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Orange Crush Tab

Send "Orange Crush" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

************
ORANGE CRUSH
R.E.M.

Tabbed by
Kyle Fleming
************

INTRO: E    E    G    D    [repeat]
      [1234 1234 1234 1234]

[E]Follow me, don't follow me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]Collar me, don't collar me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]We are agents of the free
I've [G]had my fun and [D]now its time to
[E]Serve your conscience overseas 
(over me, not over me)
[G]Coming in fast, [D]over me

 E    B    A    B    [repeat]
[1234 1234 1234 1234]

 E    E    G    D    [repeat]
[1234 1234 1234 1234]

[E]Follow me, don't follow me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]Collar me, don't collar me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]We are agents of the free
I've [G]had my fun and [D]now its time to
[E]Serve your conscience overseas 
(over me, not over me)
[G]Coming in fast, [D]over me

[E]High on the [B]roof,
[A]Thin the [B]blood,
[E]Another one on the [B]waves tonight,
[A]Comin' in, you're [B]home 

[During the part where the lead singer is talking into the megaphone ["We'd circle and 
we'd circle...", the E-E-G-D repeats four times]

[E]Follow me, don't follow me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]Collar me, don't collar me
I've [G]got my spine, I've [D]got my orange crush
[E]We are agents of the free
I've [G]had my fun and [D]now its time to
[E]Serve your conscience overseas 
(over me, not over me)
[G]Coming in fast, [D]over me

[E]High on the [B]roof,
[A]Thin the [B]blood,
[E]Another one on the [B]waves tonight,
[A]Comin' in, you're [B]home 

[E]High on the [B]roof,
[A]Thin the [B]blood,
[E]Another one on the [B]waves tonight,
[A]Comin' in, you're [B]home

Any questions/comments? Email me at flemzo@hotmail.com

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Orange Crush Tab

Send "Orange Crush" Ringtone to your Cell Phone

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/r/r.e.m./297131.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Ashley Rhythm Player	#1 by Ashley 666 at Jan 26, 1970 at 1:40 AM EST
	Where does the dialogue come from? Sounds as if it's off a movie, or news clip from the time... We'd circle and we'd circle and we'd circle to stop and consider and centered on the pavement stacked up all the trucks jacked up and our wheels in slush and orange crush in pocket and all this here county hell any county it's just like heaven here and I was remembering and I was just in a differnet county and all then this whirlybird that I headed for I had my goggles pulled off I knew it all I knew every back road and every truck stop

No Picture Austin Rhythm Player	#2 by Austin at Jan 26, 1973 at 11:55 AM EST
	I think I recall Michael saying that this song was about being picked up from your normal environment and being dropped somewhere foreign and strange. Check out the interview on launch.com

No Picture PunkJunky Wanna Be	#3 by PunkJunky at Nov 24, 1973 at 8:44 PM EST
	agent orange and bioterroism over in desert storm. i think thats what they said in an interview i was listening to. i might be wrong

No Picture Ultra Violet Average	#4 by Ultra Violet at Dec 11, 1973 at 3:47 AM EST
	Stipe sometimes introduced this in concert by singing the US Army jingle, "Be all that you can be, in the Army. Orange Crush was an orange flavored soft drink but this song IS about Agent Orange, a chemical used by the US to defoliate the Vietnamese jungle during the Vietnam War. US military personnel exposed to it developed cancer years later and some of their children had birth defects. Stipe's father served in Vietnam in the helicopter corps.

No Picture Kubota35 Professional	#5 by Kubota35 at May 4, 1976 at 6:29 AM EST
	In "The Best of R.E.M.: In Time," Peter Buck says about this song: "I must have played this song onstage over three hundred times, and I still don't know what the fuck it's about....I guess I've found a good way not to talk about a song that means something dark and mysterious to me." The bridge's barely audible dialog, whose lyrics appear here, make it clear that this song does have something to do with war, and if Stipe's father did serve in Vietnam, the Agent Orange interpretation does make sense. I always thought he was saying "Color me, don't color me," which seems to make more sense if talking about orange, instead of "Collar me, don't collar me." Why "collar"?

No Picture Bryant Wanna Be	#6 by Bryant Matthews at Sep 3, 1977 at 3:01 PM EST
	the orange crush is about all the people who died in vietnam from agent orange. its basically a a nice anti-war song.

No Picture nathan Average	#7 by nathan skidmore at Feb 20, 1980 at 6:51 PM EST
	One more thing, when's the last time any of REM's music videos made sense, besides maybe Bad Day or Animal.

No Picture Dakota Average	#8 by Dakota Keyes at Nov 5, 1980 at 3:35 PM EST
	I read somewhere, possibly in It Crawled From The South, that REM took offence to a comment by Simon Mayo (unpopular TV & Radio broadcaster in the UK) on Top Of The Pops. Apparently, after the performance, he linked to the next bit by saying "Great on a hot summer day, Orange Crush!". The band didnt go on Top Of The Pops again until 1995's Crush With Eyeliner...

No Picture Gunther Wanna Be	#9 by Gunther at Sep 9, 1981 at 11:44 PM EST
	About Agent Orange.........no, he is not a Cluedo character

No Picture The Masta The Muther F*ing Masta!	#10 by The Masta at Dec 21, 1982 at 7:44 AM EST
	this is the song ,for me, when REM changed there sound from subtle little folky janglepop rock sngs to the same but bigger and catchier...this is one of their best

No Picture Tye Musical Genius	#11 by Tye williston at Oct 1, 1984 at 11:25 PM EST
	Nothing - it has no meaning - Stipe has already stated that.. well... "I have sung this song about 200 times on stage and I still don't know what the **** it's about. Nyah. Ick.

