#The Finest Worksong

[hourback]

recording-20230423-211853, Karaoke, The Finest Work Song

https://hourback.files.wordpress.com/2023/04/recording-20230423-2118532ckaraoke2cthefinestworksong.ogg

[myimaginaryradio]

Finest Worksong - R.E.M. - 1987

[oldfarmerbillswife]

Mike's plucking. My gosh. Oh my goshhhh. The way he's yanking those strings! 😩😩🥴 Everything he does is hotttt

[grogusmum]

Sending all the good vibes for your journey 🙌💚

How about a song (or 3 if you can't stick to 1) that makes you think of Ezra with the first notes/lyrics?

M'dear Maggie!! Thank you so much! 💚

Okay so there are a handful of songs I think of with specific fic Ezras:

Fae King Ezra ala @moonlitbirdie (go check him out if you haven't on AO3)

Meet Me in the Woods Tonight by Lord Huron

I took a little journey to the unknown

And I've come back changed, I can feel it in my bones

I fucked with forces that our eyes can't see

Now the darkness got a hold on me

Oh, the darkness got a hold on me

Bookshop Ezra ala @oonajaeadira

At My Most Beautiful by REM

I've found a way to make you

I've found a way

A way to make you smile

I read bad poetry

Into your machine

I save your messages

Just to hear your voice

You always listen carefully

To awkward rhymes

You always say your name

Like I wouldn't know it's you

At your most beautiful

And my Selkie Ezra

Stolen Child by Loreena McKennitt

Where dips the rocky highland

Of Sleuth Wood in the lake

There lies a leafy island

Where flapping herons wake

The drowsy water-rats

There we've hid our faery vats

Full of berries

And of reddest stolen cherries.

And I think for Ezra the Genuine Prospect Article another REM somg Finest Work Song

The time to rise has been engaged

You're better best to rearrange

I'm talkin' here to me alone

I listen to the finest worksong...

hazel's Boston 2 Austin distraction asks

[longliverockback]

R.E.M. 71N-83-88 [Box Set] 2014 I.R.S. ——————————————————————— Tracks Single One: Radio Free Europe 01. Radio Free Europe 02. There She Goes Again

Tracks Single Two: So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) 01. So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry) 02. King of the Road

Tracks Single Three: (Don't Go back To) Rockville 01. (Don't Go back to) Rockville 02. Catapult

Tracks Single Four: Can’t Get There from Here 01. Can’t Get There from Here 02. Bandwagon

Tracks Single Five: Drive 8 01. Drive 8 02. Crazy

Tracks EP: Wendell Gee 01. Wendell Gee 02. Crazy 03. Aged One 04. Burning Down

Tracks Single Six: Fall on Me: 01. Fall on Me 02. Rotary Ten

Tracks Single Seven: Superman 01. Superman 02. White Tornado

Tracks Single Eight: The One I Love 01. The One I Love 02. Maps and Legends

Tracks Single Nine: It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) 01. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) 02. Last Date

Tracks Single Ten: Finest Worksong 01. Finest Worksong 02. Time after Time ———————————————————————

* Long Live Rock Archive

[turbulenthandholding]

Unhinged The Bear Season 3 Musical Speculation: R.E.M. Carmy-Specific Edition

See my previous Sydcarmy specific R.E.M. speculation here

See my previous Syd-specific R.E.M. speculation here

Based on the three songs that have been used so far (Strange Currencies, in several forms, plus Oh, My Heart and Half a World Away) - I get the sense we are more likely to see mid-to-late catalog songs vs. earlier ones. So far, the songs chosen for the show sound like R.E.M. songs if that makes sense, which is to say they haven’t used anything that has veered into some of their later-catalog experimentation (Airportman comes to mind) and or even like early jangly mumblecore R.E.M. either (most songs from Murmur through Lifes Rich Pageant or Document).  I have the feeling this pattern will probably continue into Season 3.

