R.E.M.: “So. Central Rain” (1984)
Between this song and “6060-842,” Georgia’s spotty telephone service has been a surprising source of inspiration.
Kronomyth 2.01: Mr. telephone man, there’s something wrong with my line.
This is one of my favorite early tracks from R.E.M., although it does remind me a lot of David Bowie’s “An Occasional Dream.” If it is a bit of accidental plagiarism, R.E.M. improves upon it in all ways. The song is apparently based on a real weather event that knocked down the telephone lines in Georgia. I’m embarrassed to say, I always thought So. Central Rain was a fragmented sentence, an inconsequential moment interrupted by rain (and maybe that’s not so far off after all). The video features both Peter Buck and Bill Berry sporting goatees. (I guess they didn’t let Mike and Michael in on their little fashion uprising.) The B side is a pisstake of Roger Miller’s King of the Road that sounds like it was recorded at two in the morning after an all-day session. In the UK, a 12-inch single featured two different non-album tracks: Voice of Harold (“Seven Chinese Brothers” with Michael Stipe reading off the album notes from a Revelaires record, which is a lot more effective than you’d think) and a listless cover of The Velvet Underground’s Pale Blue Eyes. All three B side tracks later appeared on Dead Letter Office.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. So. Central Rain (Bill Berry/Peter Buck/Mike Mills/Michael Stipe) (3:11)
B1. King of the Road (Roger Miller) (4:34)
Original 12-inch single version
A1. So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)
B1. Voice of Harold
B2. Pale Blue Eyes
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch in March 1984 in the US (IRS, IR-9927) and on 12-inch single in the UK (IRS, IRSX 105) with picture sleeve. Reached #85 on the US charts.
