Cant Get There from Here: Difference between revisions

"Cant Get There from Here"
"Cant Get There from Here"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Fables of the Reconstruction
B-side	"Bandwagon"
Released	June 1985
Recorded	1985
Genre	Alternative rock; jangle pop; blue-eyed soul;
Length	3:39
Label	IRS
Songwriter(s)	Bill Berry; Peter Buck; Mike Mills; Michael Stipe;
Producer(s)	Joe Boyd
R.E.M. singles chronology
Music video
	"Cant Get There from Here" on YouTube

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Latest revision as of 01:41, 29 May 2024

"Cant Get There from Here", or "Can't Get There from Here", is the first single released by R.E.M. from its third studio album Fables of the Reconstruction in 1985. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, equaling to a position of approximately 110 on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at number 91 on the Canadian Singles Chart. It was re-released on the 2006 compilation disc And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987.

It was the first R.E.M. song to feature a horn 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 of Philomath, Georgia.^[6]^[7]

Reception

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]

Music video

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 a drive-in movie, and big insects. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Buck explained to MTV UK in 2001, during An 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]

Punctuation

The proper title of the song is unclear: unlike "Feeling Gravitys Pull" or Lifes 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 compilation Eponymous, 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 compilation And I Feel Fine.

The band's U.S. copyright registration for the song includes the apostrophe.^[10]

Cover versions

The punk band The Mr. T Experience recorded a frenetic cover for the 1992 R.E.M. tribute album Surprise Your Pig. It was subsequently included as a bonus track on the 1997 reissue of their earlier EP Big Black Bugs Bleed Blue Blood.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, "Bandwagon" is co-written by Michael's sister, Lynda Stipe.

7": IRS / IRM 102 (UK)

"Can't Get There from Here" (Edit) – 3:12
"Bandwagon" – 2:15

12": IRS / IRT 102 (US)

"Can't Get There from Here" (Extended Mix) * – 3:39
"Bandwagon" – 2:15
"Burning Hell" – 3:49

"Extended Mix" identical to album version

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canadian Hot 100	91^{[citation needed]}
U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles	110^{[citation needed]}
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Tracks	14^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011 - R.E.M. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Fables of the Reconstruction - R.E.M. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
^ "ALBUMS". R.E.M. HQ. 2011-12-18. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
^ Perpetua, Matthew. "Fables of The Reconstruction". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
^ Perpetua, Matthew (23 May 2007). "Can't Get There From Here". Popsongs 07-08. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
^ "The Complete R.E.M. Lyrics Archive: Fables Of The Reconstruction". File Under R.E.M. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
^ "Inside Music: Icon Series/R.E.M." MSN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. July 27, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
^ An Hour with R.E.M., MTV Europe, April 28, 2001
^ R.E.M./Night Garden Music (June 6, 1985). "Can't get there from here". Public Catalog. U.S. Copyright Office. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2016.

[1] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011 - R.E.M. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.

[2] Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Fables of the Reconstruction - R.E.M. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 5, 2020.

[3] "ALBUMS". R.E.M. HQ. 2011-12-18. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.

[Pitchfork_2010-4] Perpetua, Matthew. "Fables of The Reconstruction". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

[Popsongs_07-08-5] Perpetua, Matthew (23 May 2007). "Can't Get There From Here". Popsongs 07-08. Retrieved February 26, 2017.

[6] "The Complete R.E.M. Lyrics Archive: Fables Of The Reconstruction". File Under R.E.M. Retrieved October 18, 2007.

[7] "Inside Music: Icon Series/R.E.M." MSN. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.

[cb-8] "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. July 27, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-29.

[hour-9] An Hour with R.E.M., MTV Europe, April 28, 2001

[10] R.E.M./Night Garden Music (June 6, 1985). "Can't get there from here". Public Catalog. U.S. Copyright Office. Archived from the original on May 27, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2016.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|1985 single by R.E.M.}}
-{{About|the [[R.E.M.]] single|the [[Great White]] album of the same name|Can't Get There from Here}}
+{{About|the song|the album|Can't Get There from Here (album){{!}}''Can't Get There from Here'' (album)|other uses|Can't Get There from Here (disambiguation)}}
-{{Infobox single| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
+{{Infobox song
-| Name           = Cant Get There from Here
-| Cover          = R.E.M. - Cant Get There from Here.jpg
+| name       = Cant Get There from Here
-| Artist         = [[R.E.M.]]
+| cover      = R.E.M. - Cant Get There from Here.jpg
+| alt        = A short band of a photograph of a fish with a large portion of the sleeve in light green and the artist and song title in orange; the entire sleeve has white outline drawings of fish on it
-| B-side         = "Bandwagon"
-| Album          = [[Fables of the Reconstruction]]
+| type       = single
-| Released       = June 1985
+| artist     = [[R.E.M.]]
-| Format         = [[Gramophone record|7"]], [[12-inch single|12"]]
+| album      = [[Fables of the Reconstruction]]
-| Recorded       = 1985
+| B-side     = Bandwagon
+| released   = {{startdate|1985|6|mf=yes}}
-| Genre          = [[Alternative rock]], [[jangle pop]], [[blue-eyed soul]]<ref name="allmusic">[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=fables-of-the-reconstruction-r16017|pure_url=yes}} Fables of the Reconstruction&nbsp;– R.E.M. | AllMusic<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
-| Length         = 3:39
+| recorded   = 1985
-| Label          = [[IRS Records|IRS]]
+| studio     =
+| venue      =
-| Writer         = [[R.E.M.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://remhq.com/albums.php |title=ALBUMS |publisher=R.E.M.Hq |date=2011-12-18 |accessdate=2012-02-09}}</ref>
+| genre      = {{hlist|[[Alternative rock]]|[[jangle pop]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/part-lies-part-heart-part-truth-part-garbage-1982-2011-mw0002232417|title=Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011 - R.E.M. {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 5, 2020}}</ref>|[[blue-eyed soul]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/fables-of-the-reconstruction-mw0000195395|title=Fables of the Reconstruction - R.E.M. {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|last=Erlewine|first=Stephen Thomas|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 5, 2020}}</ref>}}
-| Producer       = [[Joe Boyd]]
+| length     = {{Duration|m=3|s=39}}
-| Last single    = "[[(Don't Go Back To) Rockville]]"<br />(1984)
+| label      = [[IRS Records|IRS]]
-| This single    = "'''Cant Get There from Here'''"<br />(1985)
+| writer     = {{hlist|[[Bill Berry]]|[[Peter Buck]]|[[Mike Mills]]|[[Michael Stipe]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://remhq.com/albums.php |title=ALBUMS |website=R.E.M. HQ |date=2011-12-18 |access-date=February 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205195817/http://www.remhq.com/albums.php |archive-date=February 5, 2012 }}</ref>}}
-| Next single    = "[[Driver 8]]"<br />(1985)
+| producer   = [[Joe Boyd]]
+| prev_title = [[(Don't Go Back To) Rockville]]
+| prev_year  = 1984
+| next_title = [[Driver 8]]
+| next_year  = 1985
+| misc       = {{External music video|{{YouTube|gD3cYh5Pp1I|"Cant Get There from Here"}}}}
 }}
-"'''Cant Get There from Here'''", or "'''Can't Get There from Here'''", was the first [[Single (music)|single]] released by [[R.E.M.]] from its third studio album ''[[Fables of the Reconstruction]]'' in 1985. The song peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' [[Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles]], equaling to a position of approximately 110 on the main [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart. It also peaked at number 91 on the [[Canadian Singles Chart]]. It was re-released in 2006 on a compilation disc, ''[[And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987]]''.
+"'''Cant Get There from Here'''", or "'''Can't Get There from Here'''", is the first [[Single (music)|single]] released by [[R.E.M.]] from its third studio album ''[[Fables of the Reconstruction]]'' in 1985. The song peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' [[Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles]], equaling to a position of approximately 110 on the main [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart. It also peaked at number 91 on the [[Canadian Singles Chart]]. It was re-released on the 2006 compilation disc ''[[And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987]]''.
+It was the first R.E.M. song to feature a [[horn 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".<ref name="Pitchfork 2010">{{cite web|last1=Perpetua|first1=Matthew|title=Fables of The Reconstruction|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14446-fables-of-the-reconstruction-deluxe-edition/|website=Pitchfork|access-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Popsongs 07-08">{{cite web|last1=Perpetua|first1=Matthew|title=Can't Get There From Here|url=https://popsongs.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/cant-get-there-from-here/|website=Popsongs 07-08|date=23 May 2007|access-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref>
-It was the first R.E.M. song to feature a [[horn section]].
-The song mentions the small town of [[Philomath, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retroweb.com/rem/lyrics/menu_FablesOfTheReconstruction.html |title=The Complete R.E.M. Lyrics Archive: Fables Of The Reconstruction |publisher=File Under R.E.M |accessdate=2007-10-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.msn.com/music/features/rem |title=Inside Music: Icon Series/R.E.M. |publisher=[[MSN]] |accessdate=2007-10-18}}</ref>
+The song mentions the small town of [[Philomath, Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.retroweb.com/rem/lyrics/menu_FablesOfTheReconstruction.html |title=The Complete R.E.M. Lyrics Archive: Fables Of The Reconstruction |publisher=File Under R.E.M |access-date=October 18, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.msn.com/music/features/rem |title=Inside Music: Icon Series/R.E.M. |publisher=[[MSN]] |access-date=October 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025090223/http://music.msn.com/music/features/rem |archive-date=October 25, 2007 }}</ref>
+==Reception==
+''[[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."<ref name=cb>{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1985/CB-1985-07-27.pdf|date=July 27, 1985|accessdate=2022-07-29|page=11}}</ref>
 ==Music video==
-In another first for R.E.M., who had opposed including the lyrics with their albums, many of the words of "Can't Get There from Here" appeared in the video for the song.
+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 a [[drive-in]] movie, and big insects. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Buck explained to [[MTV UK]] in 2001, during ''An 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."{{cn|date=October 2016}}
+The video features band members frolicking in hay fields, throwing popcorn at each other at a [[drive-in]] movie, and big insects. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Buck explained to [[MTV UK]] in 2001, during ''An 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."<ref name=hour>''An Hour with R.E.M.'', MTV Europe, April 28, 2001</ref>
 ==Punctuation==
@@ Line 35: / Line 44: @@
 On the 1988 compilation ''[[Eponymous (album)|Eponymous]]'', 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 compilation ''[[And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987|And I Feel Fine]]''.
-The band's U.S. copyright registration for the song includes the apostrophe.<ref name=copyright>{{cite web |author=R.E.M./Night Garden Music |title=Can’t get there from here |publisher=U.S. Copyright Office |website=Public Catalog |date=June 6, 1985 |accessdate=2016-10-17 |url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=2&ti=1,2&SC=Title&SA=Fables%20of%20the%20reconstruction%2E&PID=_BG2O7_zx3k0NlX3hQhiTUFkmJWg&SEQ=20161017142806&SID=2 |archivedate=2016-10-17 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6lKdqizyW |deadurl=no }}</ref>
+The band's U.S. copyright registration for the song includes the apostrophe.<ref>{{cite web |author=R.E.M./Night Garden Music |title=Can't get there from here |publisher=U.S. Copyright Office |website=Public Catalog |date=June 6, 1985 |access-date=October 17, 2016 |url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=2&ti=1,2&SC=Title&SA=Fables%20of%20the%20reconstruction%2E&PID=_BG2O7_zx3k0NlX3hQhiTUFkmJWg&SEQ=20161017142806&SID=2 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240527235719/https://www.webcitation.org/6lKdqizyW?url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi%3Fv1=2&ti=1,2&SC=Title&SA=Fables%20of%20the%20reconstruction.&PID=_BG2O7_zx3k0NlX3hQhiTUFkmJWg&SEQ=20161017142806&SID=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 ==Cover versions==
@@ Line 44: / Line 53: @@
 === 7": IRS / IRM 102 (UK) ===
-#"Can't Get There from Here" (Edit) - 3:12
+#"Can't Get There from Here" (Edit) – 3:12
-#"Bandwagon" - 2:15
+#"Bandwagon" – 2:15
 ===12": IRS / IRT 102 (US)===
-#"Can't Get There from Here" (Extended Mix) <nowiki>*</nowiki>- 3:39
+#"Can't Get There from Here" (Extended Mix) <nowiki>*</nowiki> – 3:39
-#"Bandwagon" - 2:15
+#"Bandwagon" – 2:15
-#"Burning Hell" - 3:49
+#"Burning Hell" – 3:49
 *"Extended Mix" identical to album version
@@ Line 61: / Line 70: @@
 |-
 |[[Canadian Hot 100]]
-| style="text-align:center;"| 91
+| style="text-align:center;"| 91{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}
 |-
 |U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles]]
-| style="text-align:center;"| 110
+| style="text-align:center;"| 110{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}
 |-
 |U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Top Rock Tracks]]
-| style="text-align:center;"| 14
+| style="text-align:center;"| 14{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}}
 |}
@@ Line 74: / Line 83: @@
 {{R.E.M.}}
+{{authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cant Get There From Here}}
@@ Line 85: / Line 96: @@
 [[Category:Song recordings produced by Joe Boyd]]
 [[Category:American soul songs]]
+[[Category:1985 songs]]

v t e R.E.M.
Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills Michael Stipe Bertis Downs 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
Live albums	R.E.M. Live Live at The Olympia Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions R.E.M. at the BBC Live at the Borderline 1991
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. · WB) 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
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" "Crush with Eyeliner" "Strange Currencies" "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" "7 Chinese Bros." "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 Live from Austin, TX REMTV
Support and side projects	Nathan December Buren Fowler Peter Holsapple Barrett Martin Scott McCaughey Bill Rieflin Ken Stringfellow Joey Waronker The Baseball Project Filthy Friends Hindu Love Gods The Minus 5 Tanzplagen Tuatara Tired Pony
Related articles	Discography List of songs Awards Tours 170 College Avenue Peter Buck 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
Category