REM: Losing My Religion Meaning

Song Released: 1991

Losing My Religion Lyrics

Oh, 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...

1. anonymous

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   Mar 1st 2012 !⃝

   The number one interpretation is correct, i think, but the girl is not a girl or a partner. It's god.
2. anonymous

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   Feb 11th 2012 !⃝

   That is about someone who are in love and he loses faith to recover his love.
3. anonymous

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   Feb 8th 2012 !⃝

   The song is full of allegories.
   Yes it is partly about a crush on someone,
   however it also refers to Michael Stipe being uncomfortable with celebrity. 'that's me in the corner', refers to stipe wanting to go unnoticed and have a quiet normal life, 'that's me in the spotlight' is a reference to being on stage and in the publice eye, 'losing my religion', quite rightly, has been interpreted many times on this site, as a southern expression about losing ones patience/temper.
   Excellent song, and stipe recorded the vocals in pne take!
4. anonymous

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   Jan 11th 2012 !⃝

   For me "losing my religion" is simply losing self identity, sometimes people by not understanding us, they confuse us to the point that we r in a bubble of decisions and trying to choose between " adopting ourselves to others" or "being the way we r away from those who don't accept us". This whole confusion is a for me "losing the religion", but it comes back better.
5. anonymous

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   Aug 13th 2011 !⃝

   I agree with those that interpret the song as the end of a relationship. He is sad, this love used to be everything and now he is starting to understand that love is not bigger than life. One should not give up on life, because love fails and he explains that "you are not me" meaning he is still an individual, she is not him, they are not one. He is loosing faith in that this love will hold.
6. ratbastube

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   Aug 5th 2011 !⃝

   Can't say I figured it all out, but here is something most don't notice in the REM video:
   
   Astrology symbols occur heavily (that circular and arrow thing) in about the first half of the video. I think Astrology is a big message here (you should also check my youtube videos...I am just starting to post them). Astrology can be a way to "lose" your religion.
   
   The "I've said too much" line is how the others (mostly fools) don't want to believe something they have been brainwashed out of believing. So REM choses to only give you hints to avoid the knee-jerk denial so common in society.
   
   The hammer scenes later on have an interesting astrological significance, but too detailed for this post. Even the term, "REM" (of course the band's name)has a meaning that may lead you to these results as it has for me. REM is what you do in a dream, and "that was just a dream"
   so he wrote about it, and figured it out.
   
   Someone else had the post that Michael Stype called Losing My Religion his 'stalker/Police' song (i.e. Every Breath You Take). So that could be a clue that most people would be in error about it being a love song (same as the Police song referred to being when it was actually about a stalker). Think about it.
7. andrea_m

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   Jun 27th 2011 !⃝

   I think the song is about his rise, his success, and his potential/real fall from stardom. He's singing about his fans and about his ability to keep up with the demands of writing and carrying the persona that he created. (I set it up)
   
   (his confessions) - are his songs - his beliefs, his feelings, his heart, his experiences, his view on life.
   
   "oh no, I've said too much." maybe jinxing himself (his success) by admitting he might not be able to keep it going.
   (self fulfilling prophecies)
   
   Think - "Be careful what you wish for" - it may not always be what you wanted. "You're only as good as your last hit."
   
   Good insight, truths, and brave of him to put it our there for all of us to see, hear, feel.
   
   Losing my Religion
   
   Oh, life is bigger
   It's bigger than you..(- You- being the fans.)
   And you are not me
   The lengths that I will go to ..(and so you and the press don't know me like you think you do.)
   
   The distance in your eyes (from his perspective - you couldn't possibly see)
   Oh no, I've said too much (should I admit to feeling this?)
   I set it up (his persona - his path to fame.)
   
   That's me in the corner
   That's me in the spotlight (on stage looking at all of you)
   Losing my religion (losing his faith in himself - or selling his soul?)
   Trying to keep up with you (success,fans..)
   And I don't know if I can do it (self doubt - or self betrayal)
   Oh no, I've said too much (its probably a mistake to admit to fears, to shortcomings)
   I haven't said enough (even so, there is more he needs to say, regardless of the risks to himself)
   
   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 (his songwriting)
   Trying to keep an eye on you (..keep the hits coming and what the fans want.)
   Like a hurt lost and blinded fool, fool (acknowledging he's a fool to become such a slave to fame - losing his soul to success)
   Oh no, I've said too much
   I set it up (his wish, his fault)
   
   Consider this, 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 ("jinxing himself" bring about self fulfilling prophecies)
   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 (to like him, to understand him)
   
   But that was just a dream
   That was just a dream (envisioning himself as a failure? or a success?)
   
   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
   But that was just a dream
   Try, Cry, Why, Try
   That was just a dream
   Just a dream, just a dream, dream (or is fame the nightmare he is waking from?)
8. anonymous

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   Jun 24th 2011 !⃝

   As much as all these interpretations make sense I fail to concur with them. I(as in ME) believe that the song means just what is written LOSING one's religion none of you can tell me that at some point in your lives you have not questioned your purpose in this world or why bad things seem to be occurring to you. This person really feels like he has lost all hope and faith in God. Hard to believe I know but all I can tell you is this: listen
   To the song again but this time listen to it as someone beaten down and Sick of life.. Listen to it when you really feel down in the dumps and let down by the higher power. I know this sounds crazy. But unfortunately we've all doubted Gods intentions for us and if you have'nt then you have tremendous faith or you are lying!
9. anonymous

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   Jun 6th 2011 !⃝

   Well you have to live this amazing song to understand it..here's my interpretation:
   
   It is about a man who adores someone but yet having a lot of issues with. It is as if he is trying to convince himself to leave her, and in the same time trying to make her feel sorry for him...
   
   life is bigger than you
   (obvious meaning)
   and you are not me
   (you don't think the way I do)
   the lengths I would go do
   (the sacrifices I could have done for you)
   the distance in your eyes
   (the carelessness you show referring to empty looks of her eyes)
   Oh no I've said too much
   (Now he's regretting because He's afraid to make her even madder)
   Thats me in ......
   (It's my life on stake, I am loosing hope)
   Trying to keep up with you and I....
   (Trying to be and do whatever she likes but she's never satisfied)
   Every whisper of every waking hour, I am choosing my confessions
   (All the times I am worried what to say, afraid that you might be aware of my inner weakness)
   Trying to keep an eye on you
   (Trying to take care of her feelings, not to hurt her with his pain)
   Like a hurt lost and blinded fool
   (he's blaming himself because he always had her feeling a priority and not his)
   Oh no I've....
   (Now he regrets again)
   
   Consider this, the hint of the century
   (he refers to the moment he fell in love with her)
   Consider this, the slip that brought me to my knees
   (the error of loving her that made him weak, like a follower)
   FAILED
   (Stopped loving you)
   What if all these fantasies.....
   (again he is threatening that he might stop loving her)
   
   That was just a dream
   (It is he is confessing that he can not stop loving her but he wishes to)
10. anonymous

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    Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

    This song seems to be describing an introverted person trying to deal with his attraction to someone who he doesn't think feels the way about him.
11. anonymous

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    May 27th 2011 !⃝

    The song is about him being in love with a person but unsure of how the person feels about him. He's willing to go to any lengths to be close to him/ her but he doesn't want the person to know because he doesn't know how he/ she feels about him. He's analyzing the person's every move to see if it can tell him how the person feels. He also keeps wondering how obvious his feelings are.
12. anonymous

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    May 10th 2011 !⃝

    I once heard that Michael Stipe originally wanted to sing "closet" in stead of "corner" but the label didn't think it was a good idea.
    
    That's a pretty big hint as to what this song is about.
    
    It's not a love song, but it's deliberately made in a way so that everyone can have their own interpretation of it, like all true art.
    
    I think it's Michael Stipe's coming out of the closet song. It's written before he came out in public, and there are so many hints in the song, that you cannot deny the probability of this being so.
    
    First of all he is singing "losing my religion" because Christianity does not approve homosexuality, and therefore as he realizes he's gay, he also realizes he cannot be christian, which must be a huge conflict for a believer who is still in the closet.
    
    through the whole song it seems there's some news he wants to give us, but he can't get himself to say it: "every waking hour Im choosing my confessions", "oh no I've said too much" and "consider this the hint of the century" he is dying to tell us, but also he's scared of how people are gonna react "I thought that I heard you laugh"
    
    Now the part where he sings "the slit/slip that brought me to my knees failed" (I've always heard it as slit) but either I think he's talking about his previous intimate realtions with women (if "slit" is sung it becomes a quite vulgar image, as it is the very sex of the woman that has failed to impress him). If he does sing slip it can still be applyied as his failed interrelation with women, and that he has "falled" or "failed" in that he has no longer the interest in women.
    
    "what if all these fantasies come flailing around" in this context it is also a pretty clear image, he has to deal with (what he fears is abnormal) sexual fantasies, and this obviously troubling.
    
    There are more hints, but once you decide to listen to it, and considering that it might be about him coming out, everything in the song makes more or less sense - it is after all Michael Stipe! ;)
    
    Really great song by the way. And I hope some of you can agree with me on the meaning.
13. anonymous

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    May 7th 2011 !⃝

    Agreed with other Anonymous on here. I've come to believe that this was Michael Stipe's coming-out song. Remember this was 14 years ago, before Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" was a number one hit. Lyrics and video had to be far more subtle then and backlash (especially for a man) for admitting you were gay was a lot worse then.
14. anonymous

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    Mar 22nd 2011 !⃝

    Watch the video, you'll all learn a lot more about this song just from watching this.
15. anonymous

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    Mar 15th 2011 !⃝

    When I saw REM on the Murmer Tour he introduced the song by saying, "This song is about...you". I'll never forget that moment because this song that I really liked but struggled to understand suddenly became clear. A couple of other folks have said that the song is about the struggle with celebrity, but I prefer to think of it as him wanting to bare his soul through his writing and worrying that he's giving too much or too little of himself away for his art and his livelihood.

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