Ignoreland
"Ignoreland" is the eighth track from R.E.M.'s studio album Automatic for the People. The song was not released as a single, but had chart positions on the Modern Rock and Mainstream Rock charts. "Ignoreland" is the sixth song by R.E.M. not to be released as a single while having a chart position. The previous song unreleased with a chart position by the band was a cover of Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan", which was released as a B-side to "Drive".
The song's lyrical content is political, referring to the conditions of the United States during the Presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
Mike Mills said: “Michael’s rolling against Republican politics. The opening line is, ‘These bastards stole all the power from the victims of the us v. them years / Wrecking all things virtuous and true’. And the last verse is really great – ‘I know that this is vitriol, no solution, spleen-venting / But I feel better having screamed. Don’t you?’ It’s really great.”
“You need headphones to get all the words, but they’re understandable," said Peter Buck. "Michael’s singing through an amp on that. He wanted to get that cold anger in his voice that you get with natural distortion. And the song is written in Neil Young’s tuning. Not that he owns it. But the Es are tuned down to D, like in ‘Cinnamon Girl’. I admit it, he’s the one I learned that tuning from.”
Podcasts:
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by R.E.M.
Ignoreland
by: R.E.M.These bastards stole their power from the victims of the Us v. Them years,
wrecking all things virtuous and true.
The undermining social democratic downhill slide into abysmal
lost lamb off the precipice into the trickle down runoff pool.
They hypnotised the summer, Nineteen seventy-nine.
Marched into the capital brooding duplicitous, wicked and able, media-ready,
heartless, and labeled. Super U.S. citizen, super achiever,
mega ultra power dosing. Relax.
Defense, defense, defense, defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland.
The information nation took their clues from all the sound-bite gluttons.
Nineteen eighty, eighty-four, eighty-eight, ninety-two too, too.
How to be what you can be, jump jam junking your energies.
How to walk in dignity with throw-up on your shoes
They amplified the autumn, Nineteen seventy-nine.
Calculate the capital, up the republic my skinny ass.
T.V. tells a million lies. The paper's terrified to report
anything that isn't handed on a presidential spoon,
I'm just profoundly frustrated by all this. So, fuck you, man. (Fuck 'm)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland.
If they weren't there we would have created them. Maybe, it's true,
but I'm resentful all the same. Someone's got to take the blame.
I know that this is vitriol. No solution, spleen-venting,
But I feel better having screamed. Don't you?
They desecrated winter, Nineteen seventy-nine.
Capital collateral. Brooding duplicitous, wicked and able, media-ready,
heartless, and labeled. Super U.S. citizen, super achiever,
mega ultra power dosing. Relax.
Defense, defense, defense, defense. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ignoreland.