ughing . ▁ ▁St ipe ▁ins isted ▁that ▁many ▁of ▁his ▁early ▁lyr ics ▁were ▁" n ons ense ", ▁saying ▁in ▁a ▁ 1 9 9 4 ▁online ▁chat , ▁" You ▁all ▁know ▁there ▁aren ' t ▁words , ▁per ▁se , ▁to ▁a ▁lot ▁of ▁the ▁early ▁stuff . ▁I ▁can ' t ▁even ▁remember ▁them ." ▁In ▁truth , ▁many ▁early ▁R . E . M . ▁songs ▁had ▁definite ▁lyr ics ▁that ▁St ipe ▁wrote ▁with ▁care . ▁St ipe ▁explained ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 4 ▁that ▁when ▁he ▁started ▁writing ▁lyr ics ▁they ▁were ▁like ▁" simple ▁pictures ", ▁but ▁after ▁a ▁year ▁he ▁grew ▁tired ▁of ▁the ▁approach ▁and ▁" start ed ▁experiment ing ▁with ▁lyr ics ▁that ▁didn ' t ▁make ▁exact ▁linear ▁sense , ▁and ▁it ' s ▁just ▁gone ▁from ▁there ." ▁In ▁the ▁mid - 1 9 8 0 s , ▁as ▁St ipe ' s ▁pron unci ation ▁while ▁singing ▁became ▁clearer , ▁the ▁band ▁decided ▁that ▁its ▁lyr ics ▁should ▁convey ▁ideas ▁on ▁a ▁more ▁literal ▁level . ▁M ills ▁explained , ▁" After ▁you ' ve ▁made ▁three ▁records ▁and ▁you ' ve ▁written ▁several ▁songs ▁and ▁they ' ve ▁got ten ▁better ▁and ▁better ▁lyr ically ▁the ▁next ▁step ▁would ▁be ▁to ▁have ▁somebody ▁question ▁you ▁and ▁say , ▁are ▁you ▁saying ▁anything ? ▁And ▁Michael ▁had ▁the ▁confidence ▁at ▁that ▁point ▁to ▁say ▁yes ▁... " ▁After ▁what ▁St ipe ▁has ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁" The