World Leader Pretend (Green)

This song is one that will show up again on my general list for songs that could show up in season 3 but I think it’s worth mentioning on the Sydcarmy list as well.  World Leader Pretend is a gorgeous song that has really beautiful wordplay (raise/raze) and contradictions (this is my mistake, let me make it good - could either mean ‘let me right this wrong I made’ or ‘let me continue to fuck something up so I really fuck it up good’).  I think there’s a lot of what’s going on inside Carmy expressed by the song, but it also makes sense in the Sydcarmy context because of the last lines:

Reach out for me, hold me tight

Hold that memory

…

You fill in the mortar

You fill in the harmony

You fill in the mortar

I raised the wall

And I'm the only one

I will be the one to knock it down

Let Me In (Monster)

This is the gorgeous remixed version from the 25th anniversary release; see also the original version .

Michael Stipe wrote the words to this one about Kurt Cobain’s passing.  The original version is such a beautiful, wrenching melody under these really dirty guitar sounds; the grief of the whole song really comes through.  I love the remix version, though, which is more vocal-forward and lovelier.  I could see the show using either version as Carmy continues to process his grief over Michael’s passing.

Bonus:

Finest Worksong (Document) - take your instinct by the reins / better best to rearrange / what we want and what we need / has been confused, been confused / your finest hour

And finally, the song of my unhinged, anti-Claire Bear dreams:

 this one goes out to the one I've left behind / a simple prop to occupy my time / this one goes out to the one I love

The Bear IS a love story - but this is not a love song.

(Bonus anti-Claire Bear suggestion: All the Right Friends - OG version; All the Right Friends - In Time version)

[punk-chicken-radio]

r.e.m. - finest worksong

-ax and TOS

[doyourememberrocknrollradio]

R.E.M. - Finest Worksong

[hiyapandanurse]

I spent the last 50 minutes ranking my top 15 R.E.M. songs:

15. Life and How to Live It

14. Sitting Still

13. Radio Free Europe

12. Finest Worksong

11. Harborcoat

10. Me in Honey

9. Fall on Me

8. West of the Fields

7. Wolves Lower

6. Little America

5. Get Up

4. Try Not to Breathe

3. Begin the Begin

2. These Days

1. Pilgrimage

[feelingsrsht]

     I had never been one to listen to “old” music, nor had I ever been one to save trash off the street, but this day was different. I was walking home from school, on a fine fall Wednesday afternoon when I almost crushed a cassette tape under my red high-tops. If I hadn’t crushed the case, which was laying separate, I would have never known. I was quick to snatch it up and take it home. I knew what it was but had no idea how I was going to play it. I tossed the tape around and around in my hand, trying to read the faded writing on it. It was damn near impossible to make out what it said, but I felt like I had to listen to this tape. It was my destiny. I grabbed the tape, my secret money stash, and my phone and hopped onto my bike towards downtown. I pulled up to the record store I remember my Mom talking about when I was younger, and tied up the bike outside. I walked in, the jingle of a door bell greeting me, and I slid the tape over the counter. I asked the old clerk, “I need to listen to this tape.” He just laughed and held up a finger before wandering to the back room to dig around for what felt like forever. He finally emerged, holding a dusty box that read Sony Walkman on it. He slid it across the counter to me and said, “Been a while since anyones bought one of these. Here ya go. Thats $20 even.” He was holding out his hand in an eager manner, annoyed that he didn’t have his cash fast enough. Serves him right though, after taking so long to find the damn thing. I threw the cash in his hand, took the box, and abruptly left the building. I opened up the box and popped in the tape. Feeling too embarrassed to go back in and ask how to work the Walkman, I spent a good while next to my bike trying to work it. I finally put in my headphones and pressed play. The first notes of R.E.M.s Finest Worksong came through loud and clear and blessed my ears. I had no idea what I was listening to, but it was transcendent. Flipping the tape over, The One I Love comes on and takes you on a real musical journey. I had obviously never heard of R.E.M. until today, but I was already in love.  When I arrived home, I asked my dad about the band on the cassette tape. He gave them a good listen before he told me that he and my mom saw them when they used to open at the 40 Watt in Athens back before they got big. They used to love R.E.M. but after she died he sort of stopped listening to them. He just held the tape and smiled a sad smile. The following week, I returned to the record store and purchased every R.E.M. tape they had. I thrifted milk crates, and empty boxes and filled my dark wood-paneled room with stacks and stacks of R.E.M., The Smiths, U2, Talking Heads, 10,000 Maniacs, Bauhaus, and The B-52’s to name a few. I plastered the walls with their posters, and old Christmas lights I found in the basement, and spared no expense in redecorating the once dull space. I had filled every corner of that room with books, posters,and music. I had finally found myself, and all through love at first wind. 

