The song is from the R.E.M.'s 1987 Document album, which spent 33 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, peaking at #10. Here's what to listen for.
1. Peter Buck has a different guitar sound in every section, with a relatively clean electric on the verse, a bigger distorted one on the B sections and choruses, and another on the last part of the chorus and the bridge. An acoustic guitar enters on the next to last chorus and the very last chord of the song.
2. The guitar goes from mono in the verses and bridge to doubled in B sections and chorus. The acoustic guitar also leans to the left a little.
3. The playing is not perfect, but the timing is. It keeps that indie feel and stops the song from feeling too slick.
4. Listen to the hard mute at 2:28. You can hear a brief click of the beginning of next chord being cut off, something that would be easy to fix today in a DAW, but not so easy in the console/tape days.
