Fall on Me
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| "Fall On Me" | ||
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| Single by R.E.M. | ||
| from the album Lifes Rich Pageant | ||
| Released | August 1986 | |
| Format | 7" Vinyl | |
| Recorded | 1986 | |
| Genre | College Rock | |
| Length | 2:50 | |
| Label | I.R.S. Records | |
| Producer(s) | Don Gehman | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||
| "Wendell Gee" (1985) |
"Fall on Me" (1986) |
"Superman" (1986) |
"Fall On Me" is a song by R.E.M. from their fourth album, 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant. It was the first of two singles released from that LP. It peaked at #94 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it never charted on the UK Singles Charts.
The song, which was officially declared by lead singer Michael Stipe in 1991 to be his then-favorite, evokes imagery of the sky falling. This is a reference to the popular children's story Chicken Little. However, though Stipe described the song once as "pretty much a song about oppression," the song is about acid rain and its effects on the environment, hence the first line of the chorus, "Don't fall on me." [1]
At first, the song was accompanied by a different melody when it started life in 1985, but it had been entirely rewritten by the time of its recording. The counter-melody in the second verse is actually the song's original tune. [1]
The song is something of a duet between Stipe and Mike Mills, with the two of them sharing vocals prominently during the bridge and chorus. Mills takes lead vocals for the third verse.
The B-side to this single is an instrumental entitled "Rotary Ten", a song which has been described by Buck as "a movie theme without a movie." It would gain a sequel of sorts, "Rotary Eleven," for the "Losing My Religion" single in 1991.
Stipe directed the video for this song, in which lyrics flash over the screen, superimposed over upside-down black and white footage of a quarry filmed by Michael himself. Take note of a spelling error: the word "foresight" is misspelled "forsight."
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe unless otherwise indicated.
- "Fall on Me" - 2:50
- "Rotary Ten" - 1:58
[edit] Cover
The folk supergroup, Cry Cry Cry (Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, and Lucy Kaplansky) used "Fall on Me" as the opening track for their eponymous album of cover songs.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-776-5.
[edit] External links
