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Posted by Carl Salad on 10-04-2008 at23:35:

  Question about song "Holy Dreamer"

I just downloaded a killer 77's bootleg on Dimeadozen.org (if you torrent, check it out). In a show from 1985, they do a song called "Holy Dreamer," which Mike introduces by saying, "We dedicate this to those of you from the South. This was inspired by one of our favorite bands."

I asked, and someone on dimeadozen said that they were referring to REM.

Does anyone know anything about this song? Was it ever recorded? Lyrics? What specifically is the connection to REM?

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Posted by Doctor Love on 10-05-2008 at00:05:

  RE: Question about song "Holy Dreamer"

That song is about REM and is obviously a tribute (i.e., ripoff) of their general sound and style at the time. As I recall, it was meant to be a putdown to Michael Stipe's mumbling of his lyrics in order to appear heavy and mystical, which of course was not true at all.

Not sure why I would write a putdown of one of my favorite bands and writers at the time -- jealousy, I guess. It wasn't that great of a song anyway. We played it a few times live but never recorded it. I think the version on this bootleg is probably the best time we played it.

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Posted by Carl Salad on 10-05-2008 at08:47:

  RE: Question about song "Holy Dreamer"

That explains why I had a devil of a time transcribing the lyrics. But I really dig the song. The chorus has a nice hook.

I got to see REM at Red Rocks a couple of months ago. It was a great show. Their new album is killer. But, of course, I'd rather see the Sevens at Red Rocks.

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Posted by killmikelove on 10-05-2008 at14:43:

  RE: Question about song "Holy Dreamer"

quote:

Originally posted by Carl Salad That explains why I had a devil of a time transcribing the lyrics. But I really dig the song. The chorus has a nice hook. I got to see REM at Red Rocks a couple of months ago. It was a great show. Their new album is killer. But, of course, I'd rather see the Sevens at Red Rocks.

If I remember right when Mike and I were compiling the 2 fan club eps we were trying to get a version of Holy Dreamer on the cd, but the quality just didn't hold up. If it's the Ichtus performance on dvd you've heard, that one's pretty good. I have that performace and that's a pretty good show for that era.

It's a good song, would have been interesting had it gone the studio route at some point.

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Posted by MefLiszto on 10-06-2008 at15:38:

 

I still have the audio bootleg of the Ichthus show from '85, and Holy Dreamer sounds pretty clear, except for a couple of small mumbles by Mike. I'll eventually get around to digitizing it. I thought Dave Leonhardt wrote the song. I still owe him a copy of this recording.

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Posted by Doctor Love on 10-07-2008 at10:18:

  Dave's bit

That's right, David did have something to do with this song. We wrote it together, although I don't remember what hand he had in it.

There is another live version of the tune from some festival in Puyallup, Washington that same year (1985) which is real good also.