Fall On Me

A few months ago I finally upgraded my cable tv service to digital. Not only did this solve my reception/interference issues on the local channels, but it also finally introduced me to the wonderful world of on demand television. The first thing I did was watch the entire first season of Mad Men over the course of a week, prior to the start of the second season. Then I started finding out what I had been missing by catching up on the awesomeness that is Coupling.

My most recent on demand discovery has been Concert.tv. A few weeks ago I caught a fantastic Sigur Ros performance that was filmed at the Museum of Modern Art last summer. And last week they were showing a 1985 R.E.M. concert that was originally televised on the German television show Rockpalast. The concert was heavy on Fables Of The Reconstruction tracks, but they also played an embryonic version of "Fall On Me." The musical structure, chorus, and bridge of the song were already fully intact, but the lyrics for the verses are completely different than what ended up in the final product. Of course, the clip has been available for quite some time on youtube, so check it out above.

R.E.M. - "Fall On Me (Live)" (mp3)

Apparently 17 years later Stipe still hadn't quite worked out his lyric issues on this song. This version was recorded on November 19, 1992 in Athens, GA at a benefit concert for Greenpeace, and was released on the Crush With Eyeliner single three years later.