“Losing My Religion” by R.E.M., Thursday, July 15, 2021

Listening to Michael Stripe and Peter Buck talk, I couldn't place them as southerners from Georgia. Netflix Song Exploder's episode on "Losing My Religion" wasn't the first time I had heard R.E.M. talk about their music; however, I was both intrigued and put off by Michael Stripe. He is perhaps one of the most articulate rock stars I've ever heard speak; however, I picked up on an underlying arrogance when he talked about this song. According to most accounts, the band recorded Out of Time using the mandolin as kind of a throw-away record before they returned to more conventional writing approaches. The band chose "Losing My Religion" as the lead single, thinking that it wouldn't chart or that it would just be a minor hit. The band would quickly record more material and go on charting in the lower regions of the Rock Charts. However, "Losing My Religion," despite its unconventionality became a number 4 pop chart hit, a number 1 rock chart hit, and it went to number one in several countries. Michael Stripe seems smug when he talks about the band's underdog success, as if he's a "poet and he knows it." Occasionally, the music charts reflect effort and poetry and musical effort. Occasionally, the band who all the bands are drawing inspiration from also becomes popular. And that time was 1991. 

I'M CHOOSING MY CONFESSIONS. Michael Stripe was raised in a religious background in the Methodist tradition. Borrowing a Southern cliche, "Losing My Religion," brilliantly plays dances around the actually meaning in the lyrics. Stripe said that it's about the awkwardness one feels around someone they love. However, the imagery in the music video and some of the lyrics in the song evoke existential meanings, often bating the devout as the lyrics pick apart problems with devotion. One of the reasons that the song was so successful internationally was the response to the sex scandals in the Catholic church around the world. In some contexts, the song is a protest against religion. In a somewhat of counter-argument, the alternative Christian rock culture in the 2000s also "lost their religion." The mantra many bands and radio stations said was, "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship." Multi-platinum CCM crossover artist Lauren Daigle touted this new cliche on her 2018 album Look Up Child, titling a track "Losing My Religion." This song was not a cover of R.E.M.'s hit, but rather a song about "losing [her] religion, in order to find you." The listener can fill in the blank, but it's pretty obvious from Daigle's context that it's about God.

THAT'S ME IN THE  CORNER, THAT'S ME ON THE STAGE. Ryan Murphy's hit show Glee often tackled religion, mainly Christianity. Religion is one point of identity for the characters in the small Ohio town. One episode in Season 2, Grilled Cheesus, dealt with religious idolatry, the prosperity gospel, atheism, and crisis. Finn sings the song "Losing My Religion," and this is the episode's catharsis. After watching that episode of Glee, Allan decided that the show was too blasphemous. God wasn't transactional was the episode made him out to be. If only everyone could find the true version of Christianity. The true reading of the Bible wouldn't have people plunging into idolatry. People would read the crystal clear text and determine the right path for their lives. People may still abuse drugs and alcohol, but a correct reading of the Bible would not allow people to blame their problems on God. As for Kurt, he would just have to learn to be alone, and then he could reap the benefits of God. Kurt just needed to learn that he was wrong and that God still had plans for him. It was other people that were causing him not to believe, but if he just looked to the word...and then Allan stopped thinking about it. You can answer world problems with religious cliches, like turning of the light and piling the mess into the closet. But sometimes it starts seeping out from under the crack on the floor.

Read the lyrics on Genius.

R.E.M.

Glee Version: