Is "Building towered foresight isn't anything at all" one of the best lines evah?

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Sure it is.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)

IF THAT WAS THE LINE IT MIGHT BE

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)

Is that REM Fall on Me? What is the actual line then j?

― Cuyahoga, Tuesday, 2 August 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

Those were the words on the video.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

I thought this video was so enigmatic when I was a kid. I think I thought the line was "buildings, towers, four sides isn't anything at all" and was supposed to be some kind of statement about structure and institution being meaningless. I don't know that I really understand the real version though I haven't put a lot of thought into it. Is it that you like how it sounds?

― Sundar (sundar), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

Stipe was still probably writing for sound as much as meaning when they did this. It's a great line in a great song, I prob'ly like the vocal interplay in the chorus more, I prob'ly prefer the "if it's there at all" line.

― Anti-Pope Consortium (noodle vague), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 18:42 (twenty years ago)

tim the words on the screen very deliberately don't match up with the lyrics of the song; this was 80s rem.

― j blount (papa la bas), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)

blount it seems to me that those are the words. that's what it sounds like.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

i don't know. it seems more like definite words on this one than on, say, "radio free europe" or something. i suppose it's possible that they could have been playing a joke in the video with this line. it does sound like "building towered foresight isn't anything at all," though, and he's enunciating pretty clearly.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

actually it's forsight, not foresight.

― j fail (cenotaph), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 21:04 (twenty years ago)

bilge-ing powers faux size

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago)

Assuming that it IS the line, is it not grebt?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 21:17 (twenty years ago)

I would think it is foresight, which means the act or capacity of foreseeing.
I always thought the lyric was "building toward foresight isn't anything at all."

― BanjoMania (Brilhante), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 21:20 (twenty years ago)

it is a great line. i fell hard for R.E.M. circa 'Fables' and when they dropped the "Fall on Me" single in 1986, it was seemingly the greatest pop song ever written (for about a week).

― SWA fan (SWA fan), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 21:29 (twenty years ago)

Great line, great song.

You are making me want to hear it right now, but I don't have it at work.

I think you are correct about the line. PEOPLE WHO TYPE IN ALL CAPS ARE ALWAYS WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING.

― Garibaldianne (Garibaldianne), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 22:29 (twenty years ago)

i'm more partial to "bargain buildings, weights and pulleys." But yeah, this is phonetic writing at its best.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 22:30 (twenty years ago)

by the way, have you heard the Cry Cry Cry cover of this? it's a very cute folk rendition.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 2 August 2005 22:31 (twenty years ago)

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