You'll Be Gone recorded 'It's Now Or Never' and he wanted to take another old standard that was a great song and change the lyrics. ... He said 'I like the song "Begin the Beguine". I like the melody but I'd like to put new lyrics on it.'" When Cole Porter denied permission to alter the lyrics, Elvis, West, and Charlie Hodge worked on creating new lyrics and new music for a song that would be entitled "You'll Be Gone". The song was replete with Latin rhythms and classical guitar passages. The beguine had been a dance popular in Martinique and Guadeloupe in
Begin the Begin of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987". As the opening track on "Lifes Rich Pageant", the song heralded a new clarity in Stipe's vocals. Written on acoustic guitars in Stipe's home, the original version of the song was a minute longer, with five different choruses, lacking melody and a bridge. Replete with references to Americana and revolution, the title is a pun on Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine". Begin the Begin "Begin the Begin" is the first song on R.E.M.'s fourth album, "Lifes Rich Pageant". Lead singer Michael Stipe has called it "a song of personal, political activism." Though never released as