'''Lifes Rich Pageant''' is the fourth album by
R.E.M. and was released in 1986. Intended as an upbeat reaction to the sobering and historical ''
Fables of the Reconstruction'', R.E.M. chose
Don Gehman to produce the album at his Belmont Mall Studios in
Belmont,
Indiana.
Details
The source for the title of the album is based on an English
idiom. Its use is very old, but R.E.M.'s use (minus the apostrophe) is, according to
Peter Buck, from the 1964 film ''
A Shot in the Dark'':
:
Inspector Clouseau opens car door and falls into a puddle.
:Maria: "You should get out of these clothes immediately. You'll catch your death of pneumonia, you will."
:Clouseau: "Yes, I probably will. But it's all part of life's rich pageant, you know."
[1]
The missing apostrophe in the title is deliberate. Nearly all contractions used by R.E.M. lack apostrophes.
The cover of the album depicts drummer
Bill Berry in heavy make-up on the upper part of the cover and a pair of
bison, signifying an environmental theme, on the lower part. It also alludes to
Buffalo Bill.
With R.E.M.'s fanbase beginning to grow beyond its
college rock boundaries, ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' proved to be their biggest U.S. album yet, peaking at #21 on the
''Billboard'' charts and scoring them their first
gold record. In the UK, where the band's fame lagged slightly, the album managed a #43 peak.
The ecologically-conscious "
Fall on Me" (a personal favorite of frontman
Michael Stipe) and a cover of
The Clique's "
Superman", sung by bassist
Mike Mills, were the only singles released from the album.
Another ecologically-minded song, "Cuyahoga," refers to the once heavily-polluted
Cuyahoga River that flows into
Lake Erie at
Cleveland,
Ohio. The song includes the lyric ''we burned the river down'', which refers to the several occasions (most famously in
1969) when the river actually
caught fire.
Track listing
All songs written by
Bill Berry,
Peter Buck,
Mike Mills and
Michael Stipe, except where noted.
# "Begin the Begin" – 3:28
# "These Days" – 3:24
# "
Fall on Me" – 2:50
# "Cuyahoga" – 4:19
# "Hyena" – 2:50
# "Underneath the Bunker" – 1:25
# "The Flowers of Guatemala" – 3:55
# "I Believe" – 3:49
# "What If We Give It Away?" – 3:33
# "Just a Touch" – 3:00
# "Swan Swan H." – 2:42
# "
Superman" (
Gary Zekley,
Mitchell Bottler) – 2:52
Note that the track listing on the back of the album is incorrect, most likely on purpose, and has never been corrected. It shows the order as 1-5-10-8-2-7-4-9-3-11, leaving out "Superman" and "Underneath the Bunker". The track listing is correct on the actual vinyl, cassette, and CD. Earlier pressings of the CD have the track number for "Cuyahoga" as "0R" instead of "04" printed on the CD itself.
''The IRS Years'' reissue
On
January 26,
1993,
EMI (which owns the I.R.S. catalogue) re-released ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' with six bonus tracks:
#
"Tired of Singing Trouble" – 0:59
# "Rotary Ten" – 1:58
# "Toys in the Attic" (Steve Tyler, Joe Perry) – 2:26
# "Just a Touch" (Live in the Studio) – 2:38
# "Dream (All I Have to Do)" (Boudleaux Bryant) – 2:38
# "Swan Swan H" (Acoustic version) – 2:41
"Rotary Ten" and "Toys in the Attic" can be found on ''Dead Letter Office''.
Personnel
★ Bill Berry – drums, vocals
★ Peter Buck – guitar
★ Mike Mills – bass, vocals
★ Michael Stipe – vocals
References
1. Rosen, Craig (1997). ''R.E.M. Inside Out: The Stories Behind Every Song''. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-177-8.
Charts
Album
Singles
| Year | Song | Chart | Position |
|---|
| 1986 | "Fall on Me" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| 1986 | "Fall on Me" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 94 |
| 1986 | "Superman" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 17 |
Certifications
Literary references
Dark fantasy author Caitlín R. Kiernan mentions ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' in her first novel, ''Silk'' (1998), specifically the track "Fall on Me." Kiernan also makes several reference to "Fall on Me" in her sequel to ''Silk'', 2004's ''Murder of Angels.''
External links
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