Exhuming McCarthy

For those REM fans who bemoan the fact that Michael's lyrics are so murky and hard to discern, here's a song for you. This ditty spits out words, and slaps you about the face with them a few times. But they're kind of a jumbled mess - and not in the clever, tongue-in-cheek way of "It's the End of the World...", but in the this-is-scathing-Reagan-era-commentary-but-we-don't-really-have-a-point kind of way.

Which is a shame, because underneath the singing is a solid tune that marks a great departure for the guys. Not since "Can't Get There From Here" has REM offered up something so rich in Motown tradition. Don't buy it? Listen again, try to tune out Mike and Michael. Now listen to "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by the Temptations. It's all there: baritone sax, congas, bouncy bass line, tambourine. But no, that all gets overpowered by snarky leftist rhetoric. No sense of decency...