Don't Go Back To Rockville

Album: Reckoning (1984)
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  • Looking at your watch a third time
    Waiting in the station for the bus
    Going to a place that's far
    So far away and if that's not enough
    Going where nobody says hello
    They don't talk to anybody they don't know

    You'll wind up in some factory
    That's full-time filth and nowhere left to go
    Walk home to an empty house
    Sit around all by yourself
    I know it might sound strange, but I believe
    You'll be coming back before too long

    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    And waste another year

    At night, I drink myself to sleep
    And pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
    'Cause it's so much easier to handle
    All my problems if I'm too far out to sea
    But something better happen soon
    Or it's gonna be too late to bring you back

    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    And waste another year

    It's not as though I really need you
    If you were here, I'd only bleed you
    But everybody else in town only wants to bring you down
    And that's not how it ought to be
    I know it might sound strange, but I believe
    You'll be coming back before too long

    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    And waste another year
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    Don't go back to Rockville
    And waste another year Writer/s: Bill Berry, Michael Mills, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 10

  • Bigg from Rockville MdNot a factory town at all. Its a mecca for DNA and Gene labs, the county seat and too damn many people that don't know how to drive. It's also expensive (2k+ for a 1 bedroom apt.) and where I have lived on and off all my life. Not a bad place really, "just outside the beltway".

    **It's also the home of McRuff, the crime fighting dog.
  • Richard from GaIt's really old news that the song is about Mike Mills's girlfriend, Ingrid Schorr, who was from Rockville. At one point, in an interview in the late 1980s, he claimed it was some girl that he dated but didn't even remember her name. That wasn't true. He was trying to maintain her privacy. When Mills learned the info was going to come out in a book, he let Ingrid know. Not that it was much of a secret even then. I went to school in NC, on the tour route for all the old Southern alt bands of the day, and REM lore was freely traded among the college radio aficionados. Google the article on Hilobrow.
  • Cody from Madera, CaMichael Stipe sings lead on the song, but in more recent live performances Mike Mills sang lead instead (one instance is on the R.E.M. Live album).
  • Jeff from Mt. Pleasant, ScThe lyrics suggest that it could be about a bump in a relationship between two band members, one of which has left for a spell. "At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that your'e not here with me." -- "Something better happen soon or it's going to be to late to bring you back." rejoin the band? There are no factories in Rockville MD.
  • Claude from Kingston, MaMike Mills does not sing the lead in this song. He sings the harmony on the chorus and that's it. Stipe sings lead. It's very obvious.
  • Chris from Newcastle Upon Tyne, United KingdomI don't think the speaker actually loved her, he only wanted her because he couldn't have her, as she was leaving.
    'It's not as if I really need you'
    'If you were here I'd only leave you'
    It's also about sticking to education, as it's what's best, ie ending up in some factory, 'stay another year' is also interesting, it's one year, it may seem a long time, but the benefits will be huge.
  • Doctor from Birmingham, United KingdomOne of my favourite songs of all time...

    MIKE MILLS is my idol! he's a legend!
  • John from Poprt Washington, WiMichael Stipe is in fact, bi..As if that has anything to do with anything.
  • Lisa from Herzegova, BosniaMichael Stipe is gay! So I don't think it was him..but I believe it was another band member who was going out with her.. They're not too keen on this song. It's one of my favourites though!

  • Mark from Lincoln, EnglandAnd Mike had a crush on her and was tempted to throw it all away chasing her and forgoe his chances with the band .....the ' dont go back to rockville' and ' you will wind up in some factory' are references to how close and infactuated he was to this woman
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