Whilst stuck in traffic on Santa Monica Boulevard One day, Michael Stipe
came up with the line "I found a way to make you smile" and was so taken
with it that he couldn't finish the song for another year. This was a
combination of the fact that he couldn't decide what chain of events led to
that moment in the song but also, more tellingly, because he loved the
sentiment but had never written a truly and unashamedly romantic song
before.
Previously he had tinged love songs with irony and while comfortable writing
about the subject from a point of loss or regret, he felt almost afraid to
be a romantic in the purest sense.
A conversation with Patti Smith prompted him to be fearless and
consequently, he set out to write the most romantic song he could. Indeed
the whole tone was helped by the fact that the whole band were working
towards something that they found to be paying homage to Brian Wilson and
The Beach Boys, from Mike Mills simple piano to the vocal harmonies.
It is REM's first 'Straightforward' love song and the title could easily be
a reference to Michael Stipe's own state of being at the time. A real gem.