Release date: 05/10/2004 | Length: 3:43 | Release: Around the Sun | SuE: #231

You made your ultimatum, too big to ignore

Didn’t you now?

Let’s address the elephant in the room. Around the Sun is R.E.M.’s weakest album. I’m loathe to use the term ‘worst’, because that implies that they have multiple bad albums, which is not the case. But ultimately, Around the Sun is unequivocally their nadir in an otherwise stellar discography. So sadly, most of the entries on this album’s songs will be fairly…uneventful.

Make It All Okay suffers from lethargy, despite being fourth on a 13-track record. The percussion is the most disappointing aspect, sounding like an incredibly basic backing track rather than something to drive the song’s rhythm, though Mike Mills’ bass is barely a grade above.

The piano melody is slightly warming as Stipe repeats “Didn’t you now, didn’t you”, but that’s about it sadly. Religion has cropped up in numerous R.E.M. songs, usually as a cryptic guise that serves as a gateway to so many layers of meaning, but here it just feels really simple? “Well, Jesus loves me fine, And your words fall flat this time”. It’s fine to do simplicity but they need an ounce of elegance, which Make It All Okay simply lacks.