 Eponymous (1988) [ larger cover art ] |
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The walls are built up stone by stone
The fields divided one by one
And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver 8
Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long
And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver 8
Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination
But we're still a ways away, but it's still a ways away
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged
The bells are ringing through the town again
The children look up, all they hear is sky-blue bells ringing
And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver 8
Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination
But we're still a ways away, but it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away, but it's still a ways away
A way to shield the hated heat
A way to put myself to sleep
A way to shield the hated heat
A way to put myself, my children to sleep
He piloted this song in a plane like that one
She is selling faith on the Go Tell Crusade
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again
The fields of wheat is looking thin
And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver 8
Driver 8, take a break
We've been on this shift too long
And the train conductor says
Take a break, driver 8
Driver 8, take a break
We can reach our destination
But we're still a ways away, but it's still a ways away
But we're still a ways away, but it's still a ways away
| rromulus | Posted: May 13, 2013 - 04:43 Just Wiki it! "Driver 8" was the second single from R.E.M.'s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction. Released in September 1985, the song peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was not released in Europe. The song refers to the Southern Crescent, a passenger train operated by the Southern Railroad until 1979, and continues today (with fewer stops) as the Amtrak Crescent. The music video shows Chessie System trains running around Clifton Forge, Virginia. Guitarist Peter Buck admitted in the liner notes for the band's 2003 compilation album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 that the verse chords for the song "Imitation of Life" were unintentionally taken from the verse chords of "Driver 8." |
| Lazarus (Bethany) | Posted: Apr 13, 2013 - 20:49 We be dancing!!!! Love it!!!! |
| rdo (DC) | Posted: Mar 03, 2013 - 10:41 Misterfixit wrote: It's an allegoric and ironical poem. See, "train leaving the station" can mean many things: fleeing from bad things; the feeling of total evacuation after a healthy bowel movement; and so on and so forth. Now, when the song includes your mean old momma on board, wearing a cowboy hat, with a mullet, going across the Texas plains towards the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe depot in Gainesville, TX, with you standing in front of the on-rushing train, holding your hands out in plaintive supplication, discovering you are naked as the day you entered this Veil of Tears from between your Crack-Addled Skank Mother's tattooed, pierced, and pendulous labia, hearing the sounds of the Grim Reaper fast approving you from behind using a diamond hard steel sharpening tool as Seen on TV on his razor sharp sickle, you finally realize that you have either reached the Coda of your Life and you are doomed to repeat this primal horror for all eternity ... OR you realize that you are actually at the Segue of a part of your life, whereupon you will reach out to destroy said demons and find True Peace in the Arms of Our Loving and Most Holy Baby Jeeeesus. Amen. I have noticed a certain, errm, scatological quality to your writing. Only on RP will you read something like this. Bravo. |
| Lazarus (Bethany) | Posted: Mar 03, 2013 - 10:36 rdo wrote:  Thank you! Hope you are having a marvelous day... this song is marvelous... this whole album is marvelous... |
| Antigone (A house, in a Virginian Valley) | Posted: Feb 28, 2013 - 15:53 Takes me back to when I first heard R.E.M. Loved them then, still love them. |
| rdo (DC) | Posted: Feb 28, 2013 - 15:51 Lazarus wrote: Yes, it be me... I have been saved... I am a sinner no more... everybody in my church loves this song... |
| Lazarus (Bethany) | Posted: Jan 09, 2013 - 17:30 rdo wrote: Is that u??? Yes, it be me... I have been saved... I am a sinner no more... everybody in my church loves this song... |
| rdo (DC) | Posted: Jan 09, 2013 - 17:20 Lazarus wrote: Everybody in my church be dancing... love it... Is that u??? |
| Lazarus (Bethany) | Posted: Jan 07, 2013 - 19:28 Everybody in my church be dancing... love it... |
| johnjconn (chicago land) | Posted: Dec 07, 2012 - 10:31 REM seems to sound fresh , year after year. |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Nov 26, 2012 - 15:51 Of course this was from  |
