Day After Day #65: Talk About the Passion

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Talk About the Passion (1983)

When it comes to evolving as an artist, one band that really changed over the course of its career was R.E.M. Formed in 1980 by four students at the University of Georgia, the band was one of the leaders of the indie/college/alternative/whateveryouwannacallit rock movement of the early '80s. By the time the group called it quits in 2011, they were one of the biggest selling bands in the world.

R.E.M. got plenty of buzz from their 1982 EP Chronic Town, which featured the single "Radio Free Europe," and that led to the band signing with I.R.S. Records. In April 1983, the band released its first album Murmur. Most critics referred to R.E.M. style as jangle pop, owing to guitarist Peter Buck's guitar sound at the time, but the band was equally known for singer Michael Stipe's mumbly singing style and enigmatic lyrics. The band steered clear of guitar solos or synths, preferring to avoid musical cliches. 

A re-recording of "Radio Free Europe" was the lead single off the album and made it to #78 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was "Talk About the Passion" and it didn't chart, but it made an impact on college radio and is a fan favorite. Stipe later said the song was about hunger, acknowledging that the lyrics weren't clear about that. A 1988 video the band made features images of homeless people and a closing shot of an aircraft carrier, with a caption saying that in 1987, the cost of one destroyer-class warship was $910 million. 

"Empty prayer, empty mouths combien reaction/Empty prayer, empty mouths talk about the passion/Not everyone can carry the weight of the world. Not everyone can carry the weight the world."

The band then launches right into the chorus, which is the song title. There's not a lot of lyrics on "Talk About the Passion," although Stipe throws in a little French: "Combien, combien, combien de temps." ("Combien de temps" means "how long" in English.)

Musically, the song is delicate and immaculate, with Buck's Rickenbacker leading off with a circular part. Later in the song, an uncredited cellist from the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is featured, adding some texture. It's a very simple yet very complex song. Probably a little too strange to be a radio hit, which is why it wasn't. 

In October 1983, R.E.M. made its first national TV appearance on a newish show called "Late Night with David Letterman." I was a fan by this point and would record the show on our VCR because the episodes aired at 12:30 a.m. The band actually played two songs, leading off with "Radio Free Europe" before Letterman came over to briefly chat with them. Stipe was so shy at this point in his career that he stayed in the background while Buck and bassist Mike Mills (who looks like he's 12) joke around with Dave. The second song they played was so new it didn't have a name, but it later turned up on the band's next album as "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)." 

Fast forward a few years and I'm in college at the University of New Hampshire and R.E.M. played a show there. For some unfathomable reason, I didn't go, which I kick myself for to this day. I did hear from a friend that Stipe performed almost the entire show with his back to the audience, which again must have been the shyness. I finally saw R.E.M. in 1989 on the Green tour and was shocked to see that Stipe had transformed into a complete showman, having shaved his head on the sides; he was dancing around the stage shirtless, singing into a megaphone and generally exuding serious charisma. 

Over the next several years, R.E.M. rivaled U2 as one of the biggest rock bands in the world. Drummer Bill Berry stepped away from the band in 1997 and they continued on as a three-piece with mixed results until 2011. They've resisted getting back together. I recently caught a great show at the Sinclair featuring actor Michael Shannon and musician Jason Narducy with a band performing Murmur in its entirety, along with all of Chronic Town and a bunch of other R.E.M. classics. It was pretty damn great and a cool way to hear those old classics done really well.