a lyric that isn't a lyric per se." No one is saying
this exactly how Stipe created his early lyrics (or versions one hears on
live tapes from early shows), but it's an example of how this sort of thing
could evolve. (Note that this speculation does not extend to lyrics for
Document and beyond, whose enunciation on the album and denotative meaning
are obviously more clear and deliberate.)

R.E.M. lyrics (or at least our collective best guesses) are available via
WWW.

o C3. "What the heck is the chorus of 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight'?"

Well, it's not "Call me in Jamaica," or even "Only in Chalawaika." The
chorus is "Call when you try to wake her up, call when you try to wake
her." (Stipe's alternate version related on AOL was "Call me if you try to
wake her up.")

o C4. "What is that weird sound/voice at the beginning of 'Superman'?"

It's reputed to be the sound that occurs when you pull the string on a
certain talking Japanese Godzilla doll. (Translated: "This is a special
news report. Godzilla has been sighted in Tokyo Bay. The attack on it by
the Self-Defense Force has been useless. He is heading towards the city.
Aaaaaaaaagh....")

o C5. "What do the lyrics to 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?' mean?"

Stipe was quoted in several interviews at the time of Monster's release as
saying it is written from the perspective of a person who's getting older
trying to understand current youth culture.

Note that the lyric (printed inside) contains a quote from Richard
Linklater, director of the film Slacker: "Withdrawal in disgust is not the
same as apathy" -- a rebuttal of sorts to older generations who would claim
Generation Xers, or "slackers," are merely spoiled, lazy brats. (This line
of argument is that "slackers" have chosen to exclude themselves from
mainstream society as a protest against its empty values.)

It has also been noted that the "shirt of violent green" mentioned in the
lyric may by a reference to a Spider Robinson short story entitled "Lady
Slings the Booze," which also makes use of the phrase "What's the
frequency, Kenneth?"

o C6. "What is the connection between 'WTF,K?' and Dan Rather?"

The title of the song itself, it needs to be explained, refers indirectly
to the incident in Oct. 1986 in which Dan Rather, anchor for C.B.S.'s
network news broadcast, was attacked by two unknown men in the street in
New York City wearing suits and sunglasses. The men kept asking Rather
"What is the frequency?" and called him "Kenneth" while they shoved and
accosted him; to date the incident has never been explained completely
(though some have theorized that "Kenneth" might be Ken Scheafer, an
electronics expert with whom Rather had worked in connection with Soviet TV
broadcasts). Since the incident, "What's the frequency?" and calling a
clueless person a "kenneth" have become a trendy youth culture
catch-phrases (which is probably, why Stipe wanted to use it, rather than
an interest in Rather).

Very recently, a man was arrested in conjunction with the incident and
identified by Rather as his attacker. Reportedly, he was a
mentally-disturbed individual who had fantasized many conspiracy theories
about the media being against him, and was also responsible for the murder
of a CBS technician.

Please note that the supposed reference to Rather and CBS news in the
"Ignoreland" lyric was incorrect, so there is *no* tie-in that we know of
between the two songs regarding the newsanchor. Mr. Rather, meanwhile, has
taken the "tribute" in good spirits and has been quoted as saying he has
always liked R.E.M., that he owns the Monster CD, and suggested jokingly
that the band's name really stands for "Rather's Excellent Musicians,"
before proceeding to sing the chorus of "It's the End of the World As We
Know It," during a David Letterman appearance. Also, before the band's 1995
appearance at New York's Madison Square Garden, Rather joined them onstage
during a sound check for a quick rendition of WtFK?

Also note in passing that the album Lolita Nation by Game Theory, released
in 1987 and produced by Mitch Easter (there's another R.E.M. connection)
contains a similarly titled song: "Kenneth -- What's the Frequency?";
WTF,K? is not a cover of that, of course -- the resemblance pretty much
stops at the title. Other newsgroup readers here have noted that the phrase
may also have popped up in the movie "The Conversation" and in Dan Clowes'
comic "Eightball".

o C7. "Who is Michael Stipe referring to in the song 'Can't Get There from
Here,' in the lines, 'Brother Ray can sing my song,' and the last line,
'Thank you, Ray'?"

In It Crawled... Bill Berry and Peter Buck are quoted discussing this song,
which they refer to as a "jazz ballad." Bill says, "We wanted to get an
Otis [Redding] sound on that one," and Peter elaborates, "It's like a
tongue-in-cheek tribute to Ray Charles and James Brown and all the great
Georgia music giants." Given these quotes, a probable answer is "Ray
Charles." (Remember too that Michael Stipe often cites, among his musical
influences, singers whose records were in his parents' record collection
when he was young, like Elvis, Henry Mancini, and possibly Ray Charles.)

o C8. "Where did Stipe get the words in 'Voice of Harold' (from Dead Letter
Office)?"