[straycatboogie]

2025/02/21 BGM: R.E.M. - Finest Worksong

今日は遅番勤務の日だった。今朝方、英会話関係のZoomセッションにいそしむ。その後、グループホームの本家にお邪魔させてもらい、そこで今日は管理者と副管理者の方々がそろっておられたのでさまざまなことを話し合う。とりわけ話したかったこととして、小さな安価の（5千円台くらいか。まだ下見もしていないが）ラジオを買うことをあらためて切り出し、そして退屈しのぎというか気晴らし・気散じのために古新聞・古雑誌をどこかからゆずってもらえないかという話をしたりした。この日記でもさんざん書いてきたことのおさらいになるが、遅番勤務の朝というのはせちがらいものでこの堅苦しいというか実に「へなちょこ」なぼくの性分ゆえに「じゃ、時間あるから二度寝するか」「YouTubeかゲームにいそしむか」なんて気軽に過ごせないのである。不安やプレッシャーにさいなまれてしまい、そうするとたった1時間・2時間の時間がものすごく長く感じる（だからその意味で、毎朝のZoomは実にありがたい）。それに応えて管理者と副管理者の方々も世話人さんまでふくめたツテを探してみる、と言ってくださった。その後は、伸び伸びになってしまっていた市の給付���をいただくための書類を書き終えてしまった。

その後、時間も空いたので本でも読むかどうかするかと思ったがそれもはかどらない。それで思い立ち、前にこまきときこ『つれづれ語学日記』という漫画を経由したかなにかで知って、それでチェックだけしていてその後手つかずになっていたBBCのポッドキャスト（というのだろうか。実はよくわかっていない）である英語の放送「6 Minutes English」をあらたな朝活のお試しとしてかじってみることにした。今週のその放送の内容は若い女性たちがソーシャルメディア（SNS）、つまりFacebookやInstagramなんかとどう接しているかについてだ。だが、いまだぼくの英語力が足りないというかもっと修練が必要なようで語り手たちの英語を十全に聞き取れたとは言いがたい。わからないところがいろいろあり、概要はつかめるがそれでも新語が出てくるとお手上げで虫食い状態である。ただ、文字起こしされたものを読むなりして読み込み、内容が実におもしろく活き活きしたリアルなものであることを学ぶ。3度ほど聞き返して耳を慣らし、自分なりに鍛えてみた。

1時から仕事に入る。その仕事中、ひょんなことから自分自身の中にはたして仕事に対する「プロ根性」「プロ意識」なんてものがあるのかどうか考えたりしてしまう。この日記でも書いたかもしれないが、仕事をなんだかんだで続けてきて幾星霜。20年は経った計算になるが、いまもってなお自分の中にはアマちゃんというかトーシロくささというか、プロもしくは大人になりきれていない幼稚さがあるのかなとかなんとか思い、それでそう考えるとどんどんドツボにはまったのだった（いや、ミスをしたわけでも落ち込んだわけでもないです。ほんとうです）。若い頃、もちろん社には悪いというかまったくもって顔見せできないことだけれど、それでも正直なところ自分の仕事にプライドを持てず「最底辺」とまで思って自己憐憫というか「こんなドンケツの環境で仕事をさせられるなんて」と思ったりもした。ぼくがなんとなく使いたくない日本語の1つに「社畜」という言葉がある。いや、そういう言葉が照らし出せるリアリティもあるしその言葉を他人が使うことまで禁じたいとは思わない。だが、ぼくは自分の仕事の不平不満・批判をすることはあれどその言葉で友だち・管理者の方々にぶつけたいとは思わないのだ。ともあれ、言えるのはぼくがやっているのは（たんに「ものは言いよう」な次元の話に聞こえるかもしれないが）「労働」ではなく、「事に仕える」「事を為す」と書く「仕事」「為事」なのだった。それは他の方々も同じだろう。

今日はジョブコーチ面談の日。みぞれ模様の天気の中はるばる来られたジョブコーチと（ありがたい）、いろいろなことを話し込む。先月の面談では眠気が勝ってしまいそれで尻切れトンボになってしまったが、今日は30分を有意義に使えた。日々の過ごし方のこと、めまいのこと、睡眠のことなどを話す。ここで書いてしまうと、実はぼくはあまりこの感じのいいジョブコーチにまだまだかんぜんに信頼感を置けておらず、それゆえに警戒心を持ち気後れしてしまっていた。いや、その方はつねにメモを取りこまかく関心を払い、実に献身的に考え込んで伴走してくださっている。ぼくの見えないところでもそうした尽力を欠かしておられないと判断する。それを疑うつもりは毛頭ない。でも、たぶん前のジョブコーチとあまりにも仕事の仕方・性格が違うのとそれこそぼくの人間性のちっちゃさ・雑魚さもあってまだ疑心暗鬼に陥ってしまったのだろう。今日は決意を固め、ぼくからジャブを打ちラッシュさえかけていろんなことを話した。ジョブコーチは丁寧に答えてくださった。たまたま持っていたお薬手帳をお見せすると、熱心に内容を手書きで写してくださった（あとで建物内にコピー機があったことを思い出し、そこを紹介すればよかったかと顔から火が出る思いだった。また、そんな感じでラッシュしたことになんだかやりにくい思いをさせてしまったかとあとで汗顔の至りでもあった）。このこともまたありがたい話だ。

[randyseaver]

Finest Worksong

For a lot of people, it’s going to be very hard to watch or even acknowledge the inauguration of Donald Trump as America’s next president. Look, I didn’t vote for the guy either, and it strikes me as almost surrealistic that Mr. Trump was able to get enough votes to put him back in the White House. But whining and stomping our feet like toddlers having a tantrum will not achieve anything. It’s…

[strivia]

Oooo, this is neat. Thanks for the tag @this-isnt-heathrow My music taste is hella eclectic

Tagging @occasionallygiveadamn @isadora-greenhall @starstruckpurpledragon @belphegor1982 @thatfaerieprincess

Challenging you all!

Put your music library on shuffle, then list the first five songs that come up in a poll to let people vote for which one they like the most!

Then tag Tumblr friends to keep the game going!

[mixtapet]

Mixtape T: 1987

Listen HERE for the show or the playlist below:

Welcome To The Jungle- Guns N' Roses

Never Tear Us Apart -INXS

Strangelove -Depeche Mode

The Great Commandment -Camouflage

True Faith - ('94)- New Order

I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) -Whitney Houston

I Think We're Alone Now -Tiffany

Luka -Suzanne Vega

Mandinka -Sinead O'Connor

I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) -George Michael & Aretha Franklin

April Skies -The Jesus & Mary Chain

Finest Worksong- R.E.M.

Surfin' Cow -The Dead Milkmen

[shoegazingcat]

R.E.M. - Finest Worksong

[longliverockback]

R.E.M. We Are Hope Despite the Times 2024 Craft ——————————————————————— Tracks: 01. Turn You Inside Out 02. Pop Song 89 03. These Days 04. I Believe 05. Fall on Me 06. Welcome to the Occupation 07. World Leader Pretend 08. Drive 09. Begin the Begin 10. Finest Worksong 11. Exhuming McCarthy 12. Just a Touch 13. Cuyahoga 14. Disturbance at the Heron House 15. Swan Swan H 16. Ignoreland 17. Stand 18. It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) ———————————————————————

* Long Live Rock Archive