Many lyrics appear courtesy of Kipp Teague - please visit his R.E.M. page, where I got the lyrics from
 
Feeling Gravity's Pull / Maps and Legends / Driver 8 / Life and How to Live It /
Old Man Kensey / Can't Get There From Here / Green Grow the Rushes /
Kohoutek / Auctioneer / Good Advices / Wendall Gee

FEELING GRAVITY'S PULL
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph.

Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Peel back the mountains peel back the sky
Stomp gravity into the floor
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
 
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull
 
Somewhere near the end it said
"You can't do this", I said "I can too"
Shift sway rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
 
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
holding my head straight (looking down).
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do...
 
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph

Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Shift the swaying river's shift
Oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
 
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
holding my head straight (looking down).
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do...
 
Reason had harnessed the tame
Holding the sky in their arms
Gravity pulls me down
 
MAPS AND LEGENDS
 He's not to be reached, he's to be reached.
He's not to be reached, he's to be reached.

Called the fool and the company,
On his own where he'd rather be.
Where he ought to be, he sees what you can't see, can't you see that?
 
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood.
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood.
 
Down the way the road's divided,
Paint me the places you have seen.
Those who know what I don't know
refer to the yellow, red and green
 
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood.
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood.
 
He's not to be reached, he's to be reached.  (4 times)

The map that you painted didn't seem real.
He just sings whatever he's seen
Point to the legend, point to the east,
Point to the yellow, red and green
 
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood.
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood, been misunderstood.  (Maps and legends)

(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached?  He's not to be reached.
(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached?  He's not to be reached.
(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached?  He's not to be reached anymore.

DRIVER 8
The walls are built up, stone by stone,
the fields divided one by one.
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
 
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
 
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm.
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged.
Bells are ringing through the town again,
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
 
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"

Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself to sleep.
Way to shield the hated heat.
Way to put myself, my children to sleep.
 
He piloted this song in a plane like that one.
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade.
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again.
Field to weed is lookin' thin
 
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We've been on this shift too long."
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
 
LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
Two doors to go between the wall was raised today
Two doors remain before your others and your own
Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home
 
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
 
Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
Two doors to go between the wall was raised today
Raise the walls and shout its flaws, a carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
 
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there

The hills ringing hear the words in time
Listen to the holler, listen to my walls within my tongue
Can't you see you made my ears go tin?
the air quicken tension building inference suddenly
Life and how to live it
 
Raise the walls and shout its flaws, a carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
Read about the wisdom lost, a knock, a knock, a knock
A secret knock one hammer's locked the other wisdom lost
 
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
My carpenter's out and running about, barking in the, listen to the holler
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there

Listen, listen to the holler,
If I write a book it will be called "Life and How to Live It"
 
OLD MAN KENSEY
Old Man Kensey wants to be a sign painter
First he's got to learn to read
He's gonna be a clown on TV.
Flags at his elbow, time to breath
(That's my folly) I believe

Drink up the lake, Kensey's away
(That's my folly) That's my mistake
 
Old Man Kensey wants to be a goalie
First he's got to learn to count
He's gonna be a clown on a circus mount
Letters to me signed in sopped up tar
(That's my folly) Kensey's going far

John, Bill and Ted, stand on your head
(That's my folly) I'm ready to go
 
Old Man Kensey wants to be a dog catcher
First he's got to learn to stand
He's gonna be a clown in a marching band
Letters to me signed ransom greed
(That's my folly) I believe

Drink up the lake, John, Bill and Ted,
(That's my folly) That's my mistake
Kensey's away, stand on your head
(That's my folly) I'm ready to go
 
CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE
When the world is a monster
Bad to swallow you whole
Kick the clay that holds the teeth in
Throw your trolls out the door

If you're needing inspiration
Philomath is where I go
Lawyer Jeff he knows the low-down
He's mighty bad to visit home
 
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
 
When your hands are feeling empty
Stickheads jumping off the ground
Tris is sure to shirr the deers out
Brother Ray can sing my song
 
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
 
Hands down, Calechee bound
Land locked, kiss the ground
The dirt of seven continents going
round and round
Go on ahead Mr. Citywide
hypnotize, suit and tie
Gentlemen testify
 
If your world is a monster
Bad to swallow you whole
Philomath they know the low-down
Throw your trolls out the door
 
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)
                  Can't get there from here
(I've been there I know the way)

GREEN GROW THE RUSHES
The wheelbarrow's fallen
Look at my hands
They've found some surplus, cheaper hands
Rubbing palms and pick and choose,
who will they choose?  Here is the news.

Look at that building, look at this man
Haloed and whitewashed
Gone to find a cheaper hand
he'll offer a pound, offer a pound.

Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
The compass points the workers home
 
Pay for your freedom, find another gate
Guilt by associate, the rushes wilted a long time ago
Guilty as you go

Stay off that highway, word is it's not so safe
The grasses that hide the greenback
The amber waves of gain again
The amber waves of gain

Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
The compass points the workers home
 
KOHOUTEK
 
Who will stand alone?

She carried ribbons, she wore them out
Courage built a bridge, jealous tore it down
At least it's something you've left behind
Like Kohoutek, you were gone

We sat in the garden, we stood on the porch
I won't deny myself, we never talked

She wore bangles, she wore bells
On her toes and she jumped like a fish
Like a flyin' friend, you were gone
Like Kohoutek, can't forget that

Fever built a bridge, reason tore it down
If I am one to follow.. who will stand alone?

Maybe you're not the problem
scissors, paper, stone
If you stand and holler, these prayers will talk

She carried ribbons, she wore them out
Michael built a bridge...Michael tore it down
At least it's something you've left behind
Like Kohoutek, you were gone

Michael built a bridge... Michael tore it down
If I stand and holler... will I stand alone?

AUCTIONEER (ANOTHER ENGINE)
She didn't want to get pinned down by her prior town
Get me to the train on time, here take this nickel make a dime
Take this penny and make it into a necklace when I leave
What is at the other end, I don't know another friend
Another wife, another morning spent
Listen, listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
 
We never wrote the reasons that I need explained
Some things are givens, and others get away
This time its for myself you call it what you may
Okay, we won't say goodbye so long, so much more
Listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
 
Listen to the bargain holler
Listen to the barter holler
Listen to the auctioneer
 
Get me to the train on time here take this nickel make a dime
Take this penny and make it into a necklace when I leave
What is at the other end, an I don't know another friend
Another wife, another morning spent
Listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
 
Do I stand the bargain holler?
Listen to the barter holler
Listen to the auctioneer
 
GOOD ADVICES
When you greet a stranger look at his shoes
Keep your money in your shoes put your trouble behind
When you greet a stranger look at her hands
Keep your money in your hands put your travel behind
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head home is a long way away
At the end of the day, I'll forget your name
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away
 
When you greet a stranger, look at her shoes
Keep you memories in your shoes, put your travel behind
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head
Home is a long way away
At the end of the day, when there are no friends
When there are no lovers, who are you going to call for
What do you have to change
 
A familiar face a foreign place I forget your name
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head
Home is a long way away
 
WENDELL GEE
That's when Wendell Gee takes a tug
Upon the string that held the line of trees
Behind the house he lived in
He was reared to give respect
But somewhere down the line he chose
To whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me
 
He had a dream one night
That the tree had lost its middle
So he built a trunk of chicken wire
To try to hold it up
But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin
And when he climbed inside
There wasn't even time to say
Goodbye to Wendell Gee
So whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me
 
If the wind were colors
And if the air could speak
Then whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows
The consul a horse, Jefferson I think we're lost