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 spot-light Losing my religion

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 spot-light
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, fool
Oh no I’ve said too much
I set it up
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
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 dream
That’s me in the corner
That’s me in the spot-light
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, fly, try
That was just a dream
Just a dream
Just a dream, dream
R.E.M.
You know that feeling where you go back into a music track that you have sung aloud thousands of times and in doing so, you finally look the song up, read the lyrics, do some investigating and find out you had the whole concept of what you were singing about, incorrect?
Last night I was singing Losing My Religion by REM and got an itch and read the lyrics and read what Michael Stipe said the track was about.
The phrase “losing my religion” is an expression from the southern region of the US that means losing one’s temper or “at my wit’s end,” meaning as if things were going so bad you could lose your faith in God. “Losing your religion” over a person, could mean that you’re losing faith in that particular person.
Michael Stipe said: “Okay. This song is beloved around the world. It is. It wasn’t our fault; it just happened, and it’s one of those freak things and we’re really proud of it. When you have a crush on somebody, and you think that they understand that but you’re not sure, and you’re dropping all kinds of hints, and you think that they’re responding to these hints but you’re not sure; that’s what this song is about: thinking that you’ve gone too far, you’ve dropped a hint that is just the size of Idaho, and they responded in a way that maybe confused you, or they haven’t responded at all or they responded in a way that seemed like ‘well, maybe I’m gonna- maybe I’m- maybe something’s gonna happen here!’ and I think I’ve probably said this seven thousand times, but the phrase ‘losing my religion’ is a southern phrase which means that something has pushed you so far that you would lose your faith over it. Something has pushed you to the nothing degree, and that’s what this is about. Now, some people still think that it’s a song about religion; it’s not. It’s just a song about having a crush.”
I am sure that all of us can reflect on a time when we had a crush on someone and we were going gently, trying to make them aware, but not so direct that we just explained how we felt. There was that feeling of discomfort knowing we had all of these feelings welling inside and why would it be so difficult to share that and let them know?
The potential rejection that we feel when it is not reciprocal is the answer to that question. We are so afraid of the rejection, we do not reveal our core feelings, for fear that it is not going to go well.
So all of these years that I have thought I was singing about one thing, turns out had zero to do with what I was really singing about.
No giant revelation today. I just love the song!
Happy Friday!
TURN IT UP!
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