"Electrolite" is a song by

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 ...

released as their third single and closing track from their tenth studio album, ''

New Adventures in Hi-Fi ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'' is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in t ...

''. The song is a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

-based

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

icons and the closing 20th century. Initially,

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. Poss ...

objected to including the song on the album, but was won over by

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 car ...

and

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., hi ...

. It has since become one of his favorite R.E.M. songs as well as one of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

lead singer

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...

's; Radiohead has covered the song. The single was released on December 2, 1996, in the United Kingdom and on February 2, 1997, in the United States. Commercially, "Electrolite" reached the top 40 in Canada, Finland, Iceland and the United Kingdom but stalled at number 96 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single's

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, directed by

Peter Care Peter Alan Care (born 28 April 1953) is an English director of music videos, commercials and film. He has directed music videos for Cabaret Voltaire, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Depeche Mode and New Order, amongst others. Biogr ...

and

Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...

, "involved dune buggies, crazy costumes, and rubber reindeer."

Composition

The piano line for the song was originally written by Mills in his apartment before bringing it to the band. The lyrics were composed by Stipe about the two-year period he spent living in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

and the trips he would take to people-watch on

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

. During a June 21, 2008 performance in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Stipe mentioned that he was inspired to write the song after the

1994 Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately ...

. He told the audience that his home in L.A. was badly damaged and he went up Mulholland Drive and watched the lights from the city at night. Like most of ''New Adventures in Hi-Fi'', this song was recorded while on tour promoting ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

''. This song was recorded by Joe O'Herlihy,

Scott Litt Scott Warren Litt (born March 10, 1954) is an American record producer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock genre and is best known for producing six R.E.M. albums in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s during the band's most suc ...

, and Jo Ravitch during a

soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small port ...

before their November 4, 1995 show in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

's Desert Sky Pavilion.

Lyrical content

In June 2006, the website of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' featured an article on Mulholland Drive including excerpts from an essay Stipe wrote about the highway: :"Mulholland represents to me the iconic 'from on high' vantage point looking down at L.A. and the valley at night when the lights are all sparkling and the city looks, like it does from a plane, like a blanket of fine lights all shimmering and solid. I really wanted to write a farewell song to the 20th century. ::20th century go to sleep. ::Really deep. ::We won't blink. :"And nowhere seemed more perfect than the city that came into its own throughout the 20th century, but always looking forward and driven by ideas of a greater future, at whatever cost. :"Los Angeles. :"I name check three of the great legends of that single industry 'town,' as it likes to refer to itself. In order:

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

. All iconic, all representing different aspects of masculinity—a key feature of 20th century ideology. It is the push me-pull you of a culture drawing on mid-century ideas of society, butt up against and in a great tug-of-war with

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

/rebirth/epiphany/

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

, wiping out all that that came before to be replaced by something 'better,' more civilized, more tolerant, fair, open, and so on ...

reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

,' 'soylent green,' 'Blade Runner, bladerunner,' current gubernatorial debates] :"The 'really deep' in the lyric is, of course, self-deprecating towards attempting at all, in a pop song, to communicate any level of depth or real insight. :"Mulholland is the place in films where you get a distance, and the awe, of the city built on dreams and fantasy. Far away enough to not smell it but to marvel at its intensity and sheer audacity. Kinda great. :"The title of the song came from flying into L.A. and/or seeing it from on high and it looking like a blanket of stars or those bizarre sea creatures that light up when you stir up the water. How I got 'electrolite' out of that I don't know, I still can't think of the word I was going for, but it is actually called '

phosphorescence Phosphorescence is a type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. When exposed to light (radiation) of a shorter wavelength, a phosphorescent substance will glow, absorbing the light and reemitting it at a longer wavelength. Unlike fluo ...

' or '

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some b ...

.' I thought it was 'electro'- something, so I just used light/lyte, giving it the 'lite' of modern fad diet language." During R.E.M.'s performance 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 ...

'', Stipe introduced the song by saying:

"I had a dentist in Los Angeles, who was also a dentist to Martin Sheen, and Martin Sheen was in the dentist's chair, getting his tooth drilled, when I went up to him and said, 'We have a record coming out in a couple of weeks and you're mentioned in one of the songs, and I just want you to know that it's honoring you; I don't want you to think that we're making fun of you.' And he was saying mpression of Sheen speaking with the dentist working on his mouth'Thank you very much!'. He was very nice about it."

Track listing

All songs written by

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guitar ...

and

. #"Electrolite" – 4:05 #"The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live) – 5:07 #"Binky the Doormat" (Live) – 5:01 #" King of Comedy" (

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...

remix) – 5:36 Live tracks were recorded at the

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey, hockey. It was part of the CNN Center, Omni ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on November 18, 1995. Taken from the live performance video, ''

Road Movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

''.

