Diffuser’s excellent series on Document continues with a look at “King of Birds.”
Read an excerpt below and click the link for the full article:
Because of the running motif of fire on Document, singer Michael Stipe suggested that the phrase “File Under Fire” should be printed on the spine of R.E.M.’s fifth LP. He might have also suggested that the record be stamped with “File Under Birds.”
Stipe’s feathered friends take flight in more than a few songs on the album, including “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (“Birds and snakes”), “Lightnin’ Hopkins” (“Crow!”) and the animal-themed “Disturbance at the Heron House.” But they’re featured most prominently in Document’s penultimate track, “King of Birds.”