"Losing My Religion" | ||||
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Single by R.E.M. | ||||
from the album Out of Time | ||||
B-side | "Rotary Eleven" | |||
Released | February 19, 1991 | |||
Recorded | September–October 1990 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 4:28 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
Music video | ||||
"Losing My Religion" on YouTube |
"Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M.,released in February 1991 as the first single and the second track from the group's seventh album, Out of Time (1991). Built on a mandolin riff,it was written by lead singer Michael Stipe and is about unrequited love. [4] The song was an unlikely hit for the group,garnering extensive airplay on radio as well as on MTV and VH1 due to its critically acclaimed music video. The single became R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States,reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and expanding the group's popularity beyond its original fan-base. At the 1992 Grammy Awards,"Losing My Religion" won two awards:Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. [5] In 2017,"Losing My Religion" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [6]
R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck wrote the main riff and chorus to the song on a mandolin while watching television one day. Buck had just bought the instrument and was attempting to learn how to play it,recording the music as he practiced. 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." [7]
Recording of the song started in September 1990 at Bearsville Studio A in Woodstock,New York. [7] The song was arranged in the studio with mandolin,electric bass,and drums. [8] Bassist Mike Mills came up with a bassline inspired by the work of Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie;by his own admission he could not come up with one for the song that was not derivative. [7] Buck said the arrangement of the song "had a hollow feel to it. There's absolutely no midrange on it,just low end and high end,because Mike usually stayed pretty low on the bass." The band decided to have touring guitarist Peter Holsapple play acoustic guitar on the recording. Buck reflected,"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." [8] Singer Michael Stipe's vocals were recorded in a single take. [9] Orchestral strings,arranged by Mark Bingham,were added to the song by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in Atlanta,Georgia,in October 1990. [10]
"Losing My Religion" is based on Peter Buck's mandolin-playing. 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 –I mean,they're just good chords." Buck noted that "Losing My Religion" was "probably the most typical R.E.M.-sounding song on the record. We are trying to get away from those kind of songs,but like I said before,those are some good chords." [8] Orchestral strings play through parts of the song. The song is in natural minor. [11]
Stipe has repeatedly stated that the song's lyrics are not about religion. The phrase "losing my religion" is an expression from the southern region of the United States that means "losing one's temper or civility" or "feeling frustrated and desperate." [12] Stipe told The New York Times the song was about romantic expression. [13] He told Q that "Losing My Religion" is also about "someone who pines for someone else. It's unrequited love,what have you." [14] Stipe compared the song's 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.'" [15]
"Losing My Religion" was released on February 19,1991,in the United States as the lead single from R.E.M.'s forthcoming album Out of Time. [15] The band's record label,Warner Bros.,was wary about the group's choice of the song as the album's first single. Steven Baker,who was vice president of product management at Warner Bros. at the time,said there were "long,drawn-out discussions" about releasing such an "unconventional track" as the single until the label agreed. While R.E.M. declined to tour to promote Out of Time,the band visited radio stations,gave numerous press interviews,and made appearances on MTV to promote the record. Meanwhile,Warner Bros. worked to establish the single at campus,modern rock,and album-oriented rock radio stations before promoting it to American Top 40 stations,where it became a success. "The record crosses the boundaries of being just an alternative record",one Top 40 radio station program director said;he admitted that "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." [16]
"Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s biggest hit in the U.S.,peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. [17] The single stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. [18] It topped both the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts,for three and eight weeks respectively,also personal bests for the band on both charts. It charted at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart,and peaked at No. 16 and No. 11 in Canada and Australia,respectively. [17] It was #1 in the Netherlands,the first time the band had topped a national chart. Mills said years later,"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." [9] The success of "Losing My Religion" and Out of Time broadened R.E.M.'s audience beyond its original college radio fanbase. When asked at the time if he was worried that the song's 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." [19]
"We were once in Paraguay,well into the jungle," Mills told Vulture in 2023. "We were going to help sign over 500,000 acres to the Indigenous Aché people of northern Paraguay. We were still getting reception from the local radio station and 'Losing My Religion' came on. That was pretty surprising. That's when we knew we had a worldwide hit." [20]
Caren Myers from Melody Maker named the song Single of the Week,adding,"'Losing My Religion' 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." [21] A reviewer from Music &Media wrote,"Hearing such a beautiful song with a striking mandolin arrangement,provides an ample religious substitute." [22] 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". [23] Parry Gettelman from Orlando Sentinel remarked that here,the band returns to its "trademark jangle","but Buck employs a mandolin instead of a Rickenbacker. 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." [24] David Fricke from Rolling Stone felt that "there is melancholy in the air:in the doleful strings and teardrop mandolin of "Losing My Religion". [25] Celia Farber from Spin praised it as "a gorgeous,gorgeous song",adding,"When Stipe sings "That's me in the corner/That's me in the spotlight losing my religion",I actually get a hot/cold flash and have to play the song about 30 more times. Right away." [26]
