Thursday, May 06, 2004
 
Lileks on REM

From his column in the Star-Tribune (registration required):
    I never really loved R.E.M., because I felt as if I was supposed to love it. C'mon! The guys are brainy-looking, and sometimes their lyrics make Elvis Costello's opaque blocks of text look as clear as an Irving Berlin chorus -- heck, man, you're in COLLEGE! You HAVE to love R.E.M.! It's this or Ratt! Fine. I liked them, but never loved them. Example: "End of the World As We Know It" -- it's Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" for vegan guys with goatees.
Ouch, that's got to burn the kids with van Dykes up (which were much more popular, and often were confused with, goatees). It undoubtedly bothers them as they middle age that Billy Joel has a longer, more diverse musical career than Stipes and co and is ultimately more relevant.

Of course, even when I was young (and even considered a van Dyke briefly), I preferred Billy Joel. I mean, he sang about being young when he was young, and he sang about aging as he aged. REM? One trick ponies: disaffected youth, even as they grew old. Billy Joel covered that, too, in "Angry Young Man".

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:05 PM
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