R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has made the surprising revelation about the group’s 1991 hit ‘Losing My Religion’, saying that he “didn’t realise it would be a hit single”.
In a new interview with the New Yorker, Stipe was asked about lyrics featured in the track, specifically, the “kind of old-fashioned diction” in phrases like “losing my religion” and “wear it on your sleeve”.
“I wasn’t actually raised in Georgia,” Stipe told the interviewer after they suggested the lyrics might reflect how people from the state speak.
“I was born there; I travelled a great deal. I didn’t realise that my grandmother, the way she talked – my friends who were not from the South had no idea what she was saying. None. And there are phrases that I pulled.”
Stipe continued: “‘Losing my religion’ is my version of an old phrase, ‘lost my religion’. ‘I almost lost my religion’ – that’s what people would say. I changed it forever. I didn’t realise it would be a hit single.”
Following R.E.M.’s split in 2011, Stipe also recently discussed working on solo projects.
“Oh, the music is not dying at all, no. I mean I love my voice, I love writing music and composing and arranging,” he said in another interview.
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“It’s not an easy thing to do, though. I was really pushed when the band were together, but now I’m on my own I have zero representation: I don’t have a contract with anyone, I’m a free agent.
“I’m working this summer on some new music, and I hope to continue making sound and music a part of my life for the rest of my life,” he added. “It’s something I find great joy in.”
For more on this topic, head over to the Classic Rock Observer.
Check out ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M.:
