R.E.M. - Life And How To Live It Lyrics






Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
Two doors to go between the wall was raised today
Two doors, two names to call your other and your own
Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home

My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about and 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 to hide these flaws, the 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 and 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 to hide these flaws, the carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
Read about the wisdom wall, the knock-knock-knock
A secret knock, one hammer's locked, the other wisdom's lost

My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about and barking in the street
To tell what I have hidden there

My carpenter's out and running about, walking 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





Other Lyrics by Artist

Rand Lyrics

Last Posts

R.E.M. Life And How To Live It Comments
  1. G.... ....

    Speechless and breathless again, after all these years. Pure beauty

  2. R.... L....

    When this came out, I was just getting ready to enter high school.

  3. z.... ....

    How to live the life? Living, of course!!!!!

  4. n.... ....

    Songwriters sit down with a guitar or piano and puzzle out a chord progression and put some lyrics on it, maybe come up with some melodic hooks, and there's your song, just add musicians and arrange it. That's not how this was written. I don't know how this was written. It sounds like everyone but the drummer having a nervous breakdown, but no, it's very structured. I don't think REM contrived this sort of material in any conventional way. I think they had no tolerance for boredom, and they'd get together and throw themselves at a bunch of ideas, and they'd throw away anything that sounded like anything else, even themselves, and this is what emerged. You can't plan this out.

  5. D.... �....

    The REM seen in the video and heard here is peak REM in every way. That fables thru Pageant era in every way was a band at its most awesome, cool and really, perfect. They would soon begin the long and embarrassing downward spiral to the drain. But from chronic town to doxument where cracks began to appear, they were nearly flawless.

  6. J.... G....

    So good that it makes me sad that this kind of music and these kinds of artists have been pushed aside for the absolute soulless garbage that is being pushed on and is accepted by the masses today.

  7. l.... ....

    everybody including the band hates FOTR, I love it and it beats the shit out of any album by CSNY etc

  8. A.... B....

    Life And How To Live It 2019

  9. D.... J....

    Michael could take the most mundane and make it into the most beautiful

    D.... J....

    Myles Standish proud congratulate me

  10. D.... J....

    immortal raw music

  11. M.... S....

    This song is on another level. Damn.

  12. R.... S....

    Where is the 'love' button? Immortal 80s R.E.M. Still so glad I got to see these guys live at least once in my life. What a band! ;)

  13. G.... S....

    one of the greatest songs ever written and recorded. It's impossible to get it loud enough.

  14. M.... W....

    The album is perfect as far as I'm concerned! It's kind of dark and honest. I think Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention) did a fine job producing it.

  15. F.... ....

    I knew there was a guide somewhere

  16. v.... ....

    Best song on their best album. Damn, so much music was great then.

  17. M.... T....

    "I think I'll write a book
    it will be called
    Life & How To Live It"

    M.... T....

    hah.. it's been done.

    M.... T....

    I'm going to write one called "Life and How NOT To Live It".

  18. D.... D....

    A great underrated album!!

  19. S.... ....

    emotional af

  20. F.... ....

    I'll admit it ... when Peter grabbed the red Rick and rang out the opening riff of this song on the Reveal tour ... I lost my ever loving sh*t

  21. M.... ....

    Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
    Two doors to go between the wall was raised today
    Two doors, two names to call your other and your own
    Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home

    My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street
    My pockets are out and running about and 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 to hide these flaws, the 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 and 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 to hide these flaws, the carpenter should rest
    So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
    Read about the wisdom wall, the knock-knock-knock
    A secret knock, one hammer's locked, the other wisdom's lost

    My carpenter's out and running about and talking to the street
    My pockets are out and running about and barking in the street
    To tell what I have hidden there

    My carpenter's out and running about, walking 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

  22. M.... P....

    If I write a book it will be called
    Life and how to live it

    M.... P....

    Mine would be "Life and How NOT To Live It".

  23. M.... ....

    Just try saying " The air quicken tension building inference suddenly
    Life and how to live it"

  24. T.... G....

    One of their best songs

  25. J.... M....

    hello m. stipe. I'm a mekis probably not related to brivs but i love this song.

  26. C.... P....

    Fables has always been my favourite REM album. Somewhat underrated

    C.... P....

    C. Paterson classic first one we got in Oz no clue it was done in UK at my age cheers to Boyd and mike mills really let's us all know what's going on!

