| "Driver 8" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by R.E.M. | ||||
| from the album Fables of the Reconstruction | ||||
| B-side | "Crazy" | |||
| Released | September 1985 | |||
| Recorded | 1985 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:18 | |||
| Label | I.R.S. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Joe Boyd | |||
| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Driver 8" is the second single from American musical group R.E.M.'s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction, released in September 1985. The song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
The song refers to the Southern Crescent, a passenger train that was operated by the Southern Railroad until 1979, and continues today (with fewer stops) as the Amtrak Crescent. The music video shows Chessie System trains running around Clifton Forge, Virginia.[citation needed]
Guitarist Peter Buck admitted in the liner notes for the band's 2003 compilation album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 that the verse chords for the song "Imitation of Life" were unintentionally taken from the verse chords of "Driver 8."
In a Rolling Stone interview in 2009, Stipe said about his vocals: "It's like breathing – I don't think about it when I sing it. I was listening to these live tapes and thought it was a beautiful song with incredible imagery. I listen to our old albums and think, 'OK, this is where that went wrong, this is a way to improve that.' And 'Wow, that's really good. You're not the hoax you think you are.'"[4] A harmonica was played in a mimicking fashion to sound like a train whistle.[4]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
cbwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Caramanica, Jon (June 21, 2008). "R.E.M.: The Histories and Commentaries". The New York Times. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ "R.E.M.: Fables of the Reconstruction [Deluxe Edition] Album Review". Pitchfork. 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
Buck was still working within his jangle-pop style-- "Driver 8" is basically the ultimate archetype of this aesthetic
- ^ a b "Driver 8 by R.E.M." Song Facts. Retrieved 3 May 2016.