"Turn You Inside-Out" is a song by American rock 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 alternative ...

from their 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 ...

''. Like all tracks on the album, it was written by group members

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 ...

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

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 ...

. The song's main guitar riff is an inversion of that used in "

Finest Worksong "Finest Worksong" is the third and final single released from R.E.M.'s fifth studio album ''Document''. It peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1988, at the time the group's highest-charting single in the UK. The single version ...

". The recording also features percussion from former

Sugar Hill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hil ...

house drummer

Keith LeBlanc Keith LeBlanc is an American drummer and record producer, and is a member of the bands Little Axe and Tackhead. His record " No Sell Out" was one of the first sample-based releases. The song was a success, charting at No. 60 on the UK Singles ...

. Despite only being released as a single promotionally, it did well on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

and

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

charts, placing top ten positions on both charts. A music video for the track was directed by

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 l ...

, who had previously directed music videos for eight other R.E.M. tracks. In a 1989 live performance of the song, Stipe proclaimed to the audience, "This song goes out to the

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

Corporation". This performance happened shortly after the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill, in which the oil tanker ''

Exxon Valdez ''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wil ...

'' struck the

Bligh Reef Bligh Reef, sometimes known as Bligh Island Reef, is a reef off the coast of Bligh Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska. This was the location of the 1989 ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill. After the incident, 33 US Code § 2733 mandated the operation ...

and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. This may further elaborate on the environmental message of the album ''Green''. In a review for R.E.M.'s 2011 album ''

Collapse Into Now ''Collapse into Now'' is the fifteenth and final studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 7, 2011, on Warner Bros. Produced by Jacknife Lee, who previously worked with the band on ''Accelerate'' (2008), the alb ...

'', British magazine ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' writes that the opening track, "Discoverer", "summons memories of the baleful stadium rock of ''Green'', eterBuck recycling the purposeful shuddering guitar of 'Turn You Inside-Out'." The song is featured on the soundtrack to the 2008 video game ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...

'', and is featured in-game on the radio station "

Liberty Rock Radio 97.8 ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the ...

Track listing

;Spain 7" single A. "Turn You Inside-Out"
B. "Turn You Inside-Out" ;US CD single # "Turn You Inside-Out" (LP version) – 4:15

Charts

Personnel

–

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 ...

–

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 ...

–

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 ...

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 ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

–

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 ...

References

{{Authority control R.E.M. songs 1989 songs Songs written by Bill Berry Songs written by Peter Buck Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Scott Litt Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Bill Berry Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Funk metal songs