R.E.M. Unearths 'Cuyahoga' To Protest Bush Environmental Policies

Athens, Georgia (Top40 Charts) - R.E.M. has unearthed "Cuyahoga," a track from the band's 1986 album, Lifes Rich Pageant, in some of its recent promotional performances as a protest of sorts to the environmental policies of President George W. Bush. The song is named for the river that flows through Cleveland into Lake Erie. It's a waterway that became so polluted at one point in time that it would burn if a torch were thrown into it.

Frontman Michael Stipe recently told that he looks back fondly on the band's political songs, although these days he has focused much more on personal politics. "I am very proud of those songs from our past," he said. "I think a bunch of them are actually quite good. We did 'Cuyahoga' from way back. We did it for an Unplugged session that we did in New York for MTV and we did it one of the shows in Europe, kind of as a protest to the current President's environmental policies or lack thereof."

You can catch R.E.M. performing "Cuyahoga" and other songs from its catalog tonight (August 9) when the band's return to Unplugged airs from 8-9 p.m. ET/PT on M2. A 30-minute version of the performance is slated to run on MTV proper on August 22 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.