Shiny happy people dropping pants

Everybody hurts . . . but most people retain enough self-control to keep their pants on.

"I'm still stunned," Stipe said last week from Calgary, Alberta.

The W that triumphed Nov. 2 didn't stand for "win" in Stipe's corner. R.E.M. - the Athens, Ga.-based band made up of avid John Kerry supporters Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck - had played Washington D.C.'s DAR Constitution Hall the night before the election. Then it was on to their home away from home, New York City, where they would sit, hope and pray as the results came in.

Two nights later on Nov. 4, R.E.M. played a sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden. For the first time ever, the band opened with "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," a song the band normally reserves for the final encore. The show was pointedly quiet, with Stipe telling the audience he'd rather sing than talk. At the end of the show, Stipe did something that even surprised himself.

"I don't think I've ever pulled my pants down on stage before," he said. "I don't know why, but I just pulled them down. But anyone who was there at the Madison Square Garden show walked away with a different experience.

"I kind of self-destructed on stage."