Losing My Religion is the first single from the album Out of Time (1991) by the American rock band R.E.M. The song and the music video were played regularly on radio and TV, making it the biggest hit the band ever had to this day. It was first released on February 19, 1991.

Writing/Recording Process

The instantly recognizable opening riff is played on a mandolin, and was written by the guitarist Peter Buck, when he was just starting to learn how to play the newly bought instrument. Peter said in an interview:

"When I listened back to it the next day, there was a bunch of stuff that was really just me learning how to play mandolin, and then there's what became 'Losing My Religion', and then a whole bunch more of me learning to play the mandolin."

The whole album (including Losing My Religion) was recorded between September and October of 1990, in Bearsville Studio in New York, John Keane Studios in Georgia, and Soundscape Studio in Atlanta. The recording of the song started with bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry laying down the rhythm section of the song. Afterwards, the acoustic guitar track was recorded by the touring guitarist of the band Peter Holsapple. The iconic mandolin part was played by Peter Buck, while the vocals were recorded perfectly in a single take by the lead singer Michael Stipe. The arrangement of the song and the recording of various keyboards was also handled by Mills.

The Lyrics

The lyrics were written by singer Michael Stipe, when he wanted to write a song that didn't have political lyrics, like many R.E.M. song until that point. Stipe states:

"I wanted to move away from that so as not to pigeonhole myself as a political writer. In order to challenge myself I decided to write an album of love songs, which I've never done before. It’s about someone who pines for someone else. It’s unrequited love, what have you."

The theme of unrequited love was inspired by the hit song from the band The Police – Every Breath You Take (1983).

"I love the idea of writing a song about unrequited love, about holding back, reaching forward, and then pulling back again. The thing for me that is most thrilling is you don't know if the person I'm reaching out for is aware of me. If they even know I exist. It's this really tearful, heartfelt thing that found its way into one of the best pieces of music the band ever gave me."

The Music Video/Legacy

The music video was directed by the Indian filmmaker Tarsem Singh with ideas from Michael Stipe and himself. The scenes were inspired by the video for the song Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor, Indian filmography and religious imagery. The video also features Stipe lip-synching the lyrics, which he hated to do, but made an exception when he was persuaded by Singh. The video won six awards at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards.

The song peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for 21 weeks. The song was also placed on multiple lists of best songs from the 90's and of all time by multiple publications. As of today, the song almost reached one billion views on Youtube and has 850 million plays on Spotify.