Stipe used the liner notes to a gospel album in the studio during the
recording of Reckoning with the same backing music track as "Seven Chinese
Brothers." See the .gif files of the front and back covers of the album on
the WWW Home Page for more information about actual text (there is also a
text transcription for those without graphics.

This graphic file and transcribed text were obtained from a photocopy of
the actual album still in the possession of Reflection Studios where the
song was recorded. If you are familiar with the lyrics, you can now see
that Stipe didn't sing the entire text, and what he did sing wasn't always
in sequence.

o C9. "Who is 'Monty' in 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' on AfTP?"

Montgomery Clift, actor. He was considered to be one of the most handsome
movie stars ever in Hollywood at his prime, though he lost much of those
looks in a car accident. His films included "Raintree County," "A Place in
the Sun," and "The Misfits." He died fairly young due to depression and
alcohol abuse. A biography of Clift, written by Robert Laguardia, was
published in 1977.

Answers to questions about other real people mentioned in R.E.M. lyrics can
be found in the document, "Real People Mentioned in REM Songs, v.1.2"
researched by Gary Nabors and periodically posted to the group (email
[e-mail] for a copy if you missed it).

o C10. "Who speaks during the break in 'Exhuming McCarthy'?"

From Marcus Gray's It Crawled From The South:

     "...the spoken-word middle eight, lifted from a McCarthy
     documentary the band watched during the album's mixing stage. The
     film, Point of Order, takes as its climax a key moment during the
     televised army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 (the Senator was engaged
     in trying to root out subversives in the armed forces).   "On
     June 9th, McCarthy repeatedly tried to ruin, by associating him
     with a left wing group, a young law associate of the Army counsel
     Joseph N. Welch. The associate was not involved in the hearings,
     and Welch replied to McCarthy's irrelevant and spiteful harangues
     thus: 'Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have
     done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last,
     have you no sense of decency?'"

o C11. "What does the title of 'Green Grow the Rushes' refer to?"

It may refer to the poem, "Green Grow The Rashes," by the Scottish poet
Robert Burns (1759-1796), whose opening verse reads,

                         Green grow the rashes, O;
                         Green grow the rashes, O;
                   The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
                      Are spent among the lasses, O!

It has been noted that Burns' was but one of many variations of a
then-popular lyric by this name, many of them bawdy, and most sung by
workers or soldiers to while away the hours. A historically- unconfirmed
story says that immigrants to the New World from the British Isles were
especially fond of the song (their "finest worksong"?), and to the panish
born population the Anglo-Americans who sang this work song became known as
"greengrows" (later shortened to "gringos"). Since Stipe has been quoted as
saying the song concerns American exploitation of migrant (Mexican) workers
by U.S. corporations, one might speculate he had some or all of these
possibilities in mind.

Rec.music.rem reader <[e-mail]> suggested another song of the
title might be alluded to. The folk song called "Green Grow the Rushes, O"
completely unconnected to the Burns lyric, is very, very old; it was first
written down in Hebrew in the 16th Century and is probably much older.
There are many versions and it is a popular Christmas Carol and harvest
song.

                            I'll sing you one, O
                          Green grow the rushes, O
                            What is your one, O
            One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so.

Whichever traditional song Stipe is alluding to, the premise that it was
identified with Anglo-American colonists is probably still valid.

o C12. "What is the snippet of music heard on some versions of Reckoning,
but which is not on current CD recordings of the album?"

People often ask about the fragment of song that appears after "Little
America" on early versions of the LP pressing of Reckoning; this is not
referring to the intro to "Rockville".  This somewhat abstract sequence
fades in, lasts about ten seconds, then fades out, and has vocals with
indecipherable lyrics. Mitch Easter (producer) called this studio outtake
"found art," and it was drawn out and edited by Mitch and Don Dixon at
Reflection Studios. (For those who have the R.E.M. Succumbs video
collection, it plays during the clip before "Left of Reckoning" that
depicts a person trying to walk through a hurricane rain storm, and is
repeated at the very end of the "LoR" footage.)  The recent "gold CD"
re-issue of Reckoning restored this clip to the album proper.

o C13. "What is that song 'Photograph' that Michael Stipe sings, and why
wasn't it on an R.E.M. album?"

The compilation Born to Choose CD features, among other things, the track
"Photograph," co-written and performed by R.E.M. and Natalie Merchant. The
album was put together to raise funds for the non-profit Pro-Choice
organization NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League).

o C14. "What is that song where Michael Stipe sings 'You were in my
dream'?"

Stipe sang background vocals for the song "Your Ghost" which appears on the
solo album Hips & Makers (Sire/4AD) by Throwing Muses' lead vocalist
Kristin Hersh.

o C15. "What is the R.E.M. song with the line 'First we take Manhattan,
then we take Berlin...'?"

