Losing My Religion (1991)

"Losing My Religion" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on February 19, 1991, by Warner Bros. Records as the first single from their seventh album, Out of Time (1991). It developed from a mandolin riff improvised by the guitarist, Peter Buck, inspired by the theme from Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. The lyrics, written by the singer, Michael Stipe, concern disillusionment and unrequited love.

"Losing My Religion" is R.E.M.'s highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 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. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017, and Rolling Stone 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.

Recording

The R.E.M. guitarist, Peter Buck, wrote the main riff and chorus for "Losing My Religion" on a mandolin. 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". 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, featuring banjo and Hammond organ. Mike Mills wrote a bassline inspired by the Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie. The final version was recorded in September at Bearsville Studio A in Woodstock, New York.

Finding the song lacked midrange between the bass and mandolin, R.E.M. enlisted the touring guitarist Peter Holsapple on acoustic guitar. 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." Michael Stipe recorded his vocals in a single take. The strings, arranged by Mark Bingham, were performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 1990.

Composition and lyrics

"Losing My Religion" is in natural minor. It is based on Buck's mandolin melody, which was inspired by the theme from the 1983 film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence. Buck said, "I had seen the movie, and the riff stuck with me. It was perfect for connecting the song’s descending chords that shifted from minor to major."

Buck felt that the song was the most "typical" R.E.M. song on the album, saying "The verses are the kinds of things R.E.M. uses a lot, going from one minor to another, kind [of] like those 'Driver 8' 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."

The title phrase is an expression from the Southern United States that means "losing one's temper or civility" or "feeling frustrated and desperate". Stipe said the song was about romantic expression and unrequited love. 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" (1983) by the Police, 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.'"

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