LogFAQs > #956292515

105. R.E.M. Nightswimming (1992)
from the album Automatic for the People

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-YHU6BwPR0

Key lyrics:
And what if there were two
Side by side in orbit
Around the fairest sun?

Hot off the success of Losing My Religion, R.E.M. seemed at a loss over what to do next. The resulting album embraced those scattered thoughts, resulting in one of the finest records of the 1990s. Perhaps we got lucky mainstream rock was embracing grunge at this point, and R.E.M. would soon follow that trend and never recover. Songs like Nightswimming painted the band as anything but scene chasers. Many of the songs off Automatic for the