Green (REM) Easter Egg - Hidden "4" on CD Cover

This is on the record as well. Track 3 is also R 1 2 3 R 5 6 7 anyone know what this is about mail me

Sorry i meant track 4 is R NOT 3

When this album came out there was speculation REM was counting down to a final album, since "Document" prominently displays a "5" on the CD and cover, and "Out of Time," the next album, has a three-word title. Of course we all know that is not true now.

The 'R' for track '4' is actually a typo. I read that when the cover was being made, due to time restraints, the typo was missed by everyone. If you notice on a keyboard, 'R' is just below '4', an easy mistake.

stare at the orange cover for 30 seconds, then close your eyes. You'll see why they named the album "Green".....

anybody think that it might just have to do with the fact that on the cover the four is over the r

The R is a typo by Michael Stipe. Look how close 4 and R are on a QWERTY keyboard.

This is spooky: I don't believe that the 'R' on the back is actually a typo. If you look at the front cover there is the text "GREEN" and the text "R.E.M." Both of these R's on the front cover are overlayed by a 4. Please don't try to convince me these are typo's as well...

I always thought it stood for "release." As in this is the first single released off of our album.

thermonuclearmilk, in a way they have counted down from document,5 green 4 out of time 3 automatic for the people 2 monster 1 new adventures 0 oh and then bill left co-incidence?

As far as I know, Michael Stipe said that it was a mistake, he was typing GREEN but, as 4 an E are so close on a QWERTY keyboard. But he realized that it looked fine that way (with a 4 and and R), and he left it that way. He also added that he was tired of people trying to find weird explanations for these things... In fact,all this thing about numbers in covers began as a game, and stopped when he got too much fan mail regarding the subject, and too much questions from journalists... BYE

Here's a quote from an old edition of Q Magazine. (UK music mag); "...why...was the numeral "4" printed beneath the 'R'...? Stipe cited an essay called Metaphor As Mistake by one Walker Percy, which argued that human error (mishearing lyrics, misreading words etc) had a vital role to play in the creative process. In other words, Stipe, typing the information for the cover and hitting the wrong key, had left the mistake in as a valid art statement" Incidentally, the same article also says that "Green" was a triple pun by Stipe, meaning "environmentally friendly", "naive" and "the filthy dollar". (R.E.M. had just left their independent label for a huge deal with Warner Bros)

This is, in a way, an Easter Egg, but the untitled track eleven is listed on the actual compact disc, but not on the reverse cover. At least on my UK copy.

As I said above, this is not a typo -- Look at track 4 on the track listing on the reverse side. See the 1,2,3,R,5, etc? Good. Now flip the cover over and hold the front up so it reflects the light into your eyes. Look closely at the two R's in "R.e.m." and "gReen." They both have the number 4 overlayed in a transparent kind of ink. I have this album on CD so I don't know if it works on the vinyl/tape releases. NOT a typo!

in regards to quentin... "it's the end of the world as we know it..."