    C.... P....

    Fables is actually my favorite album of all time.

    C.... P....

    Remember when they used to open with Feeling Gravity’s Pull. Chills.

  27. N.... W....

    Call the Smithsonian. Preserve this footage. Remind people how original and genuine and passionate music once was. Remind them all, that four average looking men could attain and produce such a lovely sound.

    N.... W....

    One of the most powerful songs ever written. REM will be rediscovered by a new generation! Classics demand it and therefore no argument to the point.

    N.... W....

    @Blahkabelison sorry to say but 90% of new music is trash.

    N.... W....

    @David Sauer LOL - Don't dirty this beautiful page with mentioning such filthy non-talent! lolol

    N.... W....

    how the hell are any of these guys average?

    N.... W....

    @Green Sombrero whats hilarious is everything that young people claim is important for an artist to believe and do, REM DID! They said all the right things and helped get the 'right' people elected. But because the world still has problems young people will discount REM and call it Dad music. bleh

  28. m.... s....

    As far as things artsy and off the beaten path, this video is a fitting companion to the song. And who really cares if the homeowner had exact duplicates of items on both sides of his house. From my favorite R.E.M. LP.

  29. L.... J....

    *Google truth contest* and read "the Present" to learn how to live life to the fullest. You have to program your mind to let you live. It escalates real quickly in the beginning.

  30. M.... F....

    The first album of theirs I bought, and also my favourite.

  31. J.... B....

    not enough superlatives to describe this song , album & musicianship simply awestruck

  32. J.... O....

    Man how do musicians even get on this level.

    J.... O....

    Jason Ouderkirk easy

    J.... O....

    I wonder the same exact thing.

    J.... O....

    @ivorbigonee not easy!!!

  33. I.... M....

    fantastic song. so many good songs on this album, reckoning and life's rich pageant. The first four albums are brilliant - as are 5-10 - but the least brilliant is murmur and I wish critics would climb off the murmur bandwagon and tell it as it is

    I.... M....

    Iain Mcguinness i think murmur is fantastic and while perhaps a touch overhyped, when it hits you... it hits you. the fact that its their first full album still amazes me. the band's weaknesses at the time became their strengths, with stipe's vocal stylings and cryptic lyrics being utilized for what they brought to the table rather than dismissed and it's just amazing.

    I.... M....

    Murmur is a top 10 album of the 20th century

  34. A.... E....

    i love you like every  day .

  35. L.... G....

    the bassline... my god, super mills

    L.... G....

    Luciano Goyenechea
    Yep. One of his best.

    L.... G....

    Luciano Goyenechea ok, settle down

    L.... G....

    Whole band loses their minds on this, except Berry, who holds it all together.

  36. T.... M....

    that when hammers lock the other wisdom's lost.

  37. S.... B....

    Damn i miss these guys

  38. C.... P....

    carlphone. idiot are you. moron.
    R.EM is the best men

  39. C.... P....

    mi vida es diferente porque escuche canciones de R.E.M

  40. A.... P....

    Una de las canciones que marcó mi vida <3

    A.... P....

    a mi tb....creo que es de mis favoritas.

  41. L.... ....

    Enjoyed your video <3

    :D

  42. L.... A....

    Have seen them 3 times; classic.

  43. P.... S....

    what a *ucking tune kids,

  44. S.... L....

    I've listened to this album for over 2 decades and it still is the best

    S.... L....

    Scott Livingston yea it is!

    S.... L....

    I've listened to it since 1990 and it's my all time best album (Murmur is number 2 and Reckoning is number 3). Life and How to Live it is my favorite song.

  45. 1.... ....

    Fuck yes. Haven't heard this since a decade.

    1.... ....

    +123artish This is one of many great R.E.M songs - my other favorites are: WE WALK, Wolves Lower, Pretty persuasion, Carnival or sorts, Laughing, Harbor Coat, Maps and Legends, Green Grow Rushes Grow, I BELIEVE, What if we give it away, Begin the Begin, Ages of You, Exhuming McCarthy, Finest Working, Texarkana, Turn you inside out, Stand, South central rain, Man on the moon, EVERYBODY HURTS, IMITATION OF LIFE and Whats the frequency Kenneth

    1.... ....

    May I ad, These Days? But yeah, these are the classics man.

    1.... ....

