Playlist: R.E.M., Out of Time

R.E.M., whose rise in the eighties helped create the college-rock category, called it quits today. A post on the band's Web site outlined the decision, and Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, and Peter Buck elaborated with statements of their own.

The band furnished the soundtrack for a generation, at least, and in honor of their long career, we have picked five deep tracks from the their first decade, along with lyrics that always made us sad but now make us even sadder.

1. "So. Central Rain" (1984)

Lyrics that could not possibly have been about the breakup but now seem deeply poignant: "The trees will bend, the conversation's dimmed."

2. "Good Advices" (1985)

L.T.C.N.P.H.B.A.T.B.B.N.S.D.P.: "At the end of the day, I'll forget your name."

3. "King of Birds" (1987)

L.T.C.N.P.H.B.A.T.B.B.N.S.D.P.: "A hundred million birds fly away, away, away."

4. "World Leader Pretend" (1988)

L.T.C.N.P.H.B.A.T.B.B.N.S.D.P.: "I raised the wall and I will be the one to knock it down."

5. "Endgame" (1991)

L.T.C.N.P.H.B.A.T.B.B.N.S.D.P.: It's an instrumental, with Stipe providing wordless la-la's. If that doesn't make you tear up, you have no heart.