Former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe this morning debuted a short, 40-second song called “Future, If Future” — featuring his vocals over minimal electronic accompaniment — ahead of this morning March For Our Lives gun-control events across the country.
Stipe posted the rare solo effort on his Instagram account early this morning, tagging the @marchforourlives page and using the hashtags #whatif and #neveragain.
He also shared the full lyrics:
Future, if Future, this future is ours
Stunk to high heaven lotus, nerve gas or flowers
We’ve got the obvious, we’ve got the power
Please don’t stare, we’re doing all we can
The song comes as hundreds of thousands of students, young people and others are expected to march in Washington, D.C., and other cities around the U.S. “to demand we end the epidemic of mass shootings” in the wake of the massacre at a high school in Parkland, Fla., last month that left 17 dead.
Hear Stipe’s new song below.
More than a bit flaccid from a guy who wrote lines like “Don’t turn your Talking Points on me. History will set me free. The future’s OURS and you don’t even rate a footnote now.” don’t ya think?
Blame it on the rain that was falling, falling
Blame it on the stars that shine at night
Whatever you do
Don’t put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain, yeah-yeah
Yeah, it is time for him, Peter, Mike, and yes, Bill, to admit they made a mistake in disbanding and that what they do collectively will always be more compelling than what they do individually. Get back together please. The world needs you fellas.
More than a bit flaccid from a guy who wrote lines like “Don’t turn your Talking Points on me. History will set me free. The future’s OURS and you don’t even rate a footnote now.” don’t ya think?
Don’t know why that posted twice. Sorry.