Tag Archives: sweetness

#1324: R.E.M. – Sweetness Follows

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You know, I’ve been intently listening to R.E.M.’s ‘Sweetness Follows’ for a good seven years now. I thought I at least knew everything that was going on in the song. But when revisiting Michael Stipe and Mike Mills’ track-by-track analysis of Automatic for the People to help me write the post, I was surprised to hear that the fuzzy melody that plays in the centre channel – which I assumed was just a bass guitar of some kind – is actually produced by a cello. And I’ve watched that video before. I guess I just forgot. I’ve also heard cellos before. They’re usually known for their deep, resonant tones. Not the growling rumble that goes on through ‘Sweetness Follows’. But I’m not complaining. During that linked track-by-track recollection, Stipe recalls having a “eureka” moment when cellist Knox Chandler spontaneously played the opening notes you hear on the track. Those notes are looped for the majority of it. They definitely add a unique layer to the production.

‘Sweetness Follows’ is right in the middle of Automatic for the People, the first half closer if you have it on vinyl. And on an album that touches upon mortality and getting older, it’s only right that ‘Sweetness…’ arrives as the album’s centerpiece – seeing as it’s all about the sweet embrace of death and everything. Stipe, whose vocal take I really like on this one, by the way – sings about appreciating those fleeting moments we have in the relatively short amount of time we respectively have here on the planet. To not get wound up in all the drama that can happen because it all gets forgotten about eventually, and when we die, that’s when we get our peace. And we shouldn’t be sad about death because there’s the possibility that there’s something better that comes on the otherside. Sweetness follows. Unless you’re a staunch “When we die, that’s it” kind of person, then this song might not be the one for you. It might just also be about a family argument, according to this interpretation, so you could always lean on that too.

Like the other songs from Automatic… I’ve written about on here, I didn’t fully appreciate this one until I heard it played out loud on some good speakers at work in my first job out of uni. It’s all about the wide open spaces available in ‘Sweetness Follows’. There aren’t any drums in the song. No bass guitar either as we’ve already established. And the lack of a rhythm section greatly allows the textural elements within to flow and make their presence known. That organ in the left? Great. You can hear Peter Buck strumming away on his acoustic guitar in the back. It was his chord sequencing that got the whole track going in the first place. With this funereal mood going on, you wonder how things could change direction, and they do when those cathartic, wailing guitar feedback sections come in, enveloping the soundscape while Stipe and Mills vocalise in the midst of it all. A great number on a great album.

#1323: Jimmy Eat World – Sweetness

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Never much been into Jimmy Eat World, I’ve got to say. You’ve probably noticed yourself through the obvious lack of the band’s material on this website. The last time I wrote about a song of the band’s was in July 2013. I can’t remember the last time I listened to ‘Big Casino’, it has definitely been years. And funnily enough, looking at the post as I link it, I started it with the same sentiment as I started this one. That wasn’t meant to happen, I swear. So, yeah, their music videos played quite frequently on those music television channels. And young me thought the songs all sounded cool in their own respective ways. Never got round to listening to that full album though. And I probably should, I don’t think there’d be any harm in doing so. But which one, though… Well, ‘Sweetness’ is on Bleed American, so maybe I’ll go for that one first.

‘Sweetness’ is another tune of Jimmy Eat World’s that I got to really know through seeing its video on TV. But I feel like I would have heard it before. In an advert, in a movie. I’m not sure. But the first “Are you listening / WHOOA OH OH” lyric sounded familiar on that first time I saw the video, whenever that would have been. Out of all the Jimmy Eat World songs I became accustomed to through their videos, ‘Sweetness’ is the one that’s had the longest staying power with me. Once singer/guitarist Jimmy Adkins blurts out that first line, the song doesn’t let up in its driving energy until the final chord is struck. Sure, there are the moments when the guitars and drums drop out so Adkins can sing certain lines here and there, but even then you still feel that momentum running. The instruments come back in and hit emphatically each time. Then when the band are properly allowed to play together for a length of time beginning with the “I was spinning free…” section, it brings about a feeling of wanting to run without stopping. It’s a good song.

I don’t know if there’s an agreed consensus on what the track’s about. Having had to think about an interpretation in preparation for this, I see it as an actual address from Adkins to Jimmy Eat World fans. Particularly for the people who go to their shows. The opening lines are self-explanatory. The unwinding tether might refer to that feeling of letting your inhibitions go when at at a live show and dancing, doing whatever you like. And the “spinning free with a sweet and simple numbing me” refers to Adkins letting go himself when he’s performing live and losing control of his limbs when playing the guitar. “Tell me what do I need when words lose their meaning”… I don’t know, I guess referring to those who hear the music and sing along without really considering the lyrics? And then the rest is lost on me. But that’s at least my take. Not so much a love letter to fans, but one that’s saying have fun with us but also don’t try and get too close. Am I wrong? Maybe. But I gave it a go. I still think the music matters the most. And I like the music a lot.