"Losing My Religion" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

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 ...

, released in February 1991 as the first single from the group's seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). Built on a mandolin

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

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

. 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 fanbase. At the

1992 Grammy Awards The 34th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1992, recognizing accomplishments by musicians from the previous year (1991). Natalie Cole won the most awards (three), including Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Album of the Year. Paul ...

, "Losing My Religion" won two awards:

Best Short Form Music Video The Grammy Award for Best Music Video is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality short form music videos. Hon ...

and

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

Background

R.E.M. guitarist

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 ...

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."Black, p. 177. Recording of the song started in September 1990 at Bearsville Studio A in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, NY. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 in 20 ...

. The song was arranged in the studio with mandolin, electric bass, and drums.Mettler, Mike. "R.E.M.: Radio Songs". ''Guitar School''. September 1991. Bassist Mike Mills came up with a bassline inspired by the work of Fleetwood Mac bassist

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fle ...

; by his own admission he could not come up with one for the song that was not derivative. 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 Peter Livingston Holsapple (born February 19, 1956) is an American musician, who formed, along with Chris Stamey, the dB's, a jangle-pop band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongat ...

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." Singer

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 ...

's vocals were recorded in a single take.Buckley, p. 205. Orchestral strings, arranged by Mark Bingham, were added to the song by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in

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, in October 1990.

Composition and lyrics

"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 flike 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." Orchestral strings play through parts of the song. The song is in natural minor. Stipe has repeatedly stated that the song's lyrics are not about

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. The phrase "losing my religion" is an expression from the southern region of the United States that means "losing one's

temper Temper, tempered or tempering may refer to: Heat treatment * Tempering (metallurgy), a heat treatment technique to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys ** Temper mill, a steel processing line * Tempering (spices), a cooking technique where ...

or civility" or "feeling frustrated and desperate."Robert Sloane
Tensions Between Popular Music: R.E.M. as Artists-Intellectuals
. Chapter 4 in ''A Companion to Media Studies'', Angharad N. Valdivia (ed.), John Wiley & Sons, 2008. Stipe told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' the song was about romantic expression. He told '' Q'' that "Losing My Religion" is about "someone who pines for someone else. It's

unrequited love Unrequited love or one-sided love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such by the beloved. The beloved may not be aware of the admirer's deep and pure affection, or may consciously reject it. The Merriam Webster Online Dict ...

, what have you." Stipe compared the song's theme to "

Every Breath You Take "Every Breath You Take" is a song by the English rock band the Police from their album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest US and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles chart for eig ...

" (1983) by

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

, 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.'"Black, p. 180. In a 2020 interview for ''

Song Exploder ''Song Exploder'' is a music podcast created by Hrishikesh Hirway, who hosted it from its 2014 inception until late 2018 and again from December 2019 onwards. In January 2019, Thao Nguyen became a guest host for the year, with Christian Koons se ...

'', a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series, Bill Berry was reminded that handclaps were introduced later in the song. He was first played a stripped-down version of the song, featuring just his drum line and the handclaps. He was surprised to hear them and asked, "I wonder if they're in the mix. Is that the demo?" He was then played the final version of the song. "They ''are'' there!" he said, upon hearing it. "Wow. That's wild. I'm just flummoxed right now. It's thirty years ago; I'm sorry I didn't remember that."

Release and performance

"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''. 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 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

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." "Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s biggest hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 4 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100.Buckley, p. 358. The single stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. 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 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-s ...

, and peaked at No. 16 and No. 11 in Canada and Australia, respectively. Mills said years later, "Without 'Losing My Religion', ''Out of Time'' would have sold two or three million opies instead of the ten illion copiesor 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." 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."

Critical reception

A reviewer from '' Music & Media'' wrote, "Hearing such a beautiful song with a striking mandolin arrangement, provides an ample religious substitute." David Fricke from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' felt that "there is melancholy in the air: in the doleful strings and teardrop mandolin of "Losing My Religion". The single placed second in the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...

annual critics' poll, behind Nirvana's "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

". Christgau, Robert.
The 1991 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll
. ''

''. March 3, 1992. Retrieved on January 20, 2008. R.E.M. was nominated for seven awards at the

. "Losing My Religion" alone earned several nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song won two awards, for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and

. In 2004, ''

'' 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. In 2009, ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

'' ranked it at No. 79 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". The song is also included on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

Music video

The accompanying

for "Losing My Religion" was directed by

Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh Dhandwar (born 26 May 1961), known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials. He directed ''The Cell'' (2000), '' The Fall'' (2006, also screenwriter and producer), '' I ...

. As opposed to previous R.E.M. videos, Michael Stipe agreed to

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

the lyrics. 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 "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written and composed by Prince for his side project, The Family; the song featured on their eponymous 1985 debut album. The song features lyrics exploring feelings of longing from the point of view of an abando ...

". 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. Singh has said the video is modeled after the

Gabriel Garcia Marquez In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

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. 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 Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocle ...

, the Biblical episode of the Incredulity of Thomas and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

deities, portrayed in a series of tableaux. Actor Wade Dominguez (1966-1998), who played Emilio in '' Dangerous Minds'' (1995), appears in the music video. 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. "Losing My Religion" also ranked second in the music video category of the 1991 Pazz & Jop poll. The music video hit one billion views on YouTube in September 2022, becoming the band's first video to do so.

MTV performances

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 Morgan Cultural Centre in Madison, Georgia, about twenty miles south of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. They also performed the song earlier in the year for ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'', and again in 2001.

Personnel

R.E.M. * Bill Berry – drums, percussion *

– electric guitar, mandolin * Mike Mills – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards and arrangement *

– lead vocals Additional musicians *

– acoustic guitar

Track listing

All songs were written by Bill Berry,

, Mike Mills, and

except where noted. 7-inch # "Losing My Religion" – 4:29 # "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32 12-inch and compact disc # "Losing My Religion" – 4:29 # "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32 # " After Hours" ( Lou Reed) (Live)¹ – 2:08 UK "Collector's Edition" CD one # "Losing My Religion" – 4:29 # "

Stand Stand or The Stand may refer to: * To assume the upright position of standing * Forest stand, a group of trees * Area of seating in a stadium, such as bleachers * Stand (cricket), a relationship between two players * Stand (drill pipe), 2 or 3 ...

" (Live)¹ – 3:21 # "Turn You Inside-Out" (Live)¹ – 4:23 # "World Leader Pretend" (Live)¹ – 4:24 UK "Collector's Edition" CD two # "Losing My Religion" – 4:29 # "Fretless" – 4:51 # "Losing My Religion" (Live acoustic version/Rockline) – 4:38 # "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32 Notes *1. Taken from the live performance video, ''

Tourfilm ''Tourfilm'' (1990) is a documentary-style concert film by American rock band R.E.M. The film chronicles the band's 1989 ''Green'' tour of North America. Produced by frontman Michael Stipe and director Jim McKay, the black-and-white film features ...

''.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers

Finn Hudson Finn Christopher Hudson is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. The character was portrayed by Cory Monteith and first appeared on television when ''Glee'' premiered its pilot episode on Fox on May 19, 2009 ...

(

Cory Monteith Cory Allan Michael Monteith (; May 11, 1982 July 13, 2013) was a Canadian actor and musician who played Finn Hudson on the Fox television series '' Glee''. As an actor based in British Columbia, Monteith had minor roles on television series bef ...

) covered the song in the 2010 '' Glee'' episode " Grilled Cheesus". The song reached number 60 in the US on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 47 on the Canadian Hot 100. Tori Amos recorded a cover version which appeared in the film ''

Higher Learning ''Higher Learning'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams ( Omar Epp ...

''. Italian band Lacuna Coil covered the song on their 2012 album '' Dark Adrenaline''. Canadian singer-songwriter

Dan Mangan Daniel Mangan (born April 28, 1983) is a Canadian musician. He has won two Juno awards and has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia, having released 5 studio LPs and numerous EPs and singles. He has scored for featur ...

covered the song on his 2020 album ''

Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

''.Alex Hudson
"Dan Mangan Releases Covers Album 'Thief'"
'' Exclaim!'', November 20, 2020.

References

Bibliography

* Black, Johnny. ''Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.'' Backbeat Books, 2004. * Buckley, David. ''R.E.M.: Fiction: An Alternative Biography''. Virgin, 2002. {{Authority control 1991 singles R.E.M. songs Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles MTV Video of the Year Award Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Michael Stipe Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Peter Buck Abigail (singer) songs Tori Amos songs Warner Records singles American folk rock songs Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video 1990 songs Music videos directed by Tarsem Singh MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction