Synopsis

R.E.M. perform "Can't Get There From Here" amid a surreal Southern daydream. The band members wander through hay fields, clown around at a drive-in movie, and interact with oversized insects and prehistoric creatures. Popcorn, rural imagery, playful costumes, and deliberately crude visual effects turn the performance into a loose comic fantasy rather than a conventional narrative. Lyrics appear throughout the clip, while blue-screen composites place the musicians in impossible settings and reinforce the song's offbeat, restless energy.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released in 1985 as the first single from *Fables of the Reconstruction*, the video was shot during the summer in and around Athens, Georgia.

• The clip marked an unusual change for R.E.M.: many of the song's lyrics appear on screen. The band had previously resisted printing lyrics with its albums.

• Peter Buck later recalled that the production used blue-screen technology to place dinosaurs and monsters behind the band.

• Buck described it as probably R.E.M.'s most humorous video, a notable contrast with the band's early reputation for seriousness and mystery.

• The video is included on *When the Light Is Mine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987*, the compilation covering the group's early music-video work.