10 Essential REM Videos on Youtube

Poking around on YouTube is a great time waster. It's also a great way to trip down memory lane, find a new band, or have a good laugh. Slapping on a few music videos in the background allows your computer to serve up some of your favorites while you work.

I've been a REM fan since they broke in the early 1980s. Let me correct that. I'm not a "fanatic." I'm not like the kid I used to work with (thank god, only for a few months) who called himself a "de-Stipele." All of the unavoidable conversations I had with that kid ultimately turned to his stalker-like love for Michael Stipe. It was creepy.

I'm more on the "this is a really great tune" side of the fan club. Picking up the occasional album or cassette was the best my budget could manage. Digging up these memories on YouTube is the next best thing to having the box set in your stereo.

10. Radio Free Europe on Letterman 1983. If you were late to the REM fan base, you may not remember the days when Michael Stipe had hair. Check out the mop on that kid. With the release of "Murmur," REM moved out of the college radio stations and started getting regular radio rotation. It's great to remember that even the gods of rock were once geeky college kids struggling to find their groove.

9. Electrolite is a disorienting video. The first half is shot completely upside down. It then switches to clips of ordinary people playing with ball and chain. Electorlite was the high point of the much overlooked 1996 release "New Adventures In Hi-Fi." It stands as a wonderfully haunting tribute to Hollywood.

8. The Great Beyond was written and released specifically for the motion picture Man on the Moon that dramatized the life of comedian Andy Kaufman. The video is thematically based on Kaufman's struggle to blend or separate his on-stage personas from his real life. Note the use of the "on air" sign and the bands attempt to move then break the televisions they are locked within.

I've always had an affinity for the lyrics, "I'm pushing an elephant up the stairs. I'm tossing up punch lines that were never there." They remind me that in life as in comedy, timing is everything. The greatest joke in the world is one that needs no punch-line. The set up is so malleable and full of imagery, it can be anything to anyone. Tell me this isn't funny, "Two nuns and a duck walk into a bar."

7. Orange Crush is a song layered with meaning. Orange Crush does not refer to a soft drink, but to Agent Orange. You can interpret this song to be about many things. The central theme is the lack of care for veterans. At least that's my take.

6. Man on the Moon from the movie of the same name is a tribute to the like of Andy Kaufman. Beyond being the obligatory hit that promoted the movie this song/video always inspires a sing-along. The simple lyrics point to a lesson that many fail to learn. Life is not about doing great things. Life is a daily interaction with self and others. Take pleasure in the small things like "Monopoly, Twenty one, checkers, and chess. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

5. Imitation of Life. The video for this consists of a 20 second loop played backward and forward The shot is then panned for close ups. You'll have to watch it several times to catch all the intricacies. Stipe's goofy movements in the foreground prove that white people can dance, but only in reverse. As a YouTube extra, check out the Sims version by Frivolous0491. The sound is actually better.

4. Losing my Religion may be the most popular REM video on YouTube. There are dozens of postings. I chose this version because the sound is better than any of the 20 others I watched. The poster did misspell the title, but that's neither here nor there.

In the early 1990s this video caused a tempest in a teapot. Pundits made claims of REM's aversion to religion and blatant disregard for Christianity. Despite the video, the song has nothing to do with religion. "Losing my religion" simply means "end of my rope, losing my temper, about to fly off the handle." If you really want to delve into the lyrics, you'll see they are about someone on the verge of losing it and fantasizing about what would happen if they did.

3. Shiny Happy People is a fun tune. You'll have a really hard time not dancing around the room while this is playing. A cartoon background reminiscent of a children's morning TV show sets up the feel of the video. Want to dance with your kids? Try the Muppet version, Furry Happy Monsters.

I still like the original, because it features the very grown up and sexy Kate Pierson from the B52s. Without getting too far off track and exploring my obsession with Kate Pierson and in the spirit of exploring YouTube, let me encapsulate it. When Iggy Pop wanted a female voice to sing the part of Candy, he chose Kate Pierson. Candy is Pop's ode to the lasting longing for herion after 20 years clean. Who better to represent the alluring Candy than Kate in an electric-blue ball gown and elbow-length gloves.

2. (It's Been a) Bad Day evolved slowly from Stipe's encounters with paparazzi. The tune is quick. The lyrics are on target. When you next have a bad day, give this a listen. You'll perk right up. The video shows floods and tornados inside buildings and features the band as news broadcasters.

It is widely accepted that Bad Day was refined and morphed into The End of the World As We Know It. Unfortunately, REM was pretty fed up at that point in their careers and no official video for End of the World was ever made. A quick search at YouTube will reveal dozens of home-made versions.

1. Everybody Hurts. The video shows the band locked in an immovable traffic jam. As the camera shows the people in the surrounding cars, subtitles reveal their thoughts. You may have to watch this several times, but you will find more than one character with which to identify. In the end, everyone abandons their cars and walks away. Though isolated while together in their cars they walk away as a community illustrating that together we get over the inevitable hurts of life.

Unlike Bad Day, this is not a song to play after after a bad day unless you subscribe to the theory that "the Blues make it better." Some trivia about the song: 1. The hat that Stipe wears in the video belonged to his recently deceased uncle. 2. An anti-suicide campaign in Britain used the song as inspiration for their ads. 3. The song always makes me cry. I play it on days I really miss my Dad.

Now YouTube has an entire "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" channel located at YouTube REM HQ. Give yourself a few minutes, maybe hours, and explore.