"Pop Song 89" is the opening track and third single released from

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 ...

's sixth studio 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 ...

''. It peaked at number 86 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and in the UK "

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 ...

" was re-released instead. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it a "cynical parody of pop: but said that "it turns out they’ve created a pop hit despite themselves." The video was directed by band frontman Michael Stipe and features him and three women, all of them topless, dancing to the song. When MTV asked Stipe to put censor bars on the three women in the video, he superimposed black bars on the chests of all four dancers, himself included, later stating, "a nipple is a nipple."Richin, Leslie
10 Classic R.E.M. Tracks Revisted
''Billboard'' January 4, 2016 The uncensored video would ultimately be made available through the band's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel in 2011, albeit with an age restriction attached. The acoustic version that was used as the single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was also included on disc 4 of the 1993 box set ''

The Automatic Box ''The Automatic Box'' is a four-disc box set by R.E.M., released in Germany in December 1993. It was primarily a collection of B-sides from ''Automatic for the People'', though disc four contains B-sides from ''Green''-era singles (then collected ...

'', along with the other ''Green'' B-sides, and the bonus disc of the limited two-disc edition of '' In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003'' in 2003.

Cover versions

Motion City Soundtrack Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band that formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997. The band's line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Justin Courtney Pierre, lead guitarist Joshua Cain, keyboardist Jesse Johnson, bassist Matthew ...

covered the song on the ''

Punk Goes 80's ''Punk Goes 80's'' is the fourth in album in the '' Punk Goes...'' series created by Fearless Records. It contains covers of songs that were popular in the 1980s covered by various alternative rock, and pop punk bands. This is also the first albu ...

'' compilation album, released on

Fearless Records Fearless Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1994. Fearless is based in Culver City, California, and is best known for its early pop punk moments captured in the ''Fearless Flush Sampler'' and ''Punk Bites'' releas ...

in 2005.

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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. Poss ...

. # "Pop Song 89" – 3:03 # "Pop Song 89" (acoustic) – 2:58

Charts

References

{{Authority control 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 Songs about pop music Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Bubblegum pop songs