1989 - I first heard "Orange Crush" by REM on WDRE 92.7 Garden State radio and immediately was drawn to it's driving guitars, the haunting vocals of Michael Stipe and the darkness and mystery of the song. I had it on cassette (I did not replace my tape deck and turntable until early 90's - I know a bit behind the times) and played it over and over till I knew it by heart.
It was the haunting feeling, the feeling of despair that I got from the lyrics that drew me inward to it. Later that year I saw a glimpse of the video where REM won the 1st ever "Post Modern Video" VMA at the MTV Awards..... and it stuck in my head - an image of a child in a white tee and jeans running behind what seemed to be a moving truck....the video added more mystery to the song for me...
Well - I recently got to see the video only last night, and then I got intrigued about what the song was about....according to Michael Stipe it's about Vietnam....a young American footballer leaving the comforts of home for Vietnam.
The song's title is a reference to Agent Orange - a chemical defoliant used in the Vietnam war.
The song was not huge in the US but was much bigger in the UK. It was however, an underground hit and it spent 8 weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Charts. This song actually remains my fave REM song.
I might be mistaken but I believe that the song was also played on 21 Jump Street (remember that TV cop show that starred Johnny Depp before he was a huge movie star?)
Anyways peeps I do hope you enjoy the video.
TTYL!
I don't have a memory of "Orange Crush" but now I have "It's the End of the World as We Know It" stuck in my head. I'll be occasionally breaking out with "Layernerd Berstein" for the rest of the day. Thanks.
ReplyDelete;)
JP - It's the End....is also a great song! I still play it quite often! and ur welcome!
ReplyDeleteSteve, I'm a little scared that REM's tunes are starting to be refereed to as a classics, as are Nirvana's works. Seems like just yesterday those bands were up and coming. So much has changed, but the music is still here and more relevant than ever. I guess that's just how it goes.
ReplyDeletemy roommate loved this song
ReplyDeleteHello Kyle - REM has been around since 1983 or thereabouts - that's close to 30 years. Orange Crush is over 20 years now - wow, and it's still played on radio and it does not sound dated!
ReplyDeleteWM - it's a great song still after all these years!