This is a cover of the Leonard Cohen song "First We Take Manhattan," which
first appeared on the Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan and later appeared
as a b-side on a single for "Drive" (see the discography for more details
about releases).  It was originally on Cohen's album I'm Your Man.

o C16. "Has Michael Stipe done a duet with Tori Amos?"

Amos was quoted as saying that she and Stipe were "talking about doing a
duet for a film called `Don Juan de Marco and the Centerfold.'" (Rolling
Stone #691, p. 20). News reports indicated, first, that the song (entitled
"It Might Hurt a Little Bit") was not included because Ms. Amos was unhappy
with some of the other cuts on the album, and then that it wasn't included
because the producers of the movie had dropped it in favor of a more
marketable Bryan Adams song.

Later, it was reported that that the cut would appear on a soundtrack album
for a new film called "Empire Records" sometime late in July 1995 (but it
did not), and then that it would be on the soundtrack for the Winona Ryder
film "How to Make an American Quilt" (which it was not). As of the release
of Amos' Boys for Pele album, it was still not clear if the song would be
released (one might do well to keep an eye out for it on the many Tori Amos
b-sides and EP releases).

Recently, rec.music.rem regular <[e-mail]> reported the following
information from Tori Amos on the single: "She told me the record companies
are `fighting over it,' and she seemed pretty down about the possibility of
anything happening with this song."

o C17. "In 'Country Feedback," what is 'Est' in the line, 'Self help, self
pain, EST, psychics, fuck all'? Are they referring to electro-shock
therapy?"

No. Electro-Shock Therapy, usually called Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT)
is not pronounced like a word, but is pronounced as separate letters
("E-C-T" rather than "EST"). The EST in "Country Feedback" is probably the
self-assertiveness encounter therapy called EST, which stood for "Erhard
Sensitivity Training". Werner Erhard, in the seventies, concocted weekend
"self-improvement" seminars to make people "tougher" and more
"responsible." He made tons of money by locking large groups of future
yuppies in Holiday Inn convention rooms, yelling at them a lot, and
refusing to let them leave, even to go to the bathroom (this was supposed
to make them more successful in life).

o C18. "Where is Rockville, in '(Don't Go Back to) Rockville'?"

From the book Remarks, The Story of R.E.M. by Tony Fletcher: "Mike Mills
too was improving [his songwriting]. He wrote a plea to ... a new girl in
Athens who had been making a big impact on all the boys, begging her not to
spend the summer of '80 in Maryland. 'Don't Go Back To Rockville', with its
memorable chorus and frantic pacing, became an instant live favorite." The
original version of "Rockville" had a harder rock sound; the band worked up
the country and western style as a joke for friend and band lawyer Bertis
Downs. This new version was so successful they recorded it that way.

o C19. "What does the term 'Star 69' refer to, in the song of that name on
Monster?"

For those who don't have the service in their area, many phone companies
now offer a service that allows one to dial directly back to the number
from which your most recent incoming caller dialed. The sequence of buttons
to activate this service is "* - 6 - 9", and some of the phone companies
offering the service just call it "Star 69," while others just refer to it
as "Last Number Callback" or something similar. It presumably was developed
to allow people to more easily track down the perpetrators of prank,
obscene, telemarketing, and other types of harassing calls, as well as to
allow you to recontact someone who has called you, whose number you don't
have, and from whom you might have accidentally been disconnected.

o C20. "Who was Andy Kaufman and why does Michael Stipe sing about him in
'Man on the Moon'?"

Andy Kaufman was a celebrated conceptual comedian from the 1970's who,
while most popularly known for his role on the sitcom "Taxi," also became
infamous through his stand-up comedy routines for a performance-art style
of character creation, audience manipulation, and general strangeness. His
act was as much an indirect commentary on the act of performing itself
(which would obviously interest Michael Stipe) and perhaps even the act of
believing in something, or reality, itself (which seems to be what 'MotM'
is largely about).

More information on Kaufman can be found on the web at URL
http://fly.hiwaay.net/~bkm/akhome.htm.

o C21. "What is an e-bow, from 'E-bow the Letter'?"

A hand-held electronic gadget that-when held over the strings of an
electric guitar-produces a characteristic sustained tone (yes, it is used
by Peter Buck on the track). [For more information surf to www.ebow.com.]

o C22. "What is that being said before 'Be Mine'?"

It sounds like someone saying, perhaps on a CB radio, "...Ah, speed zone up
here, too." Mike Mills mentioned in an interview that he recorded a demo
version of the song on the tour bus, so perhaps the clip is meant to allude
to this.

[Continued in Part 3 of 3]

--
Ron Henry / [e-mail]
  Official Rec.Music.Rem FAQ at
  http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8789/remfaq.htm
"I never thought of this as funny."