Release date: 10/06/1985 | Length: 3:10 | Release: Fables of the Reconstruction | SuE: #39

And he sees what you can’t see, can’t you see that?

Fables of the Reconstruction is R.E.M.’s tapestry, an obscurist’s dive into Southern Gothic and the myths that intertwine with real people. Life and How to Live It is loosely based on author Brivs Mekis, and the pairing of Old Man Kensey and Wendell Gee take inspiration from their titular characters. These characters are all detached from R.E.M., but Maps and Legends opts to document a figure who has an association with the band: artist and preacher Howard Finster.

Finster, a prolific painter and sculptor, is linked to R.E.M. in two ways. Firstly, the music video for debut single Radio Free Europe was filmed at Paradise Garden, an area littered with Finster’s objections and creations and is now a public park featuring his work. Secondly, the artwork for sophomore album Reckoning was a collaboration between Stipe and Finster. As you can see from his appearance on the Johnny Carson Show in 1983, he’s quite the character.

The chorus is a reminder (to me) that Fables of the Reconstruction does have beauty and harmonies. The constant preconception I have of this album is it being a difficult record obscured by grey clouds and a muted sound, but the chorus is vintage R.E.M.. Stipe sings with a nonchalant passion, as Mike Mills & co repeat the title of the track. It’s all a bit distracting, but leaves a lovely sound ringing in your ears. There’s also some classic R.E.M. contradictions: “He’s not to be reached, he’s to be reached” (see also Orange Crush).

All this aside, to me much of the album and Maps and Legends are mere embers that spark sporadically and without the vim that their neighbouring records have.

Release date: 10/06/1985 | Length: 3:30 | Release: Fables of the Reconstruction | SuE: #105

When you greet a stranger
Look at his shoes

The muted tone on Fables of the Reconstruction makes some of the album a little difficult to distinguish, or at least highlight as being the pinnacle of the band’s creativity. Good Advices is one such example, an unadventurous song that reflects their momentary malaise as the pressures of being a full-time rock band were starting to show. To see what I mean, this live version from 1985 is what you’d expect from the song, it’s not wild or energetic, but there is a gentle feel to it.

Michael Stipe caresses the microphone protectively, without much engagement with his surrounding band. Neither Peter Buck nor Mike Mills stray much from their spot, offering the occasional lick, but they both know that this isn’t a showy song. Stipe acts as a sort of parable-teller, relaying tales from the road with a supposed moral to be found – but it’s all a little cryptic:

When you greet a stranger

Look at her hands

Keep your money in your hands

The negativity isn’t scything, but the narrator bristles with distrust. Was this a reflection of the tension that R.E.M. felt in 1985, recording a third album in 24 months amidst a touring blitz? When Stipe sings “I’d like it here if I could leave, And see you from a long way away”, was he talking of recording location London, and the general hustle and bustle of what they’d become? Usually Stipe delivers a message of hope and change, but here it’s a blunt, narrow-eyed suspicion. It’s not an instruction that one should greet a stranger with open arms, but in fact a closed door.

Release date: 10/06/85 | Length: 4:06 | Release: Fables of the Reconstruction | SuE: #47

When you tire of one side, the other serves you best

First off, Life and How to Live It is such a cool title for a song. I’m not sure why it affects me like it does, but it just oozes coolness. It’s slick, and certainly does hold an interesting tale behind it.

In Athens, Georgia, there lived a man called Brivs Mekis who lived in a house of polar opposites. One side decorated in one way, the other on the contrary. The song effectively details this, remarking on how Brivs would live on one side until he got bored, and then move to the other area of his house: ‘Two doors to go between the wall was raised today,
Raise the walls to chide its flaws, the carpenter should rest’.

The opening chords of this song are a little misleading, perhaps in a similar vein to how I Believe opens with a deceptive banjo strum. We then get a moment of silence, before an almighty surge of energy bursts in and the track begins to really sound like vintage R.E.M. Probably the highlight of Life and How to Live It is that it’s such a turnaround from the typically grey feel of parent album Fables of the Reconstruction. The harmonies in the chorus are uplifting and the song feels, well, fun. Mike Mills’ bass work in the verses stand out and form a tight rhythm section with Bill Berry, and this song is a joy to hear.

Going back to the start of this entry, and that’s the title. The most curious aspect of the Brivs Mekis story is that after his death, hundreds of his books were found in his cupboards entitled ‘Life and How to Live’; a book described as being “at times racist and antisemitic” on the item’s eBay page. Yep, you can buy this piece of R.E.M. history for only $999, though quite why you would is beyond me. The book is obviously not authored by any of the R.E.M. boys, but I can’t imagine why you’d snap up a copy of an old man’s ramblings for any other reason, would you?