| marcel (some 10.000 km east of paradise) | Posted: Sep 27, 2012 - 14:07 Misterfixit wrote: It's an allegoric and ironical poem. See, "train leaving the station" can mean many things: fleeing from bad things; the feeling of total evacuation after a healthy bowel movement; and so on and so forth. Now, when the song includes your mean old momma on board, wearing a cowboy hat, with a mullet, going across the Texas plains towards the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe depot in Gainesville, TX, with you standing in front of the on-rushing train, holding your hands out in plaintive supplication, discovering you are naked as the day you entered this Veil of Tears from between your Crack-Addled Skank Mother's tattooed, pierced, and pendulous labia, hearing the sounds of the Grim Reaper fast approving you from behind using a diamond hard steel sharpening tool as Seen on TV on his razor sharp sickle, you finally realize that you have either reached the Coda of your Life and you are doomed to repeat this primal horror for all eternity ... OR you realize that you are actually at the Segue of a part of your life, whereupon you will reach out to destroy said demons and find True Peace in the Arms of Our Loving and Most Holy Baby Jeeeesus. Amen. Please, go and write some lyrics for.... most bands anyway.... |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Sep 18, 2012 - 16:43 super marvelous... |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Jul 23, 2012 - 21:30 We be dancing... love it...  |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Jul 17, 2012 - 18:36 bingo by jingo... this song rocks... love it... |
| TerryS (Another SW) | Posted: Jul 17, 2012 - 18:35 Misterfixit wrote: It's an allegoric and ironical poem. See, "train leaving the station" can mean many things: fleeing from bad things; the feeling of total evacuation after a healthy bowel movement; and so on and so forth. Now, when the song includes your mean old momma on board, wearing a cowboy hat, with a mullet, going across the Texas plains towards the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe depot in Gainesville, TX, with you standing in front of the on-rushing train, holding your hands out in plaintive supplication, discovering you are naked as the day you entered this Veil of Tears from between your Crack-Addled Skank Mother's tattooed, pierced, and pendulous labia, hearing the sounds of the Grim Reaper fast approving you from behind using a diamond hard steel sharpening tool as Seen on TV on his razor sharp sickle, you finally realize that you have either reached the Coda of your Life and you are doomed to repeat this primal horror for all eternity ... OR you realize that you are actually at the Segue of a part of your life, whereupon you will reach out to destroy said demons and find True Peace in the Arms of Our Loving and Most Holy Baby Jeeeesus. Amen. Where can I buy some of that? |
| Misterfixit (Nashville) | Posted: Jul 03, 2012 - 05:14 cc_rider wrote: Does this song actually mean anything? Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot (not quite as much as Romeo), and I keep trying to make sense of it. I like the imagery though, maybe that's all there is to it. It's an allegoric and ironical poem. See, "train leaving the station" can mean many things: fleeing from bad things; the feeling of total evacuation after a healthy bowel movement; and so on and so forth. Now, when the song includes your mean old momma on board, wearing a cowboy hat, with a mullet, going across the Texas plains towards the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe depot in Gainesville, TX, with you standing in front of the on-rushing train, holding your hands out in plaintive supplication, discovering you are naked as the day you entered this Veil of Tears from between your Crack-Addled Skank Mother's tattooed, pierced, and pendulous labia, hearing the sounds of the Grim Reaper fast approving you from behind using a diamond hard steel sharpening tool as Seen on TV on his razor sharp sickle, you finally realize that you have either reached the Coda of your Life and you are doomed to repeat this primal horror for all eternity ... OR you realize that you are actually at the Segue of a part of your life, whereupon you will reach out to destroy said demons and find True Peace in the Arms of Our Loving and Most Holy Baby Jeeeesus. Amen. |
| BikeCoachDave (Columbia, Ky.) | Posted: Jun 25, 2012 - 05:31 In 1984 I started college. This was the first true college radio song I ever heard and it opened up a whole new world to me. Songs that dont find a place on commercial radio, and arent necessarily about a relationship (90% of all songs it seems). My first introduction to alternative music and I have never looked back. Like kids in the 50's who discover rock and roll, the world never looked the same again. |
| hayduke2 (Southampton, NY) | Posted: Jun 22, 2012 - 10:33 stinkereeno quik mute |
| LongGoneDaddy | Posted: Jun 01, 2012 - 08:48 cc_rider wrote: Does this song actually mean anything? Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot (not quite as much as Romeo), and I keep trying to make sense of it. I like the imagery though, maybe that's all there is to it. It's a train travelling song. There are lots of trains running thru Athens, GA, and this song is just part of the local flavor. Seems to me alot of Stipe's early songs do conjure images, because very often you can' even tell what the hell he's singing. This imagery effect is particularly pronounced on "Fables of the Reconstruction", but the lyrical style greatly evolved with "Life's Rich Pageant". |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Jun 01, 2012 - 08:23 driver8 wrote: Hi RP  how weird - i have been on RP for months - and to get on and hear this song! The Bill works in mysterious ways... back atcha... |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Jun 01, 2012 - 08:22 Does this song actually mean anything? Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot (not quite as much as Romeo), and I keep trying to make sense of it. I like the imagery though, maybe that's all there is to it. |