No Picture bogex Rhythm Player	#12 by bogex luna at Apr 28, 1985 at 6:50 PM EST
	Ok, here is my take on it. My college Professor is making us write our interpretation of this song for our final in class. Some thing he handed out to us said"During the Vietnam war, the US militatry conducted field experiments to develop combat enhancing drugs. These drugs, mostly LSD and mega doses of amphetamine were given to US troops to see if the drugs improved their combat effectiveness" That is a good piece of info but it goes on to say"The LSD and amphetamine combination was quickly dubbed "spine" by the soldiers because the drugs induced a state of hyper awareness that kept users awake and attentive. Soldiers who took the drug were "straight on spine" a condition that lasted for hours if not days." This would explain the i have got my spine now to the orange crush part. The paper also said that the soldiers smoke opium laced joints which were refered to as orange crush. Now after watching the music video as well i don't think it is about agent orange too much for the fact that you never see a good reference to it in the video. If you have not watched the video i urge you to do so.

No Picture Scott Average	#13 by Scott Anderson at Aug 29, 1985 at 12:16 PM EST
	Agent Orange, in 'Nam, with the M16!!! Thats interesting though, I had always wondered if this song had any real meaning. (I love the part where he's yelling on the megaphone)

No Picture R.I.P Dimebag D Professional	#14 by R.I.P Dimebag Darrell at Dec 30, 1987 at 5:47 AM EST
	Hmm, "Collar me, don't collar me" - might mean the collars the people had to wear like RLK said. "I've got my spine" - the spinal disorder. "We are agents of the free" - The U.S troops there to spread freedom. "I've had my fun and now its time to Serve your conscience overseas (over me, not over me)" - I've served my term, now get over there and have your turn. "Coming in fast, over me" - The helicopter flying overhead. Maybe, I'm probably being too literal though IA

No Picture Gabe Average	#15 by Gabe Hawkins at Jan 17, 1988 at 9:15 AM EST
	Actually, Stipe didn't say that. In the "In Time" album sleeve, Mike Mills (bassist) says "I must have played this song on stage over 300 times and I still don't know what the fuck it's about". Agent Orange seems possible.

No Picture claireus Wanna Be	#16 by claireus s at Oct 2, 1988 at 7:20 AM EST
	stipe wrote in 'In Time' that he still doesn't know what the song is about, but personally I think he's just saying that. There are too many references to Agent Orange

No Picture BeN-bEn Lead Player	#17 by BeN-bEn Lesniewski at Aug 6, 1990 at 6:42 PM EST
	way to copy/paste from songfacts and pretend u found all that out for urself...

No Picture Christina Average	#18 by Christina Anderson at Oct 1, 1990 at 12:36 PM EST
	HOLY SHIT! YOU PEOPLE ARE DENSE! right at about 2.15 turn your volume up up up. and listen. yup.. that means u gotta get the shit outta ur ears. you can hear the helicopter blades. and so i dont have to repost in case anyone DIDNT get that... helicopters were used to deploy the agent orange. this song. is about agent orange. case... closed.

No Picture Max Average	#19 by Max Benton at Apr 26, 1996 at 9:10 AM EST
	It's about Agent Orange

No Picture Ultra Violet Average	#20 by Ultra Violet at Oct 6, 1997 at 9:32 PM EST
	Well, it's not exactly a formal essay, is it? It's not like JeffKaos was trying to claim credit.

No Picture Damien Wanna Be	#21 by Damien Pritchard at Feb 1, 1999 at 5:32 PM EST
	From watching this video, I believe this song may portray innocence lost by the brutality of war. The kid running away from his problems while the older version of himself is ready to go in and mercilessly slaughter the innocence of many other children. Maybe this song emphasizes the circular irony that is war. Needless death. Needless loss.

No Picture LJ Average	#22 by LJ at Nov 22, 1999 at 5:01 PM EST
	Fine. Other way round, then. So I read it wrong. :X

No Picture Peter Wanna Be	#23 by Peter Lambden at Jul 22, 2005 at 7:36 AM EST
	It is about Agent Orange, which was used in the Vietnam War. It is definitely NOT about the Gulf War -- the song came out long before the Gulf War happened! The key clue is that Agent Orange, which was intended to kill plants in the Vietnam jungle had the very serious side effect of causing birth defects in the children of those who were exposed to it, and the main defect was spina bifida, a deformity of the spine. Someone suffering from that might wear special braces on the limbs, maybe a special collar. There are far too many matches in the lyrics for this not to be correct. The powder was often dropped by circling helicopters (whirlybirds) in a war where the US troops were agents ("Agent", as in "Agent Orange") of the free because the country had sent its conscience overseas... there's no way this isn't what it's about.

No Picture Andrew Rhythm Player	#24 by Andrew Clayton at Feb 3, 2007 at 1:11 PM EST
	Don't judge by videos - that's when some director jumps in and adds his spin! The song is definately about drugs sent Soldiers' way from the government... I think Rookamania is right-on. It's to bad that a college professor had to point it out. I never learned anything useful in college either. As far as the song referring to the large picture "circular irony that is war"... I don't think so. Maybe I missed them, but I didn't catch referrences to needless death or needless loss. If anything the line "we are agents of the free" may be stating that this particular group believed in their roll. Music and Hollywood almost always protrays this war as being hated by everyone in it. Maybe for once we have an example that sites the closer reality... or maybe they just liked their drugs.

No Picture connor Average	#25 by connor gooley at Sep 23, 2007 at 2:55 AM EST
	Isnt there a stretch of freeway in california called the orange crush? Its like in orange county and i think that part about circleing and circling and pavenet and trucks stacked up is about some freeay accident on the orange county california freeway. makes some sense