Begin the Begin

Song infobox
Name = Begin the Begin


Type = Song
Artist = R.E.M.
alt Artist =
Album = Lifes Rich Pageant
Published =
Released = 28 July 1986
track_no = 1
Recorded =
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 3:28
Writer =
Composer =
Label = I.R.S. Records
Producer = Don Gehman
Background =
Chart position =
Tracks =
prev =
prev_no =
this_track = "Begin the Begin"
track_no = 1
next = "These Days"
next_no = 2

:"This article is about the R.E.M. song. For the song in the Broadway musical Jubilee (1935), see Begin the Beguine."

"Begin the Begin" is the first song on R.E.M.'s fourth album, "Lifes Rich Pageant". Lead singer Michael Stipe has called it "a song of personal, political activism." [Hogan, Peter, "The Complete Guide to the Music of REM", page 109. Omnibus Press, 1995. ISBN 0711949018] Though never released as a single, it still appears frequently in the band's live performances as a song early in the set. It was even used as an opening song in the live performances at their inductions into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame [cite web | date = September 17, 2006 | title="R.E.M. inducted into Music Hall of Fame" | publisher=USAToday.com | url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-09-17-REM-hall-of-fame_x.htm | accessdate=February 10 | accessyear=2008] and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [cite web | author=Cohen, Jonathan | date = March 13, 2007 | title="R.E.M., Van Halen Lead Rock Hall's '07 Class" | publisher=Billboard.com | url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003557262 | accessdate=February 10 | accessyear=2008] The song was also included as the first track on their 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987.

As the opening track on "Lifes Rich Pageant", the song heralded a new clarity in Stipe's vocals. [Hogan, page 32.] Written on acoustic guitars in Stipe's home, the original version of the song was a minute longer, with five different choruses, lacking melody and a bridge. [Hogan, page 33.] Replete with references to Americana and revolution, the title is a pun on Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" . [Hogan, page 33.]

References