Stipe responds: R.E.M. singer visits Pop Songs 07-08

A pretty amazing thing is taking place over at Pop Songs 07-08, Matthew Perpetua’s catablog where he has written about every R.E.M. song save for those on Accelerate. Perpetua wrapped up his posts last week with a write up about “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” promising to tackle Accelerate in 2009 once he’d had a chance to more fully absorb those songs. Then, he suddenly returned with word that Michael Stipe was willing to answer questions about R.E.M. songs from Perpetua and his readers, with this caveat:

“Remember that I’m not the best at recalling studio memories, etcetera, and so the more interesting questions for me will be about intention and exact lyrics or my interpretation of what I meant, what I think I meant, whatever. Remember also that some songs have no real lyrics [chorus of orange crush comes to mind] and so I cannot answer those.”

And he was off. So far he has answered dozens of questions in three long posts, answering questions about lyrical motivations, specific references, favorites and more. It’s a fascinating look inside the mind of one of the most enigmatic songwriters of the past two-plus decades. He’s obviously picking and choosing what he answers, but those he does respond to find him to be candid, self-effacing and charming. As someone who pays much more attention to music than lyrics, I find some of the close listening detail being cited by the fans to be extraordinary, and Stipe affirms or refutes these interpretations as needed. Often, he debunks complicated theories, but has occasionally confirmed long-held thoughts as being particularly astute.

It’s nice to see Perpetua’s blog take on this expanded role. As one of the first catablogs to complete his task (the writer behind the Pearl Jam blog, More Than Ten wrapped up months ago), he sets a good example for those of us still trudging on (I continue, at a slowed pace, to write about Robert Pollard’s music at My Impression Now) who started these quests thanks to his inspiration.

Elsewhere, XFM has a five-part documentary on R.E.M. underway, with the first two parts viewable here. In the first installment, Stipe and Mike Mills talk politics, espousing their support for Barack Obama.