# What's the best song off of "Document"? (with poll)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 22, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651 "2010-09-22T15:31:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/1 "2010-09-22T15:31:52Z")
Strong first side, mostly weak second side - Stipe stops mumbling, and the music starts to lose its mystery. Still, an overall solid entry in their canon, even if certain songs have been overplayed to death. I chose “Exhuming McCarthy”, which I’ve always considered highly underrated.
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/2 "2010-09-22T17:08:12Z")
Overplayed or not, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” is one of the most iconic rock songs ever. The rest of the album is good, but there’s no question about what’s the best song.
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### Author:  [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/3 "2010-09-22T17:20:56Z")
I wavered between “It’s the End of the World…” and “Exhuming McCarthy,” thinking I might be better off not picking the obvious ones, but I completely agree with **Justin\_Bailey**. It would be dishonest of me not to pick that one.
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### Author:  [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/4 "2010-09-22T17:24:47Z")
I know this album is not a big favorite with REM fans, but I think it’s MY favorite. And I am an REM fan, so there. 😃 I picked Strange, and Exhuming McCarthy would be my runner-up.
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/5 "2010-09-23T01:13:33Z")
Agreed too. End of the World is the first song I think of when I think of REM, and I’m sure it’s true for the majority of the world.
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### Author:  [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/6 "2010-09-23T01:15:35Z")
“Disturbance at the Heron House”
I like the word play and alliteration and the recurring line “Try to tell us something we don’t know.”
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### Author:  [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/7 "2010-09-23T20:27:02Z")
This really came down to three songs: “King of Birds”, “Disturbance at the Heron House”, and “Oddfellows Local 151”, and I ended up choosing the first.
Of course, “Exhuming McCarthy”, “Welcome to the Occupation”, “Fireplace”, and, yes, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” are pretty all right, too.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/8 "2010-09-23T23:15:51Z")
Not much love for ‘the one I love’ here, except for me, I guess. ☹
I actually got three REM albums for christmas last year, including ‘Document’, because I’d come across another song called ‘the one I love’ while browsing emusic, immediately thought of the REM melody, and that got me onto an REM nostalgia kick that I mentioned to my brother, who was a bigger fan of them than I am back in the day, and he asked if I had any of their albums, which I really didn’t until then.
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### Author:  [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/9 "2010-09-24T03:55:38Z")
I went with _Finest Worksong_ though I really like most of this album. In fact it is one of my favorite REM albums without a doubt. The only songs I’m not crazy about are _Fireplace_ and _Lightnin’ Hopkins_.
I was a bit disappointed when I saw the poll results and noticed the lack of love for _Odd Fellows Local 151_. It really has some of Pete’s most interesting playing in it. I remember at the time the album came out he said he had been listening to a lot of Sonic Youth while they were recording and I think the influence is pretty clear in that song in particular.
Plus, they cover Wire!
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/10 "2010-09-24T04:36:47Z")
I think this is my favorite REM album in general. I picked “Exhuming McCarthy” as my favorite, but that could easily shift to a couple other options if the mood were different.
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### Author:  [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/11 "2010-09-24T20:10:21Z")
Just out of curiosity, why are people listing these polls as “Best song off of album title” rather than “Best song off of bandname’s album title?” Are you trying to hide from non hardcore fans?
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### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-song-off-of-document-with-poll/554651/12 "2010-09-24T20:31:03Z")
I was following the Beatles threads’ example with the thread titling, but really - if you don’t know the album titles, you’re probably not a fan to begin with, I’d assume.