"At My Most Beautiful" by R.E.M.

Well, it’s been a while. I’ve been really busy lately and haven’t had any thoughts about music that I felt like I wanted to write about. Recently, however, I happened to come across an article ranking all of R.E.M.’s albums and found a piece of information there that I never knew and that I thought was pretty interesting (as an aside, I didn’t really agree with the list...maybe I’ll make my own someday). The information was in regards to their song "At My Most Beautiful."

Before I get into what the fact actually was, I want to try to dissect the song a little. Lead singer Michael Stipe stated that it was his first attempt to write a genuine, unironic love song. The lyrics certainly feel genuine, somehow managing to be simple and grandiose at the same time, which I think is an accurate way to describe love itself. The instrumentals mirror this. The drum fill peppered throughout the song isn’t complicated, but it offers good build-up each time, blossoming into the rest of the instruments. Speaking of the rest of the instruments, there aren’t too many, at least from the sound of it. A piano and bells are the easiest to pick out, as well as the cello towards the end. They are fairly simple as well, but manage to create this full, magnificent aura whenever they really kick in.

So about the fact, it’s one I’m a bit ashamed I didn’t pick up on myself by now, which is that it’s a Beach Boys/Brian Wilson-inspired tune. How could I have missed it? From the “Cabin Essence”-esque piano to the “Good Vibrations”-ish cello, plus the clearly Beach Boys-inspired backing vocals, I’m almost surprised there isn’t a mention of surfing or cars thrown in there somewhere. That’s not to say this is just some Beach Boys knock-off, though. Michael Stipe’s voice and the lyrics, candid as they are, are very much still R.E.M. It isn’t that much of a far cry from songs like “Nightswimming” or “Everybody Hurts”, and the band is so versatile anyway, they could take on any style and still sound naturally like themselves.

I’m not sure if the inspiration behind this song is news to many people. In my defense, I hardly knew who The Beach Boys were when I first found this song. My R.E.M. phase came years before my Beach Boys one, and I haven’t listened to “At My Most Beautiful” much recently. I just think it’s cool when one band I like is inspired by another band I like, which is partially what got me interested in doing cover comparisons.

This post is going to be a short one. I think I just wanted to get something out there to get the ball rolling again, and all I needed to do was find a topic that piqued my interest enough to actually write about it. I have some unfinished posts that I hopefully find the motivation to finish, as well as some ideas that I still need to expand on a bit. We’ll see how that goes.