R.E.M. "Shaking Through"

The bridge from R.E.M.’s “Shaking Through” (mp3) comes at the 2:16 point of the song, and lasts until 2:31. It doesn’t come from the best R.E.M. song, and not even the best song on side B of Murmur. You’ll hear the for yourself here in a second, but allow me to tell you that it consists of a phrase that I hear as “In my life,” but with an emphasis, gargled and majestic, on the “iiiiiiii,” with Michael Stipe never really finishing the last word. If they wouldn’t have tacked on that last refrain to the song, a mistake that I can easily chalk up to youthful vigor and inexperience, that awkward catharsis would carry more weight within the song itself, serving as a period rather than an ellipsis. But as it stands, those magnificent fifteen seconds are emblematic of the band’s endless appeal to me (and perhaps a primary reason why Stipe found a kindred spirit in Thom Yorke). It exudes the spirit of a singer much older than Stipe, and one who finds himself hysterically recollecting what he hasn’t done and never will.

Murmur is available here. It's not on the newfangled I.R.S. collection however, which is still worth your money, and can be purchased here.