"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" is the second and final single released by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

R.E.M. 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 alternati ...

from their second studio album, '' Reckoning''. The song failed to chart on either the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 or the

UK Singles Charts The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top- ...

Background

The song was written by

Mike Mills Michael Edward Mills (born December 17, 1958) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock band R.E.M. Though known primarily as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist of R.E.M., h ...

(credited to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe), in 1980, as a plea to his then girlfriend, Ingrid Schorr, not to return to Rockville, Maryland, where her parents lived. Schorr, who later became a journalist, has written about her amusement with the factual inaccuracies about her relationship with Mills and the background of the song that often appear in books about the band. Peter Buck has stated that the song was originally performed in a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

thrash Thrash may refer to: *Thrashing (computer science), where increasing resources are used to do a decreasing amount of work *Thrash (surname) * Thrash, mascot of the Atlanta Thrashers *'' Thrash Rally'', a top-down perspective rally racing video gam ...

style, and that it was recorded for this single in its now more-familiar country-inspired arrangement as a joke aimed at R.E.M. manager

Bertis Downs Bertis Edwin Downs IV (born July 13, 1956) is an American entertainment lawyer. He originally provided legal counsel (particularly for initial contracts), and then became both counselor and manager, for the rock band R.E.M., taking over from the ...

.Liner notes to R.E.M.'s ''Eponymous''. Over time, Mike Mills has taken over lead vocals instead of Michael Stipe when the band has played the song live. On R.E.M.'s appearance on ''

VH1 Storytellers ''Storytellers'' is a television music series produced by the VH1 network. In each episode, artists perform in front of a (mostly small and intimate) live audience, and tell stories about their music, writing experiences and memories, somewhat ...

'' in 1998, Mills performed the song solo on piano. A live version of the song was released as the B-side to " Leaving New York" in 2004 and on ''

R.E.M. Live ''R.E.M. Live'' is a live album from R.E.M., recorded at the Point Theatre, Dublin, on February 26 and 27, 2005, the closing nights of the winter European leg of the ''Around the World Tour'' in support of their thirteenth studio album ''Around t ...

'' in 2007. Twelve years after originally written, alternative rock band

10,000 Maniacs 10,000 Maniacs is an American alternative rock band that was founded in 1981. They have released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums. They achieved their most significant success between 1987 and 1993, when they released four album ...

included a cover version as the fourth track on their 1992 single "

Candy Everybody Wants "Candy Everybody Wants" is the second single by alternative rock group 10,000 Maniacs from their 1992 album, ''Our Time in Eden''. The song was written by Dennis Drew and Natalie Merchant, the band's keyboardist and lead singer respectively. ''Ro ...

Track listings

All songs written by Bill Berry,

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

and

Michael Stipe John Michael Stipe (; born January 4, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and artist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of alternative rock band R.E.M. He is known for his vocal quality, poetic lyrics and unique stage presence. Pos ...

. European singles #"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (Edit) – 3:55 #"Wolves, Lower" – 4:14 #"9-9" (Live)¹ (12" only) #"

Gardening at Night "Gardening at Night" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was recorded for the band's 1982 debut EP '' Chronic Town''. Writing The song is said to have been written on a mattress in the front yard of the Oconee Street church in Athens, Geo ...

" (Live)¹ (12" only) US singles #"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (Edit) – 3:55 #"Catapult" (Live)²

Notes

¹ Recorded at the Theater El Dorado,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, April 20, 1984.
² Recorded at the Music Hall,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, June 27, 1984.

References

External links

“Behind the Song: ‘(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville’ by R.E.M.”
from ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

''
Ingrid Schorr on the song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dont Go Back To Rockville R.E.M. songs Rockville, Maryland Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Peter Buck Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Michael Stipe I.R.S. Records singles 1984 singles Songs based on actual events Song recordings produced by Don Dixon (musician) Song recordings produced by Mitch Easter Country rock songs 1984 songs