"Get Up" is the fourth and final

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released 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 alternative ...

from the band's sixth album ''

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

'' (1988). It was included in the limited edition ''Singleactiongreen'' box set released in November 1989. The song was released as a single only in the US but failed to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was written by Michael Stipe about

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 ...

. Mills always seemed to sleep late during their recording sessions for ''Green''. This was Stipe's call for Mills to get up and work. However, Mills did not find this out until a concert in the late 1990s, when Stipe introduced the song as being about him.Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.. Backbeat Books. . The video for the song was created by a young filmmaker named

Eric Darnell Eric Darnell (born August 21, 1961) is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, screenwriter, songwriter and occasional voice actor best known for co-directing ''Antz'' with Tim Johnson, as well as co-directing and co-writing ''Madagas ...

, who had recently graduated from the CalArts program in experimental animation and who went on to co-direct the mainstream computer-animated features '' Antz'' and ''

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

''. In the film '' Tourfilm'', which features footage from R.E.M.'s tour in 1989, Stipe introduces this song as his favorite. During the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, several music boxes are played at once. This was the idea of

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 ...

, who had originally envisioned this in a dream.

Track listing

# "Get Up" (

, Peter Buck,

, Michael Stipe) – 2:35 # " Funtime" (

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

) – 2:14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Get Up 1989 singles R.E.M. songs Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Peter Buck Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Michael Stipe Warner Records singles 1988 songs Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Bubblegum pop songs