My Top 2000 Songs #1117: Na Nanana

R.E.M. were the center of the musical universe in the mid-80s (or at least the center of my musical universe). Their growing success helped shine a light on other indie bands from Athens, Georgia, as highlighted on a 1986 music documentary (and accompanying soundtrack) called Athens, GA: Inside/Out. Besides featuring R.E.M. and forerunners of the Athens scene like the B-52s and Pylon, the doc covered newer, lesser-known bands in the region.

Among those was The Squalls. The soundtrack featured them performing "Na Nanana" (a song originally released on their 1984 debut EP), and while I didn't necessarily gravitate towards the band--much of their material was rather eccentric and experimental, more indebted to Pylon and maybe Devo (though they had some other great pop tunes)--the straightforward, wondrously catchy "Na Nanana" perfectly encapsulated the jangle pop sound associated with the 80s R.E.M.-centric scene. I've been humming it to myself for 40 years, so that says something.

As seen in the film:

Random cover from 2023: