"Losing My Religion" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by R.E.M. | ||||
from the album Out of Time | ||||
B-side | "Rotary Eleven" | |||
Released | February 19, 1991 | |||
Recorded | September–October 1990 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:28 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
| |||
R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Audio sample | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Losing My Religion" on YouTube |
"Losing My Religion" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M.,released in February 1991 by Warner Bros. as the first single from their seventh album, Out of Time (1991). It developed from a mandolin riff improvised by the guitarist,Peter Buck,with lyrics about unrequited love.
"Losing My Religion" is R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States,reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and expanding their popularity. Its music video,directed by Tarsem Singh,features religious imagery.
At the 1992 Grammy Awards,"Losing My Religion" won Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Its video won awards for Video of the Year,Best Group Video,Breakthrough Video,Best Art Direction,Best Direction,and Best Editing at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. In 2020,"Losing My Religion" became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on YouTube In 2004, Rolling Stone listed "Losing My Religion" at No. 169 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.
The R.E.M. guitarist,Peter Buck,wrote the main riff and chorus for "Losing My Religion" on a mandolin. He had recently bought it and was learning how to play,recording as he practiced while watching television. Buck said that "when I listened back to it the next day,there was a bunch of stuff that was really just me learning how to play mandolin,and then there's what became 'Losing My Religion',and then a whole bunch more of me learning to play the mandolin". [4]
In July 1990,R.E.M. recorded a demo version with the working title "Sugar Cane" in a studio in Athens,Georgia,featuring banjo and Hammond organ. [5] Mike Mills wrote a bassline inspired by the Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie,saying he could not compose a bassline that was not derivative. [4] The final version was recorded in September at Bearsville Studio A in Woodstock,New York. [4]
Finding the song lacked midrange between the bass and mandolin,R.E.M. enlisted the touring guitarist Peter Holsapple on acoustic guitar. [6] Buck said,"It was really cool:Peter and I would be in our little booth,sweating away,and Bill and Mike would be out there in the other room going at it. It just had a really magical feel." [6] Michael Stipe recorded his vocals in a single take. [7] The strings,arranged by Mark Bingham,were performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in Atlanta,Georgia,in October 1990. [8]
"Losing My Religion" is based on Buck's mandolin part. Buck said,"The verses are the kinds of things R.E.M. uses a lot,going from one minor to another,kind [of] like those 'Driver 8' chords. You can't really say anything bad about E minor,A minor,D,and G ... We are trying to get away from those kind of songs,but like I said before,those are some good chords." [6] He felt "Losing My Religion" was the most "typical" R.E.M. song on the album. [6] The song is in natural minor. [9]
The title phrase is an expression from the Southern United States that means "losing one's temper or civility" or "feeling frustrated and desperate". [10] Stipe said the song was about romantic expression and unrequited love. [11] [12] The lines "That's me in the corner / That's me in the spotlight" were originally "That's me in the corner / That's me in the kitchen",describing a person at a social event too shy to approach the person they like. [13] Stipe compared the theme to "Every Breath You Take" (1983) by the Police,saying,"It's just a classic obsession pop song. I've always felt the best kinds of songs are the ones where anybody can listen to it,put themselves in it and say,'Yeah,that's me.'" [14]
The music video for "Losing My Religion" was directed by the Indian filmmaker Tarsem Singh. Unlike previous R.E.M. videos,Stipe agreed to lip-sync the lyrics. [15] The video begins inside a dark room where water drips from an open window. Recreating a scene from the Andrei Tarkovsky film The Sacrifice,Buck,Berry,and Mills run across the room while Stipe remains seated as a pitcher of milk drops from the windowsill and shatters.
The video originated as a combination of ideas envisioned by Stipe and Singh. Stipe wanted a straightforward performance video,akin to Sinéad O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U". Singh wanted to create a video in the style of a certain type of Indian filmmaking,where everything would be "melodramatic and very dreamlike",according to Stipe. [16] Singh said the video was modeled after the Gabriel García Márquez short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings",in which an angel crashes into a town and the villagers have varied reactions to him. [17] He also drew inspiration from the Italian painter Caravaggio,and the video uses religious imagery such as Saint Sebastian,the Biblical episode of the Incredulity of Thomas,and Hindu deities,portrayed in a series of tableaux. [18] The actor Wade Dominguez appears in the video. [19]
The "Losing My Religion" video was nominated in nine categories at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards and won for Video of the Year,Best Group Video,Breakthrough Video,Best Art Direction,Best Direction,and Best Editing. [20] It ranked second in the music video category of the 1991 Pazz &Jop poll. [21] In September 2020,"Losing My Religion" became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on YouTube. [22]
"Losing My Religion" was released on February 19,1991,in the United States as the lead single from R.E.M.'s album Out of Time. [14] Their record label,Warner Bros.,was wary of the choice of lead single. Steven Baker,then the vice president of product management.,said there were "long,drawn-out discussions" about releasing such an "unconventional track" as the single until the label agreed. [23]
R.E.M. did not tour to promote Out of Time,but visited radio stations,gave press interviews and made television appearances. [23] On November 10,1991,R.E.M. performed "Losing My Religion" with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to celebrate the tenth anniversary of MTV. It was recorded at the Madison Morgan Cultural Centre in Madison,Georgia,about 20 miles south of Athens. [24]
Warner Bros. worked to establish "Losing My Religion" at campus,modern rock,and album-oriented rock radio stations before promoting it to American Top 40 stations,where it became a success. According to one program director,"Losing My Religion" was "a hard record to program;you can't play L.L. Cool J behind it. But it's a real pop record—you can dance to it." He said it "crosses the boundaries of just being an alternative record". [23]
"Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s biggest hit in the US,reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. [25] It stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. [26] It topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for three weeks and the Modern Rock Tracks chart for eight weeks,the best performance of any R.E.M. song on either chart. It reached number 19 on the UK singles chart,No. 16 in Canada and No. 11 in Australia. [25]
With "Losing My Religion",R.E.M. crossed over into mainstream pop culture. [27] Asked if he was worried the success might alienate older fans,Buck told Rolling Stone,"The people that changed their minds because of 'Losing My Religion' can just kiss my ass." [28] Mills said R.E.M. understood they had a worldwide hit when they heard it on local radio in the jungle of Paraguay. [29] Years later,[ when? ] Mills said:"Without 'Losing My Religion',Out of Time would have sold two or three million [copies],instead of the ten [million copies] or so it did. But the phenomenon that is a worldwide hit is an odd thing to behold. Basically that record was a hit in almost every civilised country in the world." [7]
Caren Myers from Melody Maker named the song "Single of the Week",writing that it "occupies a smaller,more intimate space,delicately picking a path with mandolins and acoustic guitars,soothed by the mournful sweep of a string section. Deceptive echoes of "World Leader Pretend" dissolve on second listen as the song wraps itself around the impossibility of communication with glancing but painful accuracy. Stipe's writing is getting sparser and more intense,riddled with oblique insights but unwilling to point out where. This is R.E.M. at their most tender and unsettling,Stipe's careworn voice filled with inexplicable sadness,but as warm and familiar as ever." [30] A reviewer from Music &Media wrote:"Hearing such a beautiful song with a striking mandolin arrangement,provides an ample religious substitute." [31] Terry Staunton from NME found that it "is likely to be read as self-reflection on R.E.M.'s position in the worldwide musical scheme of things,doubt and discomfort at the prospect of unwanted disciples". [32]
Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel wrote that R.E.M. had returned to its "trademark jangle",and that "Stipe touches again on what seems to be ambivalence about his role as a pop star,and about the need to communicate with an audience". [33] David Fricke from Rolling Stone felt that "there is melancholy in the air:in the doleful strings and teardrop mandolin". [34] Celia Farber from Spin praised it as "a gorgeous,gorgeous song" and said "I actually get a hot/cold flash and have to play the song about 30 more times" when she hears the opening lyrics. [35]
"Losing My Religion" placed second in the Village Voice Pazz &Jop annual critics' poll,behind Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". [21] At the 1992 Grammy Awards,it earned several nominations,including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, [36] and won for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Music Video. [37] In 2004, Rolling Stone listed "Losing My Religion" at No. 169 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time",writing that "never before had Michael Stipe sounded so vulnerable,yearning,and articulate". [27] In 2007,VH1 named it the ninth-best song of the 90s, [38] and in 2009, Blender ranked it No. 79 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". [39] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included it in its 2004 list of "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". [40]
Personnel adapted from Out of Time liner notes, [41] except where noted
R.E.M.
