REM Contest
I was ten when Murmur came out so it meant nothing to me.
When I was fifteen it began to mean everything. Mystery, cool and vulnerability.
Now I’m thirty-six and it’s still pretty important. I guess I know the songs on it (and on Reckoning) as well as the band. And I reckon I’ve listened to “We Walk” more often than Stipe himself. It’s my son’s favourite track. He’s four. He sings “Up the stairs to the landing” every night on his way to bed.
I don’t know anything about the early 1980s indie and roots music scene. I’m not a journalist. But these records helped to shape me when I was growing up and delight me still. What more can you hope for from music?