    @123artish yep...THESE DAYS is a also a good one also SIDEWINDER SLEEPS TONIGHT is a classic 

  46. R.... P....

    Best REM album ever. Before they turned mainstream, example of pure, raw music. One of my top 5 albums ever

    R.... P....

    +Mega Calzetin That's Life And How To Live It.

    R.... P....

    Right on... This early REM stuff is the best...

    R.... P....

    This album told stories, and made a larger one in effect.

    R.... P....

    i love this album immensely but they were 90% terrific through and including Up. my favorite band, 1 purely classic ep and 8 purely classic albums. NAIHF wins it for me personally.

    R.... P....

    You don't like Accelerate?

  47. M.... V....

    Amazing guitar sound. Beauty of rythm guitar...

  48. F.... V....

    If I had to show somebody one video to get them to develop a crush on Michael Stipe, this would  be it.

  49. J.... R....

    Early 1980's R.E.M.
    Could've easily fit on Reckoning.
    The jingly jangly guitars are standard R.E.M. from that era.
    Michael's vocals...perfect
    #R.E.M. #music #FM #nostaticatall #1980s #classic

  50. P.... D....

    Love it.

  51. J.... L....

    Me voy acer pee-pee! Aye! Que gusto!

  52. J.... B....

    All these years later and I still love this song like it was new and shiny. 

  53. A.... V....

    Goed lekker nummer

  54. c.... ....

    Reveal easily blows Murmur or Fables away as their best album. I've been high is their best song ever IMHO

  55. c.... ....

    Dear Paul, Ego ruined Stipe??? Are you fucking kidding me????? REM are about the only band who don't hang out with other 'stars' or act like melagomaniac idiots like so many.
    Stipe openly supports the Occupy movement. He is one of the most unpetentious frontmen I have ever seen. You must be either confused or idiotic. Or both.

    c.... ....

    +carlphone stipe should have stayed in the closet. now he's just old and gross. it was the mystery that mainly put stipe on a different level than others. as much as i h8 morrissey, he still gains far more respect....as...the mystery still remains.

    c.... ....

    www.equip.org

    c.... ....

    Occupy was for hipsters.

    c.... ....

    I've met him, he's just quiet and very, very shy.

  56. P.... T....

    One of my favs, Fablles is close to the last great REM album. Murmur is amazing but must listen sparingly so as not to ruin. Maybe Gardening at Night is my Fav. Saw them many days early on. Loved when Michael was unintelligible and shy. Ego ruined him.

  57. a.... ....

    Age 6 for me, and this was my first album, on cassette <3

  58. g.... ....

    I agree, I love Fables of the Reconstruction, it is better than Document. Fables is such an underrated album, I don't understand why people don't like it that much. I love the dark, murky, psychedelic sound of Fables.

  59. P.... ....

    My theme song fer sure. This song has been cheering me up since I discovered it back in the late 80's after graduation. LOVE!!

  60. s.... ....

    holy shit I'm a huge SY fan and yes indeed you are correct!

  61. s.... ....

    uh I've been a casual fan for decades, but only ever owned reckoning (my favorite) document and green, and murmur for about a month... just hearing this track for the first time today and have to comment how awesome it is. and how I'm listening twice now...

  62. F.... K....

    Oh, Stipey, you and your amateur film aesthetic! ... which I'm still a fan of. First saw an R.E.M. concert when I was 16 and saw every one until poor Bill had to back out. I love you guys forever!

  63. W.... ....

    Adblock plus, my children...

  64. m.... ....

    I'm a huge REM fan and the two favourite songs of mine both belong on this album (Life and How to Live it and Kohoutek). Strangely though I think the album still needed a lot of work done on it, especially production-wise. I think it *could* have been their best album with a few more weeks worth of work on it, on arrangement and production. That's my opinion anyway.

  65. K.... K....

    Who else thinks Fables of the Reconstruction is a very underrated album? Personally I think it's the best I.R.S. record (yes I think it's better than Murmur and Document) they released, and this song pretty much epitomises the true greatness of it. To think this album is even hated my the band themselves (well Peter hates it anyway!).

    K.... K....

    Best R.E.M. album

  66. f.... ....

    My favorite REM song of all time

  67. r.... o....

    yep.it is not right

  68. J.... S....

    What a fucking abomination. The video for this song is surrounded by an ad for a Rihanna tune.

    J.... S....

    Quit being such an elitist, Rihanna is bomb.

  69. s.... ....

    One of the best REM songs. The intro and verses could have come straight off Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation three years later. And THAT record was considered light years ahead of its time

    s.... ....

    I know it's a 5 years old comment but, well... funny you would mention Sonic Youth, as if I remember correctly, Peter is using an alternate tuning on this one. Might be why it sounds similar in style, indeed!

    s.... ....

    Have a listen to Acid Mothers Temple's song 'Pink Lady Lemonade' from "Myth of the Love Electrique" (2006) -- /watch?v=7gVzqxH4qag -- It wouldn't seem likely that they would be R.E.M. fans

    s.... ....

    Yeah, this intro and the intro to 'Cross the Breeze are very similar-sounding, at least to my ear.

    s.... ....

    @borbetomagus why I'm here lol.

  70. R.... G....

    i love REM they make me feel quite alive!

  71. T.... K....

    reminds me of a time .... just that Nov' ...on a street... nice memories with this song

  72. m.... ....

    for those of you who like this song but are young or not rem fans and are wondering what its about just google brivs mekis .

  73. v.... ....

    why cant teenage girls listen to R.E.M. :/

    v.... ....

    veedubbindude because they are cunts

    v.... ....

    I've loved R.E.M. since I was 12, so fuck you both.

    v.... ....

    ...um I did when I was

  74. f.... ....

    My favorite REM song ever!! I live and die for this song!!

  75. U.... ....

    This song makes my head vibrate with excitement, OMG BRING IT!!!!

  76. G.... M....

    shut the fuck up you nut jobs, I can hardly hear the awesome music with you guys crowding out the comments with your lackluster arguments

  77. P.... ....

    On a scale of 1 to 10 this is a pretty good song.

  78. n.... ....

    This is the best song REM ever wrote. It is utterly timeless, essential, urgently brilliant and simply brilliant in every way.

  79. S.... ....

    Damn I wish I was around when this came out.

  80. S.... ....

    Sonic Youth ripped this song off!

    S.... ....

    Acid Mothers Temple's 'Pink Lady Lemonade' from "Myth of the Love Electrique" (2006) -- /watch?v=7gVzqxH4qag -- might have more similarities, though who knows if they were familiar with the song.

  81. M.... ....

    @nilleej I was ALSO four years old when I first heard R.E.M.s music and have been listening ALSO their music ever since! One of the greatest band ever!

  82. f.... ....

    Great song. Terrible video.

  83. D.... ....

    Why is this band so amazing?

  84. S.... M....

    So is this song about the Masons?

  85. D.... P....

    5 people don't know how to live their lifes

  86. J.... ....

    I have heard this on the radio but have never seen the video, so when I first watched it I thought my computer kept freezing up on me. Later I watched it on VH1 Classics and found out it's suppose look like this. I know that may seem dumb of me but I really had never seen this video before.

  87. J.... ....

    @KingOfSchmucks Your name really says what you are, you are the king King Of Schmucks. R.E.M. is a classic band with very classy music and I can't help it if you can't get into a song that has meaning, go back and listen to Rap, Hip-Hop, Pop, Pop-Punk, Emo Rock, or Pop Country.

  88. c.... ....

    @KingOfSchmucks well if your speaking in opposites, then you are a genius and so right on par!

  89. D.... B....

    @KingOfSchmucks Are you being a troll with roids? What made you choose?

  90. C.... ....

    @KingOfSchmucks come back and slate R.E.M. when you're as successful as them.

  91. l.... ....

    Who want to learn Japanese or Chinese with me?

    l.... ....

    In learning German and Spanish right now mate. Maybe another time?

  92. h.... ....

    should be doing homework, but you know, REM is REM :D

  93. G.... ....

    @fishshaped lol

  94. N.... E....

    This song takes me back to when I was a kid. Started listening to R.E.M at the age of 4 and have been listening to their music ever since.

  95. C.... ....

    For a moment then, I thought Michael has sprouted locks of gold - I think I should nap now.

  96. b.... ....

    Still have my dusty copy of this vid on the old R.E.M Succumbs complilation on VHS - still one of my two favorite R.E.M. songs ever.

  97. A.... S....

    Amazing. ;D

  98. r.... ....

    fajny teledysk