"We All Go Back to Where We Belong" is the final single from American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 2011. The song is the lead single from the band's final album, the career-spanning greatest hits compilation '' Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011''. The song was made available over the Internet on October 17, 2011.

Recording

The song was originally written by bassist Mike Mills and was recorded by the band in Athens, Georgia in July 2011, after the sessions for its final studio release, ''

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 albu ...

''. The band finished this song as well as the

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"A Month of Saturdays" and "Hallelujah" with producer Jacknife Lee initially with the intention of creating an album independently, after having fulfilled its contractual obligations to Warner Bros. Records, but decided to disband instead. Two music videos with direction by Dominic J. DeJoseph and Michael Stipe—one starring Kirsten Dunst and the other with

John Giorno John Giorno (December 4, 1936 – October 11, 2019) was an American poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experiments and events, inc ...

. Stipe conceived of the concept for the videos spontaneously while recording his vocal track and asked DeJoseph to make the videos in the style of Andy Warhol's ''

Screen Tests The ''Screen Tests'' are a series of short, silent, black-and-white film portraits by Andy Warhol, made between 1964 and 1966, generally showing their subjects from the neck up against plain backdrops. The ''Screen Tests'', of which 472 survive ...

''. Stipe personally asked Dunst—his neighbor in New York City—to star in the video and did three takes with Dunst; the one that was chosen had him singing the song to her off-camera.

Reception

Critical reception

Early reviews of the song considered it a "low-key, string-drenched ballad" (

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

) and compared it to the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

styling of

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

and R.E.M.'s 2001 album '' Reveal''. Jon Dolan of '' Rolling Stone'' gave the song 3.5 out of five stars, writing that the " orchestral folk rock... suits their breakup perfectly." ''

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'' Alex Hudson had a similar sentiment, declaring the single "a nice kiss-off with lyrics that read a bit like a pensive goodbye message." Claire Suddath of '' Time'' also considers it a fitting final single, comparing it with the wistfulness of " Man on the Moon" and '' The Boston Herald''s Jed Gottlieb has compared it favorably to R.E.M. ballads "

Nightswimming "Nightswimming" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in 1993 as the fifth single from the group's eighth album, ''Automatic for the People'' (1992). "Nightswimming" is a ballad featuring singer Michael Stipe accompa ...

" and " Perfect Circle".

Chart performance

Personnel

R.E.M. * Peter Buck – guitar, writing, and production * Mike Mills – bass guitar, background vocals, writing, and production * Michael Stipe – vocals, writing, and production Technical personnel *Chris Bilheimer – art design * Jacknife Lee – production

References

{{Authority control 2011 songs 2011 singles Folk rock songs Rock ballads Song recordings produced by Jacknife Lee Song recordings produced by Michael Stipe Song recordings produced by Mike Mills Song recordings produced by Peter Buck Songs written by Michael Stipe Songs written by Mike Mills Songs written by Peter Buck R.E.M. songs Warner Records singles Black-and-white music videos