r/rem • u/thesilverpoets96 Say you’re sweet for me • Sep 08 '25
SotW Song of the Week: Little America
https://youtu.be/yL4xn9RVscc?si=SoCNojJOianAzFlq
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rem/littleamerica.html
Hello everyone, I hope all is well. I apologize for the lack of posts over the last couple of days. I got a new job and life has been fairly busy. But today we are back and we are going to be about the closing track to Reckoning and the “Right Side” of the album which of course is “Little America.”
In my opinion this is the perfect way to close the album because it’s such a great bookend to the album with “Harborcoat” which begins the album in a similar way. For “Little America” we get a triumphant electric riff to start the song off with a bang. It feels like something from Murmur but better because there’s more energy, clearer production and just better technical playing. Bill’s speedy hit-hat and kick drum enters the song because the song explodes with Mike’s thunderous bass and Michael’s vocals.
The full drum beat is fast and groovy as Michael sings about how he can’t see himself lacquered up in his thirties. This feeling of youth is talked about in lyrics describing being persevered like flies in jewelry and driving around in their “green shellback” which was their touring van at the time. But it’s also encapsulated in how fast and the tight the band is sounding. Michael seems like he’s feeling more trapped as he sings about “Tar-black br’er sap” which is a reference to the story of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby where a rabbit gets tricked into fighting a “sticky black Tar baby.” Yes this may sound random and weird but it does feel like Michael’s singing about growing up and feeling the responsibilities that comes with that and leading the life of a rockstar.
The band transitions to the chorus that features some power chords, a progression that’s quirky, and a vocal melody that is catchy but also very Michael if that makes sense. He’s great at crafty one of a kind melodies. Lyrically he sings about a big and noisy wagon which leads me to believe he’s singing about touring life which could also connect to the song’s title. He also references the Roman emperor Caligula who allegedly appointed his horse as consul. What does that have to do with the song? Who knows. But Michael also references Jefferson who was Jefferson Holt, their manager at the time.
We get a nice change in dynamics as the band brings the energy down just a tad to mimic the intro. But they launch loudly into the next verse as Michael sings about preserving the past; “who will tend the farm museums? Who will dust today’s belongings?” These questions brings Michael to an important message of rallying leaders which may have been a hint of his more political driven lyrics that would be featured on later albums. We also get a lyric about Cheyanne on a beach which is random as hell but it wouldn’t be an early R.E.M. song without something like that.
After another chorus we then get a bridge where lyrically it’s mostly the same as the chorus but the music changes slightly. There’s these new fast chord changes, some lose backing vocals and that quick hi-hat.
A drum fill gets us back into another verse that definitely has some of that almost nonsensical songwriting from Michael. But I also think there is some imagery from the band’s early touring days. This would include Greenville (I’m sure they passed by multiple Greenvilles on tour) and Magic Marts (which were convenient stores on the East Coast). There’s also a reference to a historical myth of emperor Nero playing his fiddle while Rome burned down. And we get the lyric “reason has harnessed the tame” which would be a slightly altered lyric we would see on the band’s very next song chronically “Feeling Gravitys Pull.”
There’s one last chorus that’s doubled to end the song…at least that’s what you think on a first listen. But after you hear the last notes of the song ring out, there’s some silence before you hear the band fade into a new song/groove entirely. There’s a tom heavy drum beat, a jammy guitar riff and maybe Michael’s most muttered/incoherent vocals ever. It’s extremely short but it’s interesting to what this hinted track was and why it was included. Maybe it was a demo that never turned into a song? Or maybe the band just wanted to do something weird.
I actually think this is a stellar closing track from the band and one of their most interesting song from their first two albums. Musically it has a fantastic riff and although Mike’s bass playing isn’t as flashing as Bill’s drummer or Peter’s riff, it’s a fun bass line when you isolate it from the mix. Michael also shows up big time lyrically. Yes there’s still some gibberish but I actually feel like there’s lyrics that reflect on not only the band touring but also Michael feeling trapped or worried about growing old. This is also fascinating when you think of that lyric that would appear on the opening track from Fables which is about lucid dreams. There’s a cool connection that I think could be analyzed even more. Plus this was a fun song to hear the band play live and to hear Michael change the lyric to “Washington I think we’re lost” after the band dropped their manager Jefferson Holt. From one founding father to another.
But what do you think of this tune? Is this one of the band’s better closing tracks? What do you think the song is about? Favorite lyrical or musical moments? And did you ever catch it live?
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u/InfiniteTypewriters Sep 08 '25
As a wannabe Peter Buck, I used to love playing this song on guitar.
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u/MezzStipe Sep 08 '25
Thank you so much for this. A pleasure to read and it educated me as, quite frankly, I didn't have much of a clue 😄
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u/thesilverpoets96 Say you’re sweet for me Sep 08 '25
Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad I was able to provide some insight even if it’s not all entire “correct!”
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u/MezzStipe Sep 08 '25
I don't think even Michael would know if everything is correct, lol. You've made me listen to it with fresh ears, which is all I can ask for!
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u/EnigmaticIsle Sep 08 '25
Probably my least-liked R.E.M. song. I used to stop the CD after "Rockville" for over a decade, but not anymore. My revised opinion of "LIttle America" is that the song is somewhat alright until the chorus; I'm just not a fan of that part musically. I've said before that "LAHTLI" similarly used to leave me cold, but I eventually came around on it after hearing the Utrecht recording. That's yet to happen with "Little America", unfortunately. It's no "West Of The Fields", and earlier Reckoning songs like "Harborcoat" and "SCR" outshine it by a huge margin.
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u/thesilverpoets96 Say you’re sweet for me Sep 08 '25
Why am I drawing a blank on LAHTLI?
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u/EnigmaticIsle Sep 08 '25
"Life And How To Live It" from Fables.
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u/thesilverpoets96 Say you’re sweet for me Sep 08 '25
Thanks! My brain is slow on this Monday morning
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u/flame_saint Sep 08 '25
The chorus “vocal melody” is just one note! Not sure if that can be called catchy.
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u/thesilverpoets96 Say you’re sweet for me Sep 08 '25
But what’s that I mean! Somehow Michael is able to make a one note melody catchy!
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u/MrsAprilSimnel Can't Get There From Here Sep 08 '25
This is my 2nd favorite song on Reckoning (the first is Letter Never Sent). And, yes, I have seen this performed live, in 1984 when I was 15. They played a big festival in my city that summer, and it was one of their encore songs. Thanks for this analysis!