Tuesday 4 February 2014

POST 11: FOUR NOTIONS IN A SINGLE SONG AND VIDEO CLIP: R.E.M.- Every Day Is Yours To Win (2011)



ABOUT THE BAND (rateyourmusic.com):

Formed:

January 1980, Athens, GA, United States


Disbanded:

September 21, 2011


Members:

Michael Stipe (vocals), 

Peter Buck (guitar), 
Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, vocals),
Bill Berry (drums, 1980-97)


"The name R.E.M. would imply music that is dreamy (or sleepy), but during the Bill Berry era this band's music was always vibrant and alive, even at its most self-consciously mysterious. During the early years it was the jangle of Peter Buck's guitar and the alleged non-enunciation of Michael Stipe that got most of the attention. As the years passed, critics started noticing Berry's propulsive drumming and Mike Mills' instrumental versatility (not to mention distinctively nasal backing vocals). More than anything else, though, it was their willingness to explore new sounds that turned them from cult darlings to superstars. They've gone from Murmur's murkiness to Document's crystal clarity, from the orchestral pop of Out of Time and Automatic for the People to the hard rocking glam of Monster and the grunginess of New Adventure in Hi-Fi. Through all of these changes, the thing that stayed constant was their unerring ear for good old fashioned pop hooks, developed during adolescences spent listening to the Velvet Underground, the Beach Boys, the Monkees and various 60s garage bands (and, at least in Stipe's case, 70s bubblegum). They've definitely lost a certain spirit since Berry retired, but any new R.E.M. offering is at least worth a listen or two. They are, after all, one of the very best bands that America has ever produced."


Review of the whole album "Collapse Into Now"


by 

Righting themselves via their long-awaited return to rock AccelerateR.E.M. regrouped and rediscovered their corestrengths as a band, strengths they build upon on its 2011 sequel, Collapse into Now. Cautiously moving forward fromAccelerate’s Life's Rich Pageant blueprint, R.E.M. steer themselves toward the pastoral, acoustic moments of Out of Time and Automatic for the People without quite leaving behind the tight, punchy rockers that fueled Accelerate’s race to the end zone. This broadening of the palette is as deliberate as Accelerate’s reduction of R.E.M. to ringing Rickenbackers, and while it occasionally feels as if the bandmembers sifted through their past to find appropriate blueprints for new songs, there is merit to their madness. R.E.M. embrace their past to the extent that they disdain the modern, reveling in their comfortable middle age even if they sometimes slip into geezerhood, with Michael Stipespending more than one song wondering about kids these days. He’s not griping; he’s merely accepting his age, which is kind of what R.E.M. do as a band here, too. Over a tight 41 minutes, they touch upon all the hallmarks from when Bill Berry still anchored the band, perhaps easing up on the jangle but devoting plenty of space to rough-hewn acoustics and mandolin, rushing rock & roll, and wide-open, eerie mood pieces that sound like rewrites of “E-Bow the Letter.” Any slight element of recycling is offset by craft so skilled it almost seems casual. This may impart a lack of urgency to Collapse into Now but it also means that it delivers R.E.M. sounding like R.E.M., something that has been in short supply since the departure of Berry.

MY OWN REVIEW OF THE SONG:
    Although I have never really reviewed a song before, I shall do my best. This song is very easy to listen to, and has a great meaning behind it. I am a fan of the band R.E.M., and particularly enjoy their songs Everybody Hurts and Losing My Religion. They are two of their most famous songs, and my favourite. The song Every Day Is Yours To Win is very positive and inspiring. It gives you the feeling of being part of the world, it makes you realise we-re all human, we make mistakes, and that life is hard sometimes. But, no matter how hard life gets, you have to keep pushing, reach for your goals, do the best you can, be a hero. The video clip is a series of webcam videos of random people, which shows us how we-re surrounded by people, who feel the same as we do, who have faced things that we have, that we-re all in the same boat. This song is for me a very relaxing, pleasing song, that also makes you want to do great things, to be part of the world, to leave your mark in the sand of time, be remembered, and loved...All in all, it's a song that may not make you get up and dance, but it makes you think and look at the world with a positive point of vue.

MY OWN INTERPRETATION:

In my opinion, although the lyrics are quite abstract, I think this song is about the world being a hard place, and that ne must be strong, true to oneself, and do what makes you happy. That although the river may look hard to cross, there will always be a bridge to help you.
The video clip is a series of short webcam videos of all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. This is a very humble video, showing something of people's everyday lives, and showing a collection of people doing what seems to be what like love doing. It fits perfectly with the song because it enhances the feeling of being part of the world and being a person who can do anything they like and that no one can stop them.
In general, this song is very "human" and encouraging, it feels like the band R.E.M. are warning us that life isn't "all cherry pie", and that we can all be heroes by being true to ourselves.