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The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck. The song was well received by critics and reached number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 17 on the US Cash Box Top 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Iceland.
John Michael Stipe (/ ˈ s t aɪ p /; 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.
Unlike previous R.E.M. videos, Stipe agreed to lip-sync the lyrics. [15] 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.
This song was written, musically and lyrically, by bassist Mike Mills (credited to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe), as vocalist Michael Stipe had been having problems for weeks trying to come up with lyrics for it. [1] As a result, Mills also sang lead vocals.
In a 1990s interview with Musician magazine, R.E.M.'s lead singer Michael Stipe claimed that the "L.B." references came from a dream he had in which he found himself at a party surrounded by famous people who all shared those initials. "The words come from everywhere," Stipe explained to Q in 1992. "I'm extremely aware of everything around me ...
Michael Stipe has used his celebrity status to support political and humanitarian causes; he is seen here at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, which was created to renew that neighborhood of New York City after the September 11 attacks. Throughout R.E.M.'s career, its members sought to highlight social and political issues.
However, subsequent lyrics in the same verse contradict the love song interpretation and suggest a darker, more manipulative theme ("A simple prop to occupy my time"). Michael Stipe related in 1987 to Rolling Stone, "I've always left myself pretty open to interpretation. It's probably better that they just think it's a love song at this point."
Singer Michael Stipe strove to make his lyrics the most romantic he had ever written, and the piano-driven ballad became R.E.M.'s first straightforward love song. Released on the group's 1998 album Up , it was issued as the third single from that record the following year, reaching number 10 on the UK Singles Chart .