| driver8 (right on target) | Posted: Jun 01, 2012 - 08:19 Hi RP how weird - i have been on RP for months - and to get on and hear this song! |
| Josua (Cartagena, Spain.) | Posted: Jun 01, 2012 - 08:18 Wow¡ Stipe!! |
| Giselle62 (many bear, big rock, estuary California) | Posted: May 21, 2012 - 15:49 This sounds pretty just singing it on guitar——that's the mark of a good song. |
| Baketown (Maryland) | Posted: May 15, 2012 - 09:39 This CD is a great collection of early REM songs! |
| WayUpNorth | Posted: May 15, 2012 - 09:38 LOVE IT!!  |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: May 15, 2012 - 09:36 love this song soooo much... awesome! |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: May 02, 2012 - 14:00 Everybody in my hotel room kicked off their shoes and jumped to their feet... everybody's hips are moving... love this song... |
| ajlept (Athens, GA) | Posted: Apr 13, 2012 - 16:30 bokey wrote:  REM was just an overpromoted crappy bar band.With no record company, there would be no REM because they had high school band level talent.. Warren Zevon (RIP) would beg to differ with you....as do I.  |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Mar 29, 2012 - 21:20 This song is soooo good it puts a spring in my step this spring night... love it! |
| LongGoneDaddy | Posted: Feb 16, 2012 - 10:59 have been an r.e.m. fan since '85, and never considered them 'alt-country"...is that just because they were from Athens? Jason and the Scorchers were alot more 'alt country"...Stipe's way too weird (in a good way) to be considered country, although Peter Buck prolly wouldn't mind the reference. And yeah, Gram Parsons was a granddaddy of that sound, and Buck Owens before him, and so on and so on.... |
| gandalfbmg (3 mi from Paradise (Missouri)) | Posted: Feb 16, 2012 - 10:54 missyanneb wrote: My favorite band. Ever. still. yup. This is from my least favorite of their albums even (well, maybe tied for that with Green) and it's still a 9 easy... |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Feb 10, 2012 - 06:38 Tippster wrote: Gram Parsons my ass. R.E.M were the first alt-country band. "Alt-country" is a term that didn't exist until the 1990's. As good as they were, REM were not the "first" anything - other than maybe the first band named after a sleep cycle. |
| Lrobby99 (Wisconsin, USA) | Posted: Feb 10, 2012 - 06:35 Driver 8? No. Racer X, yes. But, good tune. |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Jan 28, 2012 - 12:12 We be dancing... love it... |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Jan 26, 2012 - 12:00 marvelous... love it... |
| missyanneb | Posted: Jan 18, 2012 - 11:08 My favorite band. Ever. still. |
| toterola (Further) | Posted: Jan 15, 2012 - 16:48 My favorite REM song. From the glory days. Hail, hail...  |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Dec 27, 2011 - 17:38 magnificent... |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Dec 17, 2011 - 18:18 Everybody in my hotel room loves this song... |
| sronis | Posted: Dec 14, 2011 - 23:12 terrapin52 wrote: An amazing song from when REM was worth listening to. (Up to Document, not beyond) You're joking. Green was great, Out of time was brilliant, automatic for the people was one of the best albums ever, monster had some classics and even new adventures had some gems in it. after that, i agree, it was a downhill slope. |
| terrapin52 (Terrapin Station, SC) | Posted: Nov 13, 2011 - 06:12 An amazing song from when REM was worth listening to. (Up to Document, not beyond) |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Oct 06, 2011 - 11:25 ppak wrote: "R.E.M were the first alt-country band." Interesting idea. R.E.M were the first in a lot of areas that will be appreciated after we are all dead. Best in Alt-country beng awesome, no doubt. Tippster you are correct as usual. R.E.M were the Beatles/Stones of the 80s. No higher praise imaginable in my mind. Again, REM were little boys growing up in Georgia when Gram Parsons was doing his thing. Chronology, I'm jes sayin'. |
| komainu (Iowa City, IA) | Posted: Oct 06, 2011 - 11:24 Take a break, Steve. You earned it, even if you never wanted it. R.I.P. |
| Alexandra (Here and Now) | Posted: Oct 06, 2011 - 11:24 Love, love, LOVE the chords in this song. |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Oct 06, 2011 - 11:24 We be dancing... love this song! |
| ppak (3rd spherical clast - [Map Ref. 41°N 93°W]) | Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 17:19 Tippster wrote: Gram Parsons my ass. R.E.M were the first alt-country band. "R.E.M were the first alt-country band." Interesting idea. R.E.M were the first in a lot of areas that will be appreciated after we are all dead. Best in Alt-country beng awesome, no doubt. Tippster you are correct as usual. R.E.M were the Beatles/Stones of the 80s. No higher praise imaginable in my mind. |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Sep 23, 2011 - 17:14 I'll dance to this... |
| Sloggydog (UK) | Posted: Sep 13, 2011 - 22:36 If you get the chance check out the live acoustic versions of this and the next song from the original album - maps and legends. Assuming you're a REMhead too. |