"Losing My Religion" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, 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 fir ...

, released on February 19, 1991 by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

as the first single from their seventh album, '' Out of Time'' (1991). It developed from a

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

riff improvised by the 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 played the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his caree ...

. The lyrics, written by the 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 the alternative rock band R.E.M. Stipe was born in Metro Atlanta in January 1960. Due to his father's militar ...

, concern disillusionment and

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 affection, or may consciously reject it knowing that the admirer admires them. Me ...

. "Losing My Religion" is R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), o ...

and expanding their popularity. Its music video, directed by Tarsem Singh, features religious imagery. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, "Losing My Religion" won Best Short Form Music Video and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Its video won awards for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Direction, and Best Editing at the 1991

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

. It was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

in 2017, and ''

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. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' ranked it at number 112 in its 2024 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2020, "Losing My Religion" became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Recording

The R.E.M. guitarist,

, wrote the main riff and chorus for "Losing My Religion" on a

. He had recently bought it and was learning how to play, recording as he practiced while watching television. 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. He said he likely would not have written the chord progression in the same way had he not played it on mandolin. In July 1990, R.E.M. recorded a demo version with the working title "Sugar Cane" in a studio in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, featuring

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

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 ...

wrote a bassline inspired by the

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

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 drummer ...

. The final version was recorded in September at Bearsville Studio A in

Woodstock, New York Woodstock is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston, New York, Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The popula ...

. Finding the song lacked midrange between the bass and mandolin, R.E.M. enlisted the touring guitarist Peter Holsapple on

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

.Mettler, Mike. "R.E.M.: Radio Songs". ''Guitar School''. September 1991. Buck said, "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."

recorded his vocals in a single take.Buckley, p. 205. The strings, arranged by Mark Bingham, were performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, in October 1990.

Composition and lyrics

"Losing My Religion" is based on Buck's mandolin part. 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 "Driver 8" is the second single from American musical group R.E.M.'s third album, ''Fables of the Reconstruction'', released in September 1985. The song peaked at number 22 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song refers ...

' chords. You can't really say anything bad about E minor, A minor, D, and G ... We are trying to get away from those kind of songs, but like I said before, those are some good chords." He felt "Losing My Religion" was the most "typical" R.E.M. song on the album. The song is in

natural minor In Classical_music, Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three Scale (music), scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending). ...

. The title phrase is an expression from the Southern United States that means "losing one's temper 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 said the song was about romantic expression and

. The lines "That's me in the corner / That's me in the spotlight" were originally "That's me in the corner / That's me in the kitchen", describing a person at a social event too shy to approach the person they like. Stipe compared the 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 ei ...

" (1983) by

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...

, 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.

Music video

The music video for "Losing My Religion" was directed by the Indian filmmaker Tarsem Singh. Unlike previous R.E.M. videos, Stipe agreed to

lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

the lyrics. The video begins inside a dark room where water drips from an open window. Recreating a scene from the

Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. Works by Andrei Tarkovsky, His films e ...

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 video originated as a combination of ideas envisioned by Stipe and Singh. Stipe wanted a straightforward performance video, akin to

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

's " Nothing Compares 2 U". 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 said the video was modeled after the

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

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. He also drew inspiration from the Italian painter

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

, and the video uses religious imagery such as

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

, the Biblical episode of the Incredulity of Thomas, and Hindu deities, portrayed in a series of tableaux. The actor Wade Dominguez appears in the video. The "Losing My Religion" video was nominated in nine categories at the 1991

and won for Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction, Best Direction, and Best Editing. It ranked second in the music video category of the 1991

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 abse ...

poll. In September 2020, "Losing My Religion" became the first R.E.M. video to reach one billion views on

Release and promotion

"Losing My Religion" was released on February 19, 1991, in the United States as the lead single from R.E.M.'s album ''Out of Time''. Their record label,

, was wary of the choice of lead single. Steven Baker, then the vice president of product management., said there were "long, drawn-out discussions" about releasing such an "unconventional track" as the single until the label agreed. R.E.M. did not tour to promote ''Out of Time'', but visited radio stations, gave press interviews and made television appearances. 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 Madison Morgan Cultural Centre in

Madison, Georgia Madison is a city in Morgan County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta-Athens-Clarke-Sandy Springs combined statistical area. The population was 4,447 at the 2020 census, up from 3,979 in 2010. The city is the county seat of ...

, about 20 miles south of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Warner Bros. worked to establish "Losing My Religion" at

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college and commercial rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. ...

, and

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

radio stations before promoting it to American

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

stations, where it became a success. According to one program director, "Losing My Religion" was "a hard record to program; you can't play

L.L. Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow New-school hip-hop ...

behind it. But it's a real pop record—you can dance to it." He said it "crosses the boundaries of just being an alternative record". "Losing My Religion" became R.E.M.'s biggest hit in the US, reaching No. 4 on the ''

.Buckley, p. 358. It stayed on the chart for 21 weeks. It topped the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart for three weeks and the

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart for eight weeks, the best performance of any R.E.M. song on either chart. It reached number 19 on the UK singles chart, No. 16 in Canada and No. 11 in Australia. With "Losing My Religion", R.E.M. crossed over into mainstream pop culture. Asked if he was worried the 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." Mills said R.E.M. understood they had a worldwide hit when they heard it on local radio in the jungle of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Years later, Mills said: "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."

Reception

Caren Myers from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' named the song "Single of the Week", writing that it "occupies a smaller, more intimate space, delicately picking a path with mandolins and acoustic guitars, soothed by the mournful sweep of a string section. Deceptive echoes of ' World Leader Pretend' dissolve on second listen as the song wraps itself around the impossibility of communication with glancing but painful accuracy. Stipe's writing is getting sparser and more intense, riddled with oblique insights but unwilling to point out where. This is R.E.M. at their most tender and unsettling, Stipe's careworn voice filled with inexplicable sadness, but as warm and familiar as ever." A reviewer from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote: "Hearing such a beautiful song with a striking mandolin arrangement, provides an ample religious substitute." Terry Staunton from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' found that it "is likely to be read as self-reflection on R.E.M.'s position in the worldwide musical scheme of things, doubt and discomfort at the prospect of unwanted disciples". Parry Gettelman from ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'' wrote that R.E.M. had returned to its "trademark jangle", and that "Stipe touches again on what seems to be ambivalence about his role as a pop star, and about the need to communicate with an audience".

David Fricke David Fricke (born ) is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 ye ...

from ''

'' felt that "there is melancholy in the air: in the doleful strings and teardrop mandolin". Celia Farber from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' praised it as "a gorgeous, gorgeous song" and said "I actually get a hot/cold flash and have to play the song about 30 more times" when she hears the opening lyrics. "Losing My Religion" placed second in the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

annual critics' poll, behind

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

'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. Having sold over 13 million units worldwide, it i ...

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

''. March 3, 1992. Retrieved on January 20, 2008. At the 1992 Grammy Awards, it earned several nominations, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and won for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best Short Form Music Video. In 2007, VH1 named it the ninth-best song of the 90s, and in 2009, ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...

'' ranked it No. 79 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". The

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

included it in its 2004 list of "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll". In 2004, ''

'' listed "Losing My Religion" at No. 169 on its list of the "

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring song ranking compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2 ...

", writing that "never before had Michael Stipe sounded so vulnerable, yearning, and articulate". It ranked it at No. 112 in its updated 2024 list.

Personnel

Personnel adapted from ''Out of Time'' liner notes, except where noted R.E.M. *

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 guita ...

– drums, percussion *

–

, electric guitar *

– bass guitar, backing vocals,

string synthesizer A string synthesizer or string machine is a synthesizer designed to make sounds similar to those of a string section. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs and general-purpose synthes ...

and arrangement *

– lead vocals Additional musician * Peter Holsapple – acoustic guitar Strings *

Mark Bingham Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001, he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. ...

–

string arrangements The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...

*David Arenz – violin *Ellie Arenz – violin *David Braitberg – violin *Andrew Cox – cello *Reid Harris – viola *Ralph Jones – double bass *Dave Kempers – violin *Elizabeth Murphy – cello *Paul Murphy – viola *

Jay Weigel Jay Weigel is a Grammy winning composer, producer, conductor, arranger, orchestrator, and contractor for film, television, recordings, and concerts. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as an orchestrator, assistant conductor, and head music preparatory ...

– orchestral liaison

Track listing

All songs were written by

, 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 Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

) (Live)¹ – 2:08 UK "Collector's Edition" CD one # "Losing My Religion" – 4:29 # "

Stand Stand or The Stand may refer to: Other * 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) ...

" (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''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers

Italian metal band

Graveworm Graveworm is an Italian extreme metal band from Bruneck, Brunico formed in 1992. History Before Graveworm even released a demo, they were signed by Serenades Records after a performance close to their hometown of Brunico, northern Italy. Gravew ...

covered the song on their 2003 album ''

Engraved in Black ''Engraved in Black'' is the fourth studio album by the symphonic black metal band Graveworm, released in 2003 through Nuclear Blast. This is the first Graveworm album to feature guitarist Eric Righi, who also played bass on this recording. Trac ...

''.

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) covered the song in the 2010 ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'' episode " Grilled Cheesus". The song reached number 60 in the US on the ''

and number 47 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

recorded a cover version which appeared in the film ''

Higher Learning Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

''. Italian band

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded ten studio albums, two extended plays, two l ...

covered the song on their 2012 album '' Dark Adrenaline''. American heavy metal band

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the term was not used until the Carolin ...

covered the song on their 2013 album '' Vengeance Falls''. Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan covered the song on his 2020 album ''

Thief Theft (, cognate to ) 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 short ...

''. Hootie & the Blowfish covered the song for the 2020 reissue of their 2019 album '' Imperfect Circle''. In a 2020 interview, guitarist Matt Bryan emphasized how influential R.E.M. had been in the band's development.

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