Man on the Moon (song)
From Freepedia
| "Man on the Moon" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by R.E.M. | ||
| From the album Automatic for the People | ||
| Single Released | 1993 | |
| Single Format | CD | |
| Recorded | 1992 | |
| Genre | Alternative Rock | |
| Song Length | 5:13 | |
| Record label | Warner Brothers | |
| Producer | Scott Litt | |
| Chart positions | 18 (UK) 30 (US) | |
| R.E.M. single chronology | ||
| "Drive" 1992 | "Man on the Moon" 1993 | "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" 1993 |
"Man on the Moon" is a song by the band R.E.M. from their 1992 album Automatic for the People. The song is about the comedian Andy Kaufman. It is about events in Kaufman's life — including his Elvis impersonation and work with the wrestler Fred Blassie. The song was released as a single in 1993.
The song gave its name to a 1999 film (Man on the Moon), and was used in the film's soundtrack along with another R.E.M. song, the bespoke "The Great Beyond", which is about what Kaufman tried to achieve in his lifetime.
"Man on the Moon" nearly didn't make it on to Automatic for the People. It was only finished and recorded two hours before the album was due to be mastered. Michael Stipe has said that he deliberately tried to include the word "yeah" many times in the lyrics, in order to create a song that has more "yeahs" in it than any song Kurt Cobain had written. (This was probably a reference to "Lithium", in which "yeah" comprises all of the choruses.) "Man on the Moon" contains 56 "yeahs".
External links
| Band members: Bill Berry | Peter Buck | Mike Mills | Michael Stipe |
| Additional musicians: Nathan December | Buren Fowler | Peter Holsapple | Barrett Martin | Scott McCaughey | Bill Rieflin | Ken Stringfellow | Joey Waronker |
| Management and producers: Joe Boyd | Don Dixon | Bertis Downs, IV | Mitch Easter | Don Gehman | Jefferson Holt | Scott Litt | Pat McCarthy |
| Albums: Chronic Town (EP) | Murmur | Reckoning | Fables of the Reconstruction | Lifes Rich Pageant | Document | Green | Out of Time | Automatic for the People | Monster | New Adventures in Hi-Fi | Up | Reveal | Around the Sun |
| Compilations: Dead Letter Office | Eponymous | R.E.M.: Singles Collected | The Best of R.E.M. | In the Attic | In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 |
| Videos: Succumbs | Pop Screen | Tourfilm | This Film Is On | Parallel | Roadmovie | Perfect Square | In View - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 |
| Musical styles: Alternative rock | College rock | Jangle pop | Post-punk |
