By 1982 The Replacements represented what every band represents, a semi-coherent group starting to exist in factions. Most bands, if they make it far enough, by the end of their first album and tour want to break up, it’s inevitable. The impossibility of getting a group of people together to work in some semblance of harmony is obviously difficult, but building a fan base, writing music they actually enjoy and then somehow tour and survive with any idea of continuing as a band is what is so monumentally difficult. On top of all that, surviving financially depends on either all parties working or having money from beforehand.
This all creates a natural tension and coping mechanisms that form camps, and the idea that one person is going to either lead them somewhere or lead his own way solo. It’s completely natural. It happens to every band. The pressures of life, both social and personal, build into distractions and also necessities for band members and whether they survive or not. R.E.M, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, etc it’s all completely normal. All of that and more definitely happened to The Replacements.
The Replacements were always going to change whether hardcore lasted as long as it did. A band whose main songwriters’ influences were The Faces, Johnny Thunders, NRBQ and Big Star was bound to shoot for the heartstrings at some point. Paul Westeberg by 1981 was already tracking demos that were causing internal friction within the band who at the other end of the court were at their brashest and fastest version of a hardcore band. As pointed out above, this is totally normal.
You’re Getting Married is famously the moment the band told Paul to “save it for your solo career” the infamous indication of another strain forming in the band's DNA, but also a side yet to be seen. In the age of Bryan Adams and John Cougar Mellencamp, this sort of saccharine reflection was frowned upon in the beer guzzling speed taking hardcore world. Paul was one of those types but also a collar to the wind disaffected heart on sleeve emotional type.
With his softer inclinations kept away from the band for the time being the group released Stink and kept afloat. It solidified them as a somewhat more melodic topic inclined hardcore band than your usual group (as already evident from their debut). Once they reached the Hootenanny sessions just six months after Stink’s release, Paul was chafing to let it out. Within Your Reach shouldn’t have worked.
A song that was essentially a demo turned out to be one of the group's greatest works and it was all done by one person. During a rare solo session, Paul Westerberg recorded a song set to a drum machine and it ended up transcending nearly the entire album. For context, the way the drum machine was used initially within rock drum contexts made them seem pale in comparison to utilizing the human Goliath drummers of the era. Drum machines in the rock world up to that point were relegated to demos. It was a place holder for drums, an afterthought to give your songs some semblance of feel in the absence of a drummer. However, when used in the proper sense, they were truly magnificent. Paul’s song did what had rarely been done in the rock world with machines before.
The song couldn’t work with a drummer. It’s situation caused it to thrive on the instance of its creation, a solo work done away from a band and a musical sense that didn’t work at all. This was after all a band whose four personalities defined the band so importantly to the story. It had to be done alone at night sneakily to be presented at a later date. It was also necessary and one of the first tears in Paul and drummer Chris Mars’ relationship. If this drum machine is so good at playing this style then why do we need this guy? This would play out in dramatic fashion later on but at the moment with a band not knowing their future direction and just their current “fast and hard” playbook, it was fine for now.
The guitars, which provide a consistent rhythm, are also spare when they need to be. Just a few chords before some errant picking flourishes on muted strings provides nice call and response accompaniment all while being dressed up in slow flanging dress work. An equally spare bass guitar enters before the song rhythmically coasts along the drum machine beat. Later on string keyboards enter the mix and despite their relative cheapness they work perfectly. Despite a generation wanting to keep their demos away from the spotlight this solo session is exactly what the group needed.
Paul’s lyrics and singing on the song are some of his best, it's no argument. Truly an accomplishment of his understanding of male/female and even social relationship struggles.
“I could live without so much
I can die without a clue
Sun keeps risin' in the west
I keep on wakin' fully confused”
Ultimately this sort of song up to that point in the group's career isn't done unless the democracy of the group is broken and one person does something so good that they break the band laws and do it on their own and they have to accept it because they can’t refuse something that good. It was emotional enough yet distant for the band to go for it. Another ripple, another normal thing bands go through.
“Cold without so much
Can die without a dream
Live without your touch
I'll die within your reach”
Paul’s vocals are really the highlight of the tune. Perfectly pacing the song as it goes along, building in excellent fashion into the choruses. He hangs on every word and embellishes it with stock loud guitar chords and even on later versions of the chorus shoots the melody even higher while performing a call and response with himself. As they end they are gently lowered back to the ground level by the string synths and drum machines. In all of its semi-static demo feel it works out effortlessly.
“Die within your reach
Die within your reach”
In terms of its execution and mood, I really don’t know how they fucking did it but they made a song that perfectly encapsulates what it’s like inside a high school at age fifteen February in winter. They captured that feeling so well with this one home run of a song done late at night alone that basically comes off as a polished demo. They created a song that sends you right back there every single time. It’s insane.
It’s impact on the band was massive. It was the doorway into the group allowing similar songs into their careers and thus pushing them towards a group that was truly 3D and developmental. It was inevitable in more ways than one, they just had to let it happen. The group first let on that they were more serious than just teen angst and speed taking and jokes. Here was a song that none of their peers were doing just yet and it was on an album where the opening track was a drunken musical chairs. The album's critical reception surely thrived off of this track, a track that aches for social and sexual connection, even towards the self. Paul knew he had something so well captured there was no reason for it to change. It was already well within his reach.