| "Cant Get There from Here" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byR.E.M. | ||||
| from the albumFables of the Reconstruction | ||||
| B-side | "Bandwagon" | |||
| Released | June 1985 (1985-06) | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Studio | Livingston (London) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:39 | |||
| Label | IRS | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Joe Boyd | |||
| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Cant Get There from Here" onYouTube | ||||
"Cant Get There from Here", or "Can't Get There from Here", is the firstsingle released byR.E.M. from its third studio albumFables of the Reconstruction in 1985. The song peaked at number 10 on theBillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, equaling to a position of approximately 110 on the mainBillboard Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number 91 on theCanadian Singles Chart. It was re-released on the 2006 compilation discAnd I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987.
It was the first R.E.M. song to feature ahorn section. Matthew Perpetua's 2010 retrospective of R.E.M.'s work called it "oddball...approximated southern funk via Peter Buck's chiming Rickenbacker chords".[4][5]
The song mentions the small town ofPhilomath, Georgia.[6][7]
Cash Box said that "a fully rocking chorus and a typically steady and murky verse give this cut superior pop character as well as giving mainstream listeners a taste of what college radio has known about for years."[8]
In another first for R.E.M., who had opposed including the lyrics with their albums, many of the words of "Cant Get There from Here" appeared in the video for the song.
The video features band members frolicking in hay fields, throwing popcorn at each other at adrive-in movie, and big insects. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Buck explained toMTV UK in 2001, duringAn Hour with R.E.M. "So we have dinosaurs and monsters in the background. It's probably the most humorous video we've ever done. For a band that's kind of noted for not having a sense of humor, I kind of enjoy that aspect of it."[9]
The proper title of the song is unclear: unlike "Feeling Gravitys Pull" orLifes Rich Pageant, this song's title does not maintain a consistent punctuation. On the album, it is spelled without an apostrophe on the back cover, but with the apostrophe on the CD. One version of the single has an apostrophe and the other does not.
On the 1988 compilationEponymous, the song's title also is spelled without an apostrophe, except in the liner notes. The title has an apostrophe on the back cover of the 2006 compilationAnd I Feel Fine.
The band's U.S. copyright registration for the song includes the apostrophe.[10]
The punk bandThe Mr. T Experience recorded a frenetic cover for the 1992 R.E.M. tribute albumSurprise Your Pig. It was subsequently included as a bonus track on the 1997 reissue of their earlier EPBig Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood.
All songs written byBill Berry,Peter Buck,Mike Mills andMichael Stipe, "Bandwagon" is co-written by Michael's sister,Lynda Stipe.
| Chart (1985) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Hot 100 | 91[citation needed] |
| U.S.BillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles | 110[citation needed] |
| U.S.BillboardTop Rock Tracks | 14[citation needed] |