Live versions

June 8, 1997, New York City *Mike Mills – drum machine, piano *Michael Stipe – vocals October 27, 1998, London *Peter Buck – guitar *

Scott McCaughey Scott Lewis McCaughey is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter and the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5. He was also an auxiliary member of the American rock band R.E.M. from 199 ...

– keyboards *Mike Mills – piano *Michael Stipe – vocals *

Ken Stringfellow Kenneth Stuart Stringfellow (born October 30, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. Best known for his work with The Posies, R.E.M., and the re-formed Big Star, Stringfellow's discography include ...

– bass guitar *

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronker w ...

– drums, percussion July 19, 2003, Wiesbaden *Peter Buck – banjo *Scott McCaughey – guitar *Mike Mills – piano *

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scene ...

– drums *Michael Stipe – vocals *Ken Stringfellow – bass guitar October 7, 2003, New York City *Peter Buck – guitar *Scott McCaughey – keyboards *Mike Mills – piano *Bill Rieflin – drums, percussion *Michael Stipe – vocals *Ken Stringfellow – banjo June 30 – July 5, 2007, Dublin *Peter Buck – guitar *Scott McCaughey – keyboards *Mike Mills – piano *Bill Rieflin – drums, percussion *Michael Stipe – vocals March 13, 2008, Austin *Peter Buck – guitar *Scott McCaughey – bass guitar *Mike Mills – piano *Bill Rieflin – drums, percussion *Michael Stipe – vocals

Personnel

"Electrolite" *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

–

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Andy Carlson Andrew Carlson is a violinist from the United States. He began learning traditional fiddle music from his grandfather when he was five. He has won numerous fiddle contests including being named Georgia State Champion Fiddler twice and being named t ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Nathan December Nathan December is an American rock guitarist, best known for his work as a side musician with R.E.M. and the Goo Goo Dolls during the 1990s. He lives in Los Angeles, California. Music December appeared in the 1994 film ''Reality Bites'' playing ...

– guiro *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

"The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live) *Bill Berry – drums *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *

– guitar,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Mike Mills –

, vocals *Michael Stipe – vocals "Binky the Doormat" (Live) *Bill Berry – drums *Peter Buck – guitar *Nathan December – guitar *Scott McCaughey – guitar, keyboards *Mike Mills – bass guitar, vocals *Michael Stipe – vocals "King of Comedy" (808 State Remix) *Bill Berry – drums *Peter Buck – guitar *

Sally Dworsky Sally Dworsky is an American singer-songwriter and playback singer in animated films. In addition to her solo work and co-fronting the alt-rock band Uma, Dworsky served as the singing voice for lead characters in iconic animated films including ...

– background vocals *Mike Mills – bass guitar, vocals *Michael Stipe – vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

"Electrolite" was released as a single on 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl, cassette, and two-track and maxi-CD singles. The 7-inch, cassette, and two-track CD releases only contain "Electrolite" and "The Wake-Up Bomb" (Live). The song was included in R.E.M.'s

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

greatest-hits compilation '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003''. The music video appears on the accompanying

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

'' In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003''. The public debut of the song was performed by Mills and Stipe on June 8, 1997 in New York City for the

Tibetan Freedom Concert Tibetan Freedom Concert is the name given to a series of socio-political music festivals held in North America, Europe and Asia from 1996 onwards to support the cause of Tibetan independence. The concerts were originally organized by the Beast ...

and released on ''

''. Another version recorded on October 27, 1998 for ''

Later with Jools Holland ''Later... with Jools Holland'' (also known as ''Even Later... with Jools Holland'', and previously known as ''Later Live... with Jools Holland'' and ''...Later with Jools Holland'') is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jo ...

'' in the BBC Television Centre in London was released as a b-side to "

Suspicion Suspicion is a feeling of mistrust. Suspicion(s), The Suspicion, or Suspicious may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Suspicion'' (1918 film), an American silent film directed by John M. Stahl * ''Suspicion'' (1941 film), an American ...

" with a recording of " Man on the Moon" from the same performance. The July 19, 2003 performance also appears on the '' Perfect Square'' DVD. A version recorded live in-studio at Clinton Studios in New York City on October 7, 2003 was included in the promotional disc ''A Joyful Noise – In Time with R.E.M.''; the promo includes several other songs from that session. R.E.M.'s performance from their 2005 Dublin rehearsals was released on the live album '' Live at The Olympia'' and their 2008 performance from ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show t ...

'' appears on ''

R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX R.E.M. was an American Rock music, 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 ...

''. "Suspicion" single ''A Joyful Noise – In Time with R.E.M.''

References

External links

Lyrics from R.E.M. HQFull video on R.E.M. HQ's YouTube channel
{{Authority control 1990s ballads 1996 singles Music videos directed by Spike Jonze R.E.M. songs Rock ballads Songs about California Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Peter Buck Songs written by Michael Stipe Songs written by Mike Mills Warner Records singles Folk rock songs 1996 songs Songs about Los Angeles