A few things to note:
1. For the uninitiated: R.E.M. is my favorite band of all time. So, for what it's worth, I'm inclined to like almost anything they do. There was a lot of hype leading up to this year's release, Accelerate (it was termed by the press as R.E.M.'s "comeback" album), but within seconds of hearing the arpeggiated riff of Living Well... open the album, you just knew the whole affair was going to be a raucous good time.
And it was (and still is, for that matter).
2. As it stands, Accelerate will probably be in my Top 5 albums of 2008. Which means this track--far and away my favorite off the album--is in pretty good standing to be one of my favorite songs of 2008. And probably one of my Top 10 favorite R.E.M. songs of all time.
(Yes, I'm an unrepentant list-maker, especially when it comes to all things music.)
3. While I absolutely love just how much this song kills, musically, I'm pretty sure there's something deeper going on that has really endeared this song to me. And that, in a word, is catharsis.
Let me explain.
"Living well is the best revenge" is a well-known quote by 16th century English clergyman and metaphysical poet George Herbert. R.E.M.'s lead singer and lyricist Michael Stipe took this quote and crafted a rather vitriolic and vindictive lyric around it; my impression is that his intended target was conservative media pundit Bill O'Reilly (Stipe's a rock star, and rock stars are apparently required by law to lay into O'Reilly).
But the words could just as easily be aimed at anyone who betrays, maligns, or mistreats another individual:
It's only when your poison spinsFor me, listening to this song has been extremely cathartic, especially after several instances of feeling incredibly slighted this past year.
Into the life you'd hoped to live
And suddenly you wake up in a shaken panic...now!
You set me up like a lamb to slaughter
Garbo as the farmer's daughter
Unbelievable...the gospel according to who?
I lay right down.
Now I'm not one to sit and spin
'Cause living well is the best revenge
And baby I am calling you on that.
Does it make anything better? Does it heal wounds? Of course not. But it allows the listener to channel the anger and hurt, and then, release it...possibly by rocking out to this song with reckless abandon (seriously, I've had more than my fair share of Risky Business moments in the past year).
But more than serving as an outlet for venting bitterness and pain, the song--and the Herbert quote at the center of it--carries with it a clarion call to turn past injustices into good. I suppose one can equate the term "living well" to mean living happily--whether through acquired wealth, power, or simply contentment--but I see it as an issue of character.
Living well seems, to me, to mean treating others right.
And that's what I want to aspire to, especially when I feel dejected or used. I want to channel the energy of those powerful feelings, and allow it to be turned to good. To bless others.
It's a very lofty notion, one that I'll fall short of on every single attempt. But it is the ultimate revenge--or response, rather.
(Though becoming rich and famous probably doesn't seem like a bad form of revenge, either, if we're being honest with ourselves.)
4. Did I mention that this song absolutely kills? Seriously, it's one of the hardest-rocking numbers in the entire R.E.M. canon.
All in all, a fine way for the band to re-introduce itself in 2008, methinks.
1 comment:
what an extremely hard thought...living well is treating others right. it's very true- and right! but it takes large amounts of humility, especially when you don't feel the other is worthy (and i'm thinking of my recent job that i hated, that threatened to suck the life out of me.)
but that's what i learned---you must give God room to grow your character, and lay down your life for others, worthy or unworthy. because that's where the substance in life emerges.
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