The single placed second in the Village Voice Pazz &Jop annual critics' poll,behind Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". [27] R.E.M. was nominated for seven awards at the 1992 Grammy Awards. "Losing My Religion" alone earned several nominations,including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. [28] The song won two awards,for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Music Video. [29] In 2004, Rolling Stone listed the song at No. 169 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2007,the song was listed as No. 9 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s. [30] In 2009, Blender ranked it at No. 79 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". [31] The song is also included on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. [32]
The accompanying music video for "Losing My Religion" was directed by Tarsem Singh. As opposed to previous R.E.M. videos,Michael Stipe agreed to lip sync the lyrics. [33] The video originated as a combination of ideas envisioned by Stipe and Singh. Stipe wanted the promo to be 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. [34] Singh has said the video is 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. [35]
The video begins with a brief sequence 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 song then begins. Director Singh also drew inspiration from the Italian painter Caravaggio and the video is laden with religious imagery such as Saint Sebastian,the Biblical episode of the Incredulity of Thomas and Hindu deities,portrayed in a series of tableaux. [36] Actor Wade Dominguez (1966-1998),who played Emilio in Dangerous Minds (1995),appears in the music video. [37]
The music video was nominated in nine categories at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. The video won six awards,including Video of the Year,Best Group Video,Breakthrough Video,Best Art Direction,Best Direction,and Best Editing. [38] "Losing My Religion" also ranked second in the music video category of the 1991 Pazz &Jop poll. [27]
The music video hit one billion views on YouTube in September 2022,becoming the band's first video to do so. [39]
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 twenty miles south of Athens. [40]
They also performed the song earlier in the year for MTV Unplugged ,and again in 2001.
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) [78] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [79] | 2× Platinum | 100,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [80] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [81] Physical single | Gold | 500,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [82] 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 |
| [15] | ||
United Kingdom | February 25, 1991 |
| [83] |
Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) covered the song in the 2010 Glee episode "Grilled Cheesus". [84] The song reached number 60 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 47 on the Canadian Hot 100. [85] [86]
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 .
Italian metal band Graveworm covered the song on their 2003 album Engraved in Black .
American heavy metal band Trivium covered the song on their 2013 album Vengeance Falls . [87]
Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan covered the song on his 2020 album Thief . [88]
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. [89] [90]
Automatic for the People is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released by Warner Bros. Records on October 5, 1992, in the United Kingdom and Europe, and on the following day in the United States. R.E.M. began production on the album while their previous album, Out of Time (1991), was still ascending top albums charts and achieving global success. Aided by string arrangements from 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 enjoying two separate spells at the summit, and spending 183 weeks on the British charts and a single 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. The album won three Grammy Awards in 1992: one as Best Alternative Music Album, and two for the first single, "Losing My Religion."
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 a prominent oboe by Deborah Workman in the latter part of the piece. 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 Great Beyond" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., written for the 1999 film Man on the Moon. It was released as a single the same year for support of the film's soundtrack album. On the soundtrack, there is some dialogue from the movie at the end of the track; meanwhile, the single version is a radio edit, with the bridge omitted.
"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. It peaked at number 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song fared much better on the US Cash Box Top 100, where it peaked at number 18. It 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. In 2003, Q ranked "Everybody Hurts" at number 31 on their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". 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.
"Bang and Blame" is a song by American alternative rock group R.E.M. It was released as the second single from their ninth studio album, Monster (1994), on October 31, 1994 by Warner Bros. Records. The song was R.E.M.'s last to reach the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 19, and was also their last number-one single on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The single reached number one in Canada—R.E.M.'s only single to do so—and peaked inside the top 40 on the charts of Australia, Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
"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 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.
"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.
"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.
"Bad Day" is a song recorded by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It is one of two previously unreleased songs from their 2003 compilation album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, and was released as the album's lead single on September 15, 2003.
"Lotus" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their eleventh studio album, Up (1998). The song is somewhat minimalist, with Michael Stipe singing surreal lyrics in a percussive manner. It builds on a four-note keyboard part, with a distorted guitar riff at the beginning and after the second chorus. The song's recurring line "I ate the lotus" appeared in an alternate form in a previous R.E.M. song, "Be Mine". The line "dot dot dot and I feel fine" is a reference to R.E.M.'s 1987 hit "It's the End of the World as We Know It ".
"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 rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed 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 and Pavement viewed R.E.M. as a pioneer of the genre. After Berry left the band in 1997, the band continued its career in the 2000s with mixed critical and commercial success. The band broke up amicably in 2011 with members devoting time to solo projects after 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.
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