Heartwarming / R.E.M.

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• "If you believe they put a man on the moon! Man on the moon!"
• And on the same album told us "Take comfort in your friends, cos everybody hurts, and everybody cries... sometimes." Also of note is "If you feel like you're alone / No, no, no, you're not alone" from the same song.
  • The song was written with teenagers in mind - Peter Buck noted that this is why the lyrics are so much less idiosyncratic and more direct than REM's other songs, they wanted to get a clear message to teens struggling with the stresses of growing up that it's okay to feel sad sometimes and that it will get better one day. Actually, that doubles as a huge, happy Tear Jerker, come to think of it. This song has, almost certainly, saved lives.
  • Another song with an "It gets better" theme is "Every Day Is Yours to Win" from Collapse Into Now. For bonus points on the Heartwarming scale, the song sounds almost exactly like Automatic for the People's "Find the River".
    "Every day is new again
    Every day is yours to win
    And that's how heroes are made."
• "Nightswimming" as well, if you combine CMOH with Tear Jerker.
• "Walk Unafraid" is decidedly rousing for awkwardness and non-conformity.
• At the end of the Green album is an untitled track (usually called "The Eleventh Untitled Song") — Michael Stipe, singing to his parents to comfort them while he was gone on tour.
  • From the same album, "You Are The Everything".
    All you hear is time stand still in travel,
    And feel such peace and absolute.
    The stillness still that doesn't end,
    But slowly drifts into sleep.
    The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen.
    And they're there for you.
    For you alone, you are the everything.
• The idealistic "I Believe" being played at the final REM show ever. It's already an incredibly powerful and uplifting song, but the context- plus the fact that it was followed by "Country Feedback", "Life and How to Live It", and "Man on the Moon"- makes its performance into a truly epic moment.
• In the live show on the Deluxe Edition of Reckoning, Michael Stipe dedicates a song to a fan who broke his leg entering the venue but came back anyway with a pair of crutches and a cast.
• "Supernatural Superserious" is an upbeat, joyful song about accepting your own sexual proclivities and enjoying them without worrying about religious consequences.
• "Aftermath" is a surprisingly uplifting song about staying positive even in the face of despair.
  And it makes you laugh, it makes you cry
  When London falls and you're still alive
  The radio stutters, it makes you laugh
  And the aftermath, open up your eyes
  You're so alive
• Any time between 1997 and 2011 when Bill Berry would rejoin the group for one-off performances.
• The occasions where they performed with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band should definitely qualify. They're obviously thrilled to be there - just look at Mike Mills grinning from ear to ear while playing "Born to Run."
  • Doubles as a big Crowning Moment of Awesome when Michael Stipe joins Bruce and the band to sing "Because the Night." Bruce is visibly impressed.
• The band choosing to break up should've been the biggest tearjerker of all for fans, but the band's reason for doing so actually turned out to not be tragic at all. There was no acrimony between the members at all and the reason they broke up was simply that they felt they'd accomplished all they'd ever wanted to as a band and decided to call it a day. They're still all the best of friends to this day and have no regrets. It gives a more heartwarming and possibly even triumphant sense of finality to the band's last two songs, "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" and "Hallelujah".
  • Speaking of how bittersweet their end was, what about how they started? They were just guys who were playing at a friend's party and they didn't really care about each other. The reason why they did this show was so they could drink a lot. Unfortunately, someone stole a beer keg during said party, causing friend to panic and worry because it was on her tab. The band, feeling bad about it, started playing local paying gigs for the friend and, even though they got the money for her, they continued as a band and...you know the rest.

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