A few years ago I was listening to a blues program on the radio, playing some obscure old songs.
One song sounded almost exactly the same, in terms of the lyrics, as REM’s ‘You are the everything’.
I have always wondered what the name of that old song was and who sang/wrote it. It has bugged me every time I think of it.
Does anyone know of a song that REM’s ‘You are the everything’ was based on?
the only thing i can think of would be …
You are Everything and Everything is You by Diana Ross and Marvin Gay.
REM’s tune doesn’t sound bluesy (the way they have recorded it, it sounds almost celtic) so I can’t think of a blues song that sounds the same as it.
While it doesn’t answer your question about the blues connection, the band has stated that the song’s chorus “Save, save your life” was inspired by the vocal stylings of Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins.
UnuMondo
It is not the Diana Ross song.
The lyrics that struck me as being very similar were about:
laying in the back seat of the car…
…sound of the travel and the engine
time standing still…stars…
It sounded like a song from the 40’s or 50’s - very simple arrangement.