Additional musicians
All songs were written by Bill Berry,Peter Buck,Mike Mills,and Michael Stipe except where noted.
7-inch
12-inch and compact disc
UK "Collector's Edition" CD one
UK "Collector's Edition" CD two
Notes
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [79] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [80] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [81] | 3× Platinum | 180,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [82] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [83] Physical single | Gold | 500,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [84] Digital single | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Europe | February 19, 1991 |
| Warner Bros. | [43] |
United States |
| [14] | ||
United Kingdom | February 25, 1991 |
| [85] |
Italian metal band Graveworm covered the song on their 2003 album Engraved in Black . Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) covered the song in the 2010 Glee episode "Grilled Cheesus". [86] The song reached number 60 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 47 on the Canadian Hot 100. [87] [88] Tori Amos recorded a cover version which appeared in the film Higher Learning . Italian band Lacuna Coil covered the song on their 2012 album Dark Adrenaline . American heavy metal band Trivium covered the song on their 2013 album Vengeance Falls . [89] Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan covered the song on his 2020 album Thief . [90] Hootie & the Blowfish covered the song for the 2020 reissue of their 2019 album Imperfect Circle . In a 2020 interview, guitarist Matt Bryan emphasized how influential R.E.M. had been in the band's development. [91] [92]
Automatic for the People is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on October 5, 1992 in the United Kingdom and Europe, and on the following day in the United States, by Warner Bros. Records. R.E.M. began production on the album while their previous album, Out of Time (1991), was still ascending charts and achieving global success. Aided by strings arranged by John Paul Jones and conducted by George Hanson, Automatic for the People features ruminations on mortality, loss, mourning, and nostalgia.
Out of Time is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 12, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records. With Out of Time, R.E.M.'s status grew from that of a cult band to a massive international act. The record topped the album sales charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, spending 109 weeks on U.S. album charts and, with two separate spells at the top, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts, including one week at the top. The album has sold more than four and a half million copies in the United States and more than 18 million copies worldwide. Out of Time won three Grammy Awards in 1992: one as Best Alternative Music Album, and two for its first single, "Losing My Religion".
Monster is the ninth studio album by American rock band R.E.M., released by Warner Bros. Records in the UK on September 26, 1994, and in the US the following day. It was produced by the band and Scott Litt and recorded at four studios. The album was an intentional shift from the style of their previous two albums, Out of Time (1991) and Automatic for the People (1992), by introducing loud, distorted guitar tones and simple lyrics.
Fables of the Reconstruction is the third studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released on June 10, 1985, through I.R.S. Records. It was the band's first album recorded outside of the U.S., with sessions taking place at Livingston Studios in London with producer Joe Boyd. The record displays a darker, murkier sound than its predecessors, with lyrics drawing from Southern Gothic themes and characters. The album also utilizes more varied instrumentation, including string and brass arrangements and banjo.
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 is the second official compilation album released by R.E.M. Issued in 2003, it includes tracks from their Warner Bros. Records era, from 1988's Green to 2001's Reveal, as well as two new recordings and two songs from movie soundtracks. The album was the tenth-best-selling album of 2003 in the UK, and the 50th-best-selling album of the 2000s in the UK.
"What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994). The song's title refers to an incident in New York City in 1986 in which two then-unknown assailants attacked journalist Dan Rather while repeating "Kenneth, what is the frequency?"
"Nightswimming" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in July 1993 by Warner Bros. as the fifth single from the band's eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The song is a ballad featuring singer Michael Stipe accompanied only by bassist Mike Mills on piano, a string arrangement by former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and oboe by Deborah Workman in the latter part of the piece. Mills wrote the music and Stipe the lyrics of the song, but it is credited to the entire band. Stipe sings about a group of friends who go skinny dipping at night, which draws from similar experiences in the band's early days. The music video for the song was directed by Jem Cohen.
"Shiny Happy People" is a song by the American rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their seventh studio album, Out of Time (1991). It features guest vocals by Kate Pierson of the B-52's, who also appears in the music video.
"Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, Automatic for the People (1992), and released as a single in April 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100, but fared much better on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. The song also reached the top 10 on the charts of Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Its music video was directed by Jake Scott and filmed in San Antonio, Texas. In 2003, Q ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever", and in 2005, Blender ranked the song at number 238 on their list of "Greatest Songs Since You Were Born".
"Man on the Moon" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in November 1992 as the second single from their eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck. The song was well received by critics and reached number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 17 on the US Cash Box Top 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Iceland. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011.
"The One I Love" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released on the band's fifth full-length studio album, Document, and also as a 7" vinyl single in 1987. The song’s release as a single preceded the release of Document by a week. It was their first hit single, reaching No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 14 in Canada, and later reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart in its 1991 re-release.
"Imitation of Life" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was written by band members Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe and produced by the band with Pat McCarthy for their 12th studio album, Reveal (2001). The track's title comes from Douglas Sirk's 1959 film of the same name and is used as a metaphor for adolescence and adulthood. One of R.E.M.'s most pop-influenced tracks, "Imitation of Life" has been described lyrically as "see[ing] through the puffed-up performance of a hopeful entertainer", as well as the enjoyment of love.
"Electrolite" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released as the closing track from their tenth studio album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996), and as the album's third single later that year. The song is a piano-based ballad dedicated to Hollywood and the closing twentieth century. Frontman Michael Stipe initially objected to including the song on the album, but was convinced by his bandmates Peter Buck and Mike Mills.
"Stand" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from the album Green in 1989. The song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming R.E.M.'s second top 10 hit in the United States, and topped both the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts. The song reached number 48 on the UK Singles Chart and number 16 in Canada. It was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records "best of" album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003, as well as the 2011 compilation album Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage.
"E-Bow the Letter" is the first single from American rock band R.E.M.'s 10th studio album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996). It was released on August 19, 1996, several weeks before the album's release. During the same month, R.E.M. signed a then record-breaking five-album contract with Warner Bros. Records. The song features American singer-songwriter and "Godmother of Punk" Patti Smith performing backing vocals. Smith was cited as a major influence by band members Michael Stipe and Peter Buck, and she also provided backing vocals for "Blue", the closing track on the band's final studio album, Collapse into Now, in 2011.
"Pop Song 89" is the opening track and third single released from R.E.M.'s sixth studio album Green. It peaked at number 86 on the Hot 100, and in the UK "Stand" was re-released instead.
"Animal" is a single released by American rock band R.E.M. It was one of two new songs recorded for the band's Warner Bros. Records compilation album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, and was released as a single in support of the album.
"Supernatural Superserious" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It is the first single and third track from the band's fourteenth album Accelerate and premiered on now defunct New York City radio station WRXP on February 5, 2008, without the consent of Warner Bros. Records. The single was first released on February 11, 2008 as an MP3, and February 25, 2008 on CD. Michael Stipe considers the song to be "one of the best things we've ever wrote."
R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. was noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style; Stipe's distinctive vocal quality, unique stage presence, and obscure lyrics; Mills's melodic bass lines and backing vocals; and Berry's tight, economical drumming style. In the early 1990s, other alternative rock acts such as Nirvana, Pixies and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left in 1997, the band continued with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011, having sold more than 90 million albums worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music acts.
Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions is a 2014 live album from alternative rock band R.E.M., released initially on vinyl recordings through Rhino Records for Record Store Day, and later made available on compact disc and digitally. The album is composed of two performances that the band made on the U.S. television show MTV Unplugged. Among the album's 33 tracks are 11 performances which were not aired on either broadcast. To promote the album, Mike Mills signed copies at independent record store Bull Moose in Scarborough, Maine. Video of the concerts was released later that year on REMTV.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)