The #2 most viewed post on The MTM 7 Countdown: Radio VII, side A, track 2: “The One I Love” by R.E.M.

This was my first post to get Freshly Pressed, and when it happened, you could have knocked me over with a feather.  When I checked my stats for the day, instead of the usual 20, I was in the hundreds, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell happened.  And then I found out that this silly post comparing R.E.M. to dour Munchkins was considered an editor’s pick from the WordPress gang.  It happened on a Friday, and all weekend long I watched as several thousand people discovered my blog.  It was one of the high points of my life.  Thanks to that moment, my blog was suddenly showing up on fellow bloggers’ blogrolls and I was getting readers from all across the world.  Never would have dreamed of that happening in a million years.

I’ll admit, I’ve been chasing the high I got from that first time being Freshly Pressed, but as the years have gone by, interest in my blog has slowly waned and I’m back to about the same number of views per day I was at before that heady Friday back in ’12.  But even though I never turned into an internet sensation, that first Freshly Pressed has helped keep me posting on here every day, even when I don’t have anything to say.

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Oh, R.E.M., at the time I didn’t realize that you guys were a big deal, I just enjoyed your music.  To me, you actually sounded like if the Munchkins had their own rock band.  Your lead singer had this high nasal sound that could have been straight from Munchkinland, and I always liked the idea that while the rest of the Munchkins were out touting the Lollipop Guild and the Lullaby League, you guys were  hanging out by the Yellow Brick Road, smoking cigarettes and looking dour.  If someone told me that R.E.M. stood for Really Emo Munchkins, I totally would have believed it (even though “emo” was a few decades from entering anyone’s vernacular, it still would have made sense).  Now, after hearing a lot of your music and seeing interviews where you have such an inflated sense of self-importance, I can imagine that it would be appalling to you that someone pictured you as really bad-ass Munchkins.  But it actually makes me like that image that much more now.  I’m glad I didn’t know at the time how humorless you were, R.E.M., but I’m also glad you guys made such great music.

UPDATE, 4/13/12 — This post has been Freshly Pressed!  Welcome to everyone, and I hope you enjoy your stay (and the music, too)!  If I could go back in time and talk to my 12-year-old self, I’d say “You know those countless hours you spent in your room sitting in front of your stereo with your fingers poised above the Play/Record buttons instead of going outside and getting some fresh air?  Totally worth it.”

UPDATE, 4/15/12 — The wonderful Lux has made my day by providing this excellent rendition of the Really Emo Munchkins!

“The One I Love”

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire
Fire

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
A simple prop to occupy my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire
Fire

This one goes out to the one I love
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind
Another prop has occupied my time
This one goes out to the one I love

Fire
Fire
Fire
Fire