Flowers of Guatemala

The Flowers of Guatemala
In a nutshell, the CIA overthrew a democratically-elected government because it was restricting U.S. corporate interests (The United Fruit Company) there. That happened in the 1950s under Eisenhower. Since then, the CIA has supported and planted a succession of military dictators in power. Those dictators and the military machines they upheld have slaughtered a total of 110,000 Guatemalan peasants over the years. All documented by human rights groups, though not (surprise, surprise) by the U.S. press. [bery]

"Amanita is the name"
Amanita is a scientific name, the genus of the most poisonous mushrooms in the world.
I remember that one species of Amanita (A. muscaria) is used to induce hallucinations, tho these visions stem from the delirium induced by the severe illness ingesting these things cause.

Amanita (muscaria) is the name.
"The flowers cover everything"
According to Stipe, the flowers on graves of the dead killed by the government. [Ron Henry]

http://www.flim.com/remlafaq/lrp/fog.html

I know he says that it's about Genocide, but there's nothing in the song itself to indicate that's anything other than an afterthought. The song is about mushrooms and people that look 'colorful', and seeing things that one hasn't seen before. Stipe can say the song is about genocide but with all due respect, based on the lyrics of the song, it is clearly about eating a mushroom.

The song was written right after the height of the genocide in Guatemala in 1981-1983 by the US-backed Guatemalan army. Quote by guitarist Peter Buck at the time of the album's release:“Forty people a week disappear in Guatemala. Why? Where do they go? Why do we support that?” About this song he said: “It doesn’t mention political oppression or the death squads, but I think it gets across.” (It Crawled From The South, An R.E.M. Companion - Marcus Gray)




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