Perfect Circle (song)

Like many songs from Murmur, "Perfect Circle" has a sound typified by unusual instruments and recording techniques. The song opens with Honky tonk piano,^[1] a style more associated with ragtime and early country music than the college rock scene of which R.E.M. was a member. Two pianos were recorded, and the slightly out-of-sync sound and reverb achieve a detached otherworldly effect. The song also features Peter Buck's 12 string guitar.

After R.E.M.'s drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997 for personal reasons, the band began reintroducing "Perfect Circle" into their live performances and radio appearances to promote their then forthcoming album Up. During this time period, members of the band stated that the song was primarily written by Berry ^[2] and dedicated their performance of it to him.

Lyrics

The lyrics of "Perfect Circle" are purposely opaque. Members of the band agree that the song has an emotional theme that can be interpreted in many ways. For guitarist Peter Buck, the song elicits images of children playing football one evening in Trenton, New Jersey. Singer Michael Stipe interprets the song as being about longing in a relationship. He also has stated that other interpretations are equally valid: "It was an intensely personal song to me. I really like that it can mean two different things. ... It's the exact same feeling, but the details are different."^[1] "A perfect circle of acquaintances and friends"...a theme in the song is a beautiful representation of what the song can be about.

References

1 2 Rooksby, Rickky (2001). Inside Classic Rock Tracks. Backbeat Books. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-87930-654-8.
↑ Bowler, David (1995). R.E.M. from "Chronic Town to "Monster". New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. p. 88. ISBN 0-8065-1724-7.

R.E.M.

Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills Michael Stipe

Personnel	Nathan December Buren Fowler Peter Holsapple Barrett Martin Scott McCaughey Bill Rieflin Ken Stringfellow Joey Waronker

Managers	Bertis Downs IV Jefferson Holt

Studio albums	Murmur Reckoning Fables of the Reconstruction Lifes Rich Pageant Document Green Out of Time Automatic for the People Monster New Adventures in Hi-Fi Up Reveal Around the Sun Accelerate Collapse into Now

Compilations	Dead Letter Office Eponymous The Best of R.E.M. The Automatic Box Singles Collected In the Attic In Time iTunes Originals And I Feel Fine Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 Complete Rarities: I.R.S. 1982–1987 Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988–2011 7IN—83–88

EPs	Chronic Town Not Bad for No Tour Vancouver Rehearsal Tapes Live from London Reckoning Songs from The Olympia

Other albums	Man on the Moon r.e.m.IX R.E.M. Live Live at The Olympia Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions

Singles	"Radio Free Europe" "Talk About the Passion" "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" "Cant Get There from Here" "Driver 8" "Wendell Gee" "Fall on Me" "Superman" "The One I Love" "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" "Finest Worksong" "Orange Crush" "Stand" "Pop Song 89" "Get Up" "Losing My Religion" "Shiny Happy People" "Near Wild Heaven" "Radio Song" "Drive" "Man on the Moon" "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" "Everybody Hurts" "Nightswimming" "Find the River" "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" "Bang and Blame" "Strange Currencies" "Crush with Eyeliner" "Tongue" "E-Bow the Letter" "Bittersweet Me" "Electrolite" "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" "Daysleeper" "Lotus" "At My Most Beautiful" "Suspicion" "The Great Beyond" "Imitation of Life" "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" "I'll Take the Rain" "Bad Day" "Animal" "Leaving New York" "Aftermath" "Electron Blue" "Wanderlust" "#9 Dream" "Supernatural Superserious" "Hollow Man" "Man-Sized Wreath" "Until the Day Is Done" "Mine Smell Like Honey" "Überlin" "Oh My Heart" "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"

Other songs	"Sitting Still" "Gardening at Night" "Perfect Circle" "Pretty Persuasion" "Begin the Begin" "Cuyahoga" "Ages of You" "Turn You Inside-Out" "Texarkana" "Country Feedback" "First We Take Manhattan" "Ignoreland" "Dark Globe" "Star 69" "New Test Leper" "All the Right Friends" "Out in the Country"

Videos	Succumbs Tourfilm Pop Screen This Film Is On Parallel Road Movie In View Perfect Square When the Light Is Mine R.E.M. Live This Is Not a Show R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX REMTV

Related articles	Discography List of songs Tours Peter Buck Automatic Baby Hindu Love Gods The Baseball Project Tired Pony Athens Andover "I Belong to You" Hib-Tone Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People "Homer the Moe" Scott Litt

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