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. zombiechick9

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   Oct 10th 2006 !⃝

   I saw an interview with the lead singer. He said that this is his "stalker song" he deliberately made it hard to interpret because he was inspired by every breath you take by the police always being missinterpreted as a love song.
2. anonymous

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   Sep 12th 2006 !⃝

   Here’s my interpretation of what it is about, and an explanation of what it is about for me. The song for me is about the efforts of conveying your love to someone, trying to get them to understand how much you love them, without saying it straight out because of the fear of losing them all together.
   
   “life is bigger, it’s bigger than you” is a statement, logically true. It shouldn’t be the end of the world that she doesn’t love you.
   
   “and you are not me” is the sad truth, she’s not on the same page, you are not a part of each other.
   
   “the lenghts that I will go to” shows the power of the love, that you will go to the end of the world for her. “the distance in your eyes” is her lack of interest in you, she’s not there with you with the same emotions. “i set it up” means that you’re trying to create situations where the truth will come out, where you will get what you want.
   
   “that’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight”, you are everywhere, in the background and right in front of her. “losing my religion”, losing your faith that she loves you, losing your faith in love all together. Losing your belief that soulmates would be together no matter what.
   
   “trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it”, trying to stop her from walking away from you, trying to keep moving on together, not sure that it’s working.
   
   “oh no i’ve said too much, I haven’t said enough”, the fear that you hinted too strongly, that it has become too obvious that you love her. Wanting to tell her more, to let it all out, thinking that maybe she didn’t get your hints, that they weren’t obvious enough.
   
   “i thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing”, you thought you were going in the right direction, you thought she was there with you. “i think I thought I saw you try”, you thought she was hinting back, but you are so unsure.
   
   “every whisper, of every waking hour, i’m choosing my confessions”, every second of your time you’re thinking about what to reveal and what not to, planning what to say to her. “trying to keep an eye on you”, trying to see how she reacts, what she feels and thinks about what you’re saying. “like a hurt lost and blinded fool”, you’re hurt that she doesn’t respond to your hints, you’re lost in what to do, you feel blind because you thought that you saw that she felt something for you and you feel like a fool because you allowed yourself to think that she would love you back.
   
   “consider this, consider this, the hint of the century”, you give her the most obvious hint of your love that you can think of. “the slip that brought me to my knees failed”, you gave her the hint of a lifetime, so huge it was basically a slip and the emotional impact it had on you to tell her brought you to your knees, beat you down. But still she did not respond to you.
   
   “what if all these fantasies come flailing around”, express the fear you have that your fantasies about you two together will never become a reality. “now i’ve said too much”, there it was, you want to be with her and you just let yourself think it. There’s no way back, you can’t take that thought back.
   
   “that was just a dream”, all your hinting was for nothing, it turns out she doesn’t love you back and you had just created what you wanted to be there, but what was not really.
   
   I couldn't have said it better myself. This is an awesome interpretation and definitely one that I can relate to.
3. anonymous

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   Aug 21st 2006 !⃝

   Sorry, bud, but both Kurt Cobain and river phoenix where still alive in 1991, when this song was recorded.
4. anonymous

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   Aug 19th 2006 !⃝

   I don´t want to step on anybody´s toes, but I heard this song was intended to be a tribute to Kurt Cobain and river phoenix. Just thought I´d throw it in...

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

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   May 29th 2006 !⃝

   The song is about the fear of telling someone that you worship what you feel about them for fear of losing them altogether.
6. anonymous

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   May 11th 2006 !⃝

   '''Losing My Religion' is actually a southern term that means "I don't think I still have faith in this turning out the way I want it to."
   
   The song is about letting someone know you have a crush on them and the emotions that go along with that. "Oh no I've said too much, I haven't said enough" is a reference to the point when you have indirectly let someone how you feel about them -- but then you rethink it and you don't know if they caught "the hint of the century"
   
   "Losing my religion" is about worrying that the other person is not going to be interested in you.
   
   "What if all these fantasies, Come flailing around" -- is the fear that your day dreams about this person will never become a reality''
   
   
   
   This explanation is spot on.
7. anonymous

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   May 3rd 2006 !⃝

   I don't feel this song is about a relationship, it could be about self presevation and understanding ones self in wich case religon plays a vital role in.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   Apr 2nd 2006 !⃝

   Though it is a very general song that applies for a number of situations for me the perfect description is that it is a breakup song, a love song, a very sad one indeed. The singer is addressing the other one, the now "ex". The religion is the now dying relationship, he used to almost worship her but now he is so dissapointed on discovering that what he believed of the relation and of her it was not true (whatever that can be), the relation was only I dream (e.g. "I think I thought I saw you try"). It was a mistake ("hadn't said enough") and now he can tell (now he maybe says too much).
9. otto

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   Feb 24th 2006 !⃝

   Please could someone send me the lyrics of Tori Amos interpretation ??
   oder wie wärsa in deutsch: Ich hätte gern die Lyrics von Tori Amos gesungener Version vo U..M..R..
   She´s singin another version as REM
   otto gruesst euch

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10. otto

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    Feb 24th 2006 !⃝

    first of all: I´m german (so please excuse my bad english)
    second :
    A few minutes ago I heard this song interpreted by Tori Amos.
    Very BIG DEAL, but I think she uses other words to interpret the meaning of elder REM song .
    So I just think that she is singin about men and REM is singin about women.
    Please try to answer (mayby super if in german) to discuss this theme !!!!!!!!!
    Hakuna matata
    otto

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Feb 12th 2006 !⃝

    "Losing My Religion" is a term that means, "I sold out."

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Jan 20th 2006 !⃝

    I've been told it's about losing your virginity and for some people, depending on the way it has happened, the empty feeling afterwards about having lost something in a way they regret and can never get back. They've lost their religion/innocence so to speak. Don't know if that's accurate but thought I'd throw it in.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. anonymous

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    Oct 26th 2005 !⃝

    Um, the term 'Losing My Religion' is a southern term that means to lose your temper.
14. anonymous

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    Oct 9th 2005 !⃝

    Until recently, I didn't have a clue what this song was going on about. I think that this song has to do with an obsession/crush on a girl. The "religion" means how important it is for him to keep it secret. He's dropping hints to let her know how he feels but isnt sure if he's "said too much". I'm really interested in REM interpretations but its bloody deep stuff!
15. anonymous

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    Sep 26th 2005 !⃝

    This song speaks to me of the utter struggle of one to lose his identity that is sometimes dictated by our "religion", whatever that may be. It could even be an anthem for radical christians if examined closely. For example, "Trying to keep my eye on you like a hurt lost blinded fool", could mean he's ultimately trying to strip his religion down to it's core beliefs. Not necessarily christianity, but it very well could be, considering radical christians like to move away from tradition, and therefor religion. Well I might be dead wrong but this is my interpretation of one of my favorite songs.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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