Welcome to the Occupation

Not a huge fan of this tune. It's overtly political - which is fine, it just comes across fairly heavy-handed. Although, famously, Michael eased off a bit from his original lyric: "Hang your freedom fighter", which Bill thought was a bit over the top. Some of the other lines (Propagate confusion... Annotated history) sound like Michael is reading from his poly-sci text. This becomes common place on "Document".

Musically, it's one from the REM-minor key-song generator. You can practically sing along to "Maps and Legends". Again, not a bad thing, it's just not a stand-out song. There is one nice little unexpected movement when the whole gang shifts to the second of the minor root (Fmaj7 from Em) for the bridge. It's quick, but I'll take what I can get.

The Finest Worksong

Document starts with a bit of a jot. "The Finest Worksong" is a big song, it exudes confidence and scale. It has a metallic churn of a factory - the drums going BOOM BOOM SPLAT, like a hammer and anvil, the guitar a gear box relentlessly cranking out a noisy chord. And if there's any doubt where this tune is going Comrade Stipe delievers the first blow on behalf of the proletariat:
The time to rise has been engaged

In all this, it's one of REM's most literal songs, and I suppose that's why it's never been a clear fan favorite. But it's still a capable rocker, a sure-fire crowd pleaser at the big area concerts. And as if it weren't big enough, someone had the keen idea to throw a horn section in for an alternate mix. Nuance and subtext? Not here, my good man.

But tucked inside this cheese ball is a haunting little lyric:
What we want, and what need,
Has been confused.

Quite.

Document

While it's true that much music we all listened to in our formative years creates some kind of neurological connection to particular memories, this is no more true in my life than with REM's fifth studio release, Document. As I've noted earlier, I became a fan of the guys in 1986 - between Pageant and Document (thus the so far haphazard order of the commentary in this blog). Therefore, Document was the first REM album I remember anticipating, reading the buzz on it before the release, hearing the first single ("The One I Love") some weeks before the album came out, wondering what harbinger of mysterious new tunes it preceded.

In the fall of 1987, I was a freshman in college. Document became the sonic landscape of that time - "Finest Worksong" reminds me of my roommate who hated my music and REM posters, "Lightnin' Hopkins" reminds me of studying on a Saturday, and "The One I Love" reminds me of my high school girlfriend on the other end of the state. These unremarkable single experiences of an eighteen-year-old form the remarkable whole of what it was like to be away from home for the first time, leaning into adulthood.

For the band it was likewise a transition. Document marks the first time REM was embraced by the mainstream (first Top 10, first platinum). It was also their first partnership with producer Scott Litt, a relationship that would be carried through six albums and ten years. And, though we didn't know it at the time, it was their last album with IRS. To some fans these things mark the beginning of the end, but I feel that to be an unfair assessment. Document shows both teeth and affable maturity. What other band's novelty song has as much staying power as "It's the End of the World As We Know It"? Where else can one find a political song as poppy and fun as "Exhuming McCarthy"?

Document is probably not REM's best album or most important album, but for this fan, it's their most evocative.