this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
60 points (95.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26916 readers
1961 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] sanguinepar 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

R.E.M. and Shiny Happy People. It's just so out of place, especially on an otherwise great album.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I read somewhere that that was the whole point. Their label or manager complained that all of their songs were dull and depressing and why can't they make something that's chart friendly, so that's what they did. If you listen to the lyrics while knowing the back story you can pretty much hear the sarcasm oozing from every syllable.

Not that I can find any reference to it now, of course, but that's what I read/heard and it makes the song 10 times better.

[–] sanguinepar 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I could definitely imagine that. Still don't really like it though :-)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Kate Pierson sort of makes the video for me but yeah it's a vapid song.

[–] sanguinepar 1 points 1 year ago

It is. I did see a theory that it was actually a very (too?) subtle commentary on the Tiananmen Square Massacre, but I'm not sure I believe it tbh.

[–] Lifecoach5000 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

One of the guys from The Monkees recently covered this and it and it gave me a new found respect for this song.

[–] sanguinepar 1 points 1 year ago

Oh cool, I'll need to check that out.