Michael Stipe dissects the “beautiful vulnerability” of ‘Losing My Religion’
Michael Stipe never had a problem with slightly left-of-centre lyrics. The R.E.M. frontman began his career with a mumbling vocal delivery, an unintended side effect of his shyness and introversion. By the time he opened himself up and began to lean into a more outwardly extroverted stage persona, Stipe had crafted songs like ‘The One I Love’ and ‘Pop Song ’89’ that were more cutting and poison-tipped than their catchy exteriors made them seem.
Still, Stipe remained elusive with his words. Before 1998’s Up, none of R.E.M.’s albums contained full lyric sheets, with the only song with fully confirmed available lyrics being ‘World Leader Pretend’. Stipe began to write more earnestly about love and relationships, but his hesitation to share and explain those sentiments remained. It would only be years after R.E.M.’s breakup in 2011 that Stipe would become comfortable discussing his lyrics.
When the band members appeared in the first season of the Netflix adaptation of Song Exploder, Hrishikesh Hirway’s music podcast, there were a number of insights. Drummer Bill Berry agreed to replicate the song’s drum part, no small feat considering that he had retired from the band in 1997. Peter Buck showed off his mandolin riff that formed the basis of the song, while Mike Mills exhibited the song’s sinister bass line. Stipe was also asked directly about the inspirations and realities behind ‘Losing My Religion’.
“I don’t remember having to write ‘Losing My Religion’, and so that’s a good sign,” Stipe recalled. “That indicates that it just kind of flew out of me. I remember ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police, and I thought that was the most beautiful, kind of creepy song.” Sting’s tale of obsession and stalking turned out to be the starting point for Stipe’s own lyrics, but he decided to make the central character of his song more sympathetic.
“It was a brilliant song about unrequited love, and you don’t know if the object of the affection is even aware of this person,” Stipe added. “Are they a stalker? What’s the story? I wanted to do the same thing, but I flipped it and made it about the vulnerability. I created a character that’s calling out to someone, and we don’t know if that someone even knows if that person exists.”
Stipe made sure to confirm that the subject of the song was a “total fabrication” but did admit to having his own lived-in history that brought the emotions to life. “I guess probably as a shy person, the feeling of rejection if you have a massive crush on somebody but you don’t know how to tell them. You’re not sure if whatever’s happening is a friendship that’s developing or something more, and you want to say something, but you don’t know if you’ve – I’m gonna quote myself, this is so embarrassing – if you said too much, if you haven’t said enough. Am I dropping the right hints?”
When Stipe figured out that he was writing a love song, or at least a song about love, he noticed that there was one key lyric that required changing. “The part of the song that I do remember writing was, ‘That’s me in the corner / That’s me in the spotlight.’ Because originally it was ‘That’s me in the corner / That’s me in the kitchen.’ And that was kind of boring, so I changed it to how you feel when you’re opening your heart to someone, and you’re not sure where it’s gonna land. It’s that beautiful vulnerability.”
Check out ‘Losing My Religion’ down below.
