Being the highly unique individual that I was, R.E.M. was my favorite band in high school. My appreciation faded in college after New Adventures in Hi-Fi (inexplicably, because I love New Adventures...) and for some reason I've never bought another of their albums. Maybe it just ran its course, but the more likely reason is that their music became weighed down by memories & associations that I needed to get away from and I threw out the proverbial baby with the proverbial bathwater.

I never got to see them in concert. In college one of my film professors got her students passes to the premiere of the Scorsese Tibet movie (blech), Kundun. Michael Stipe was there. After the screening I planted myself at a payphone, pretending to be on an important call. Meanwhile I was spying on Stipe as he hugged Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Glass. As he walked past the bank of payphones, he looked into my eyes. I thought my head was going to explode. Michael Stipe's eyes looked into my eyes. Afterwards, I ran all the way from Times Square to 72nd Street to get rid of all the adrenaline.

"Tongue" has always been a special favorite. The first guy I loved, Jeremy, was really into this album around the time we met and he thought "Tongue" was a beautiful track. I agreed because I agreed with everything Jeremy said. I remember tucking him into my bed one night after he had had too much to drink and putting this song on repeat in my Wal-Mart 3-disc changer.

This song always makes me think of the Midwest, secret love affairs and a cute, sexually-confused drunk boy in my bed.