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Let us go back to September 1991. Yeah, it was a bummer that summer was over, and that we had to go back to school (my junior year of college). But it was nice to see those college friends. And unlike my first two years in jail-cell dorms, this time I had an apartment with three others.
With the space, Doug and I cobbled together a Sony D-66 Discman; Denon integrated amp; JBL speakers; Monster IL-400 interconnects; and original Monster speaker Cable.
At the time, UC Santa Cruz was a haven for "wannabe hippies," upper middle class kids who wanted to emulate their parents' generation's 60s vibe and culture.
One average Fall day, my housemate Todd brought over his wannabe hippie friends. Either MTV or VH1 played R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People." Whoa! Todd's friends hated "Shiny Happy People." Those wannabe hippies were even angrier than they were against the Gulf War, Clarence Thomas, and not being able to go topless in public.
Now, I am and was normally a hardcore heavy metal fan. But with the B-52's Kate Pierson, "Shiny Happy People" seemed to follow in the feel-good steps of, say, "Roam." Perhaps naively, I said, "I kinda like this song," which drew the wannabe hippies' ire.
OMG! You should have seen the disapproving stares those wannabe hippies shot my way. Their wrath was light years worse than any abuse we audiophiles have ever had to endure. But anyway, this was also the time Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and grunge wiped out popular music. It also had the effect of crushing the debate about "Shiny Happy People."
Today's elementary school kids do not know the history of "Shiny Happy People," so they, as I did in 1991, really like it, enjoy singing gaily. I still like it. Okay, I'm not going to name names, but certain old friends into alt-rock still detest "Shiny Happy People," still call it the worst R.E.M. song ever. Man, you would have thought that the wannabe hippies had equated R.E.M. with Clarence Thomas!
Okay, so I'm throwing this open to you. What is your opinion of "Shiny Happy People?" Thumbs-down? Thumbs-up? Take it or leave it?
The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster
Follow Ups:
Great Song on a great album.
It was bit odd for them- but that's way you expected from them in a way. It is heaps better than anything since Up
nt
the song was a giant, leg-pulling put-on. And that they were not 100% pleased that it became SUCH a hit.
Mark in NC
"The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains" -Paul Simon
I hated that song. For almost all of '91 I was going through avionics school while in the Navy. Some of our instructors were Marines who didn't exactly fit the description of shiny or happy...and sometimes stretched the definition of the word 'people'. One Staff Sergeant in particular used to refer to us lowly students as "shiny happy freaks" whenever we fell short of his lofty expectations. Whenever I hear that song now I'm not reminded of carefree, lazy summer days but instead I recall doing countless push-ups and running for miles in the Tennessee humidity after sitting in class from 05:00 till 14:00 studying schematics. I still hate it.
I didn't like the over-engineered, layered sound of that song. Too much, IMHO. Not like the stripped down, early jingle-jangle basics of REM.
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