Songwriter: Michael Stipe Peter Buck Mike Mills (R.E.M.)
Producer: Johnny Dollar
[Verse 1]
Nothing could be bring me closer
Nothing could be bring me near
Where is the road I follow?
To leave, leave
It's under, under, under my feet
The sea spread out there before me
Where do I go when the land touches sea?
There is my trust in what I believe
[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
[Verse 2]
Shifting the dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
Shifting the dream, it's charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it
Oh, I know it well, ugly and sweet
I temper madness with an even extreme
That's what keeps me, that's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I say that I'm a bantam lightweight
I say that I'm a phantom airplane that never left the ground
[Verse 3]
Lift my hands, my eyes are still
I'll walk into the sea
Lift myself a different place
Just leave it
I've longed for this to take me
I've longed for my release
I've waited for the calling
To leave
[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
[Outro]
Leavin'
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave
Nothing could be bring me closer
Nothing could be bring me near
Where is the road I follow?
To leave, leave
It's under, under, under my feet
The sea spread out there before me
Where do I go when the land touches sea?
There is my trust in what I believe
[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
[Verse 2]
Shifting the dream
Nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
Shifting the dream, it's charging the scene
I know where I marked the signs
I suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it
Oh, I know it well, ugly and sweet
I temper madness with an even extreme
That's what keeps me, that's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
I say that I'm a bantam lightweight
I say that I'm a phantom airplane that never left the ground
[Verse 3]
Lift my hands, my eyes are still
I'll walk into the sea
Lift myself a different place
Just leave it
I've longed for this to take me
I've longed for my release
I've waited for the calling
To leave
[Chorus]
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me
That's what keeps me down
To leave, leave it
Leave it all behind
[Outro]
Leavin'
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave, leave
Leave
In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003
- Everybody Hurts
- The Great Beyond
- All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)
- 2JN
- Country Feedback (Live from Wiesbaden, Germany / 2003)
- Drive (Live from Atlanta / 1992)
- Chance (Dub)
- The Lifting (Demo)
- Fretless
- It’s A Free World Baby
- Revolution
- Leave (Alt. Version)
- Star Me Kitten (Alternate Version)
- Pop Song 89 (Acoustic Version)
- Animal
- Daysleeper
- Orange Crush
- What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
- Losing My Religion
- Man on the Moon
- Nightswimming
- Bad Day
- All the Right Friends
- Stand
- The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
- E-Bow the Letter
- Electrolite
- At My Most Beautiful
- Imitation of Life
- Turn You Inside-Out (Live from Orlando / 1989)
- Losing My Religion
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
- Man on the Moon
- Everybody Hurts
- Orange Crush
- The One I Love
- Nightswimming
- The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
- Shiny Happy People
- What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
- Drive
- Imitation of Life
- Stand
- Find the River
- Radio Free Europe
- (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville
- E-Bow the Letter
- Country Feedback
- The Great Beyond
- Let Me In
- Fall on Me
- Try Not to Breathe
- So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)
- Ignoreland