A liner note from the Special Edition of In Time written by Peter Buck: Losing My Religion

A liner note from the Special Edition of In Time written by Peter Buck: Losing My Religion

Losing My Religion from the Out of Time album


"If you think about, our career can be divided into the two parts; pre Losing my Religion and post-Losing my Religion.

Before Religion, R.E.M. was a large cult band touring ten months a year. Respected and successfull, we were still considered minor league, Afterward, we had hit singles, platinum albums, we were on the covers of all kinds of unlikley magazines, and, at least for a couple of years, were one of the biggest bands in the world. All of which is irrelevant.

When I think about Losing my Religion, I think about the process of writing and recording it, and how dream like and effortless it was. The music was written in five minutes; the first time the band played it, it fell into place perfectly. Micheal had the lyrics within the hour, and while playing the song for the third or fourth time, I found my self incredibly moved to hear the vocals in conjunction with the music. To me, Losing my Religion feels like some kind archetype that was floating around in space that we managed to lassoo. If only all songwriting was this easy."

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I recall reading a while back that 'losing my religion' was some kind of Southern (American) expression of being fed up. I took it literaly (and probably most listeners) as that applied theme suited my mindset at the time I discovered the song.

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