Losing My Religion

Just to remind you, Our Throwback Thursday features a favorite song, something about the song and a cover version of the song. R.E.M. was the go to alternate rock band of the 80s - 90s. I can remember buying each of their albums on cassettes from Columbia House (kids, I have no idea how to explain Columbia House to you.) At the time of it's release, Losing My Religion, was my favorite song from my favorite album, Out of Time, (looking over their entire career now, with hindsight, I would have to choose either E-Bow the Letter or Electrolite from New Adventures in Hi-Fi as my favorite R.E.M. song.) But I'm going with Losing My Religion for this exercise. The song has a fond memory in my heart. I can remember seeing their MTV Unplugged show, nearly 29 years ago. It was one of the best taped performances I have ever seen.



R.E.M. was surprised when their record label chose Losing My Religion as the first single from their seventh album, Out Of Time. Running 4:28 with no chorus and a mandolin for a lead instrument, it didn't seem like hit material, but it ended up being the biggest hit of their career. Their next single, Shiny Happy People, was much more straightforward. This won the Grammy in 1991 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.



This song has its origins in guitarist Peter Buck's efforts to try learn to play the mandolin. When he played back recordings of his first attempts, he heard the riff and thought it might make a good basis for a song. Explaining how the song came together musically, Buck told Guitar School in 1991: "I started it on mandolin and came up with the riff and chorus. 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 - I mean, they're just good chords."



The cover version (of sorts) I want to highlight of Losing My Religion is done by jazz singer Jacqui Naylor. Her interpretation is almost a samba/ bossa nova version, but it works very well.



Demand Euphoria!