Artist: R.E.M. Album: Out Of Time Song: Losing My Religion Year: 1991 Top Chart Position: #4

Life is bigger It's bigger than you And you are not me The lengths that I will go to The distance in your eyes Oh no I've said too much I set it up That's me in the corner That's me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don't know if I can do it Oh no I've said too much I haven't said enough I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try Every whisper Of every waking hour I'm Choosing my confessions Trying to keep an eye on you Like a hurt lost and blinded fool Oh no I've said too much I set it up Consider this The hint of the century Consider this The slip that brought me To my knees failed What if all these fantasies Come flailing around Now I've said too much I thought that I heard you laughing I thought that I heard you sing I think I thought I saw you try But that was just a dream That was just a drea

As is the norm with many people, R.E.M. took a look at something coveted and got hammered for it. This resulted in a the banning of this song in certain places, which will remain nameless to protect… perhaps, the guilty? Take a look at the lyrics a second time, and you’re sure to have to look inside yourself and see how far you’ve gone into this condition of which Michael speaks. Then wonder how far you’ve become entangled the loss of values, and the loss of the religious basis that so much of the world was once built upon. Why has such a loss occurred? Perhaps in our entanglement with technology, we’ve given up that basis, for right or wrong. For Michael, it’s the music industry in which he is entangled, that has driven him to take that look, make his judgments and share their implications with us.