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"Losing My Religion"
Enlarge picture
"Losing My Religion" cover
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Out of Time
Released19 February 1991 (US)
25 February 1991 (UK)
FormatCD, 7", 12"
Recorded1990
GenreAlternative rock
Length4:28
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer(s)Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Peak chart positions
R.E.M. singles chronology


"Get Up"
(1989)		"Losing My Religion"
(1991)		"Shiny Happy People"
(1991)


Audio sample
(Wikipedia:Media help:Image:R.E.M._-_Losing_My_Religion.ogg)
"Losing My Religion" is a song recorded by the alternative rock band R.E.M. from their 1991 album Out of Time.

Background

"Losing My Religion" is an expression from the southern region of the United States, and means losing one's temper or civility, or "flying off the handle". The song itself was described by singer and lyricist Michael Stipe as covering similar thematic ground to "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, and is, despite the title and the video, entirely irreligious in its subject matter. He has also stated that the song was inspired by the Sinead O'Connor song "The Emperor's New Clothes".

Although becoming the biggest hit for the band in the U.S., peaking at #4, it became a minor hit in the United Kingdom, where it charted at #19 on the UK Singles Chart despite having had a lot of airplay. "Losing My Religion" still receives considerable air time and is possibly the best-known R.E.M. song. It won the 1991 Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

The song was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. compilation album in 2003. It was the only song from Out of Time to get onto the album, as the band left out the worldwide top ten hit "Shiny Happy People", amongst other songs. In November 2004, Rolling Stone magazine listed the song at #169 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Covers and references

  • The song title was used as the title to the second season finale of Grey's Anatomy.
  • The song was made "Dylan & Brenda's song" on the television series Beverly Hills 90210
  • In the Weird Al Yankovic song "Polka Your Eyes Out", part of this song is covered in the style of Polka.
  • Tori Amos recorded the song for the Higher Learning soundtrack and has performed the song live several times.
  • Several of the Tori Amos versions have made it onto P2P networks under Alanis Morissette's name, despite the latter never covering it.
  • The post-hardcore band Scary Kids Scaring Kids covered the song for the Punk Goes '90s compilation.
  • The melodic black metal band Graveworm covered the song on the album Engraved in Black.
  • Rock Star: INXS contestant Suzie McNeil performed an original, heavier re-arrangement of the song on the reality TV show, and received a very positive review from the judges. She shockingly landed in the Bottom 3 the following night, but survived.
  • Rock Star: Supernova contestant Ryan Star performed the song on the reality TV show to an overwhelming response.
  • Immortal Technique mentioned this song in his own song, Crossing the Boundary, in which he says "Like them white boys, Losin' my religion!".
  • German pop group Preluders covered the song for their first studio album Girls in the House
  • Anthony Rapp performed this song for his audition for the original production of Rent (musical)
  • Recently, Dolapdere Big Gang made an alaturca cover which is present on their debut album.

Music video

The video, directed by Tarsem Singh, was declared Best Video of the Year at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. The video also won for Best Group Video of the Year, Best Breakthrough Video, Best Art Direction in a Video, Best Director of a Video and Best Editing of a Video.

The video is heavy with religious imagery, and notably features images of Saint Sebastian and Hindu deities, portrayed in a style influenced by the esthetics of the French photographers Pierre et Gilles. Soviet poster art imagery is also prominently featured, and the overall dark tone and lighting was heavily inspired by the paintings of Caravaggio.[1] Contrary to popular belief,<ref name="popup" /> the promotional music video was not banned in Ireland due to its use of religious imagery because the Republic does not ban music videos.

The concept of the video is based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez' short story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", which told the story of an angel who fell from Heaven, and people made money off of putting him on display.<ref name="popup" /> The first scene is based on a scene from Andrei Tarkovsky's Offret.

Ranks

  • This video was ranked #3 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 100 Top Music Videos.
  • This video was ranked #13 on MTV's 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made.
  • This video was ranked #19 on VH1's 100 Greatest Videos.

Single covers


US Single cover

UK Single cover


Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe.

7" Single

  1. "Losing My Religion" – 4:29
  2. "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32

12" and CD Single

  1. "Losing My Religion" – 4:29
  2. "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32
  3. "After Hours" (Lou Reed) (live)1 – 2:08

UK "Collector's Edition" CD 1

  1. "Losing My Religion" – 4:29
  2. "Stand" (live)1 – 3:21
  3. "Turn You Inside-Out" (live)1 – 4:23
  4. "World Leader Pretend" (live)1 – 4:24

UK "Collector's Edition" CD 2

  1. "Losing My Religion" – 4:29
  2. "Fretless" – 4:51
  3. "Losing My Religion (Live Acoustic Version/Rockline)" – 4:38
  4. "Rotary Eleven" – 2:32


1 Taken from the live performance video, Tourfilm.

Certifications

Organization Level Date
RIAA – USAGoldSeptember 12 1991

References

1. ^ "Episode 3". Pop-up Video. VH1.

External links

Preceded by
"Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones		Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
March 16, 1991 - May 4, 1991		Succeeded by
"See the Lights" by Simple Minds


  •  • [ e] R.E.M.
Peter Buck Mike Mills Michael Stipe Bill Berry Accompaniment: Scott McCaughey Bill Rieflin Ken Stringfellow Amanda Brown Nathan December Buren Fowler Peter Holsapple Barrett Martin Joey Waronker Management and producers: Bertis Downs, IV Jacknife Lee Joe Boyd Don Dixon Mitch Easter Don Gehman Jefferson Holt Scott Litt Pat McCarthy Studio albums and EPs: Chronic Town Murmur Reckoning Fables of the Reconstruction Lifes Rich Pageant Document Green Out of Time Automatic for the People Monster New Adventures in Hi-Fi Up Reveal Around the Sun Upcoming studio album #14 Singles Compilations: Dead Letter Office Eponymous The Best of R.E.M. ''And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 Other albums: Athens Andover Man on the Moon Not Bad for No Tour r.e.m.IX R.E.M. Live Videos: Succumbs Tourfilm Pop Screen This Film Is On Parallel Road Movie Perfect Square
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Out of Time

Studio album by R.E.M.
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12 March 1991 (U.S.
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Released September 1989
Format 7" Single
Recorded 1988
Genre Rock
Length 3:03
Label Warner Bros.
Producer(s) Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Peak chart positions
  • did not chart


R.E.M.
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Alternative rock (also called alternative music or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s.
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..... Click the link for more information.
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Out of Time

Studio album by R.E.M.
Released 11 March 1991 (UK)
12 March 1991 (U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.
temperament is the innate aspect of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion.

Temperament is defined as that part of the personality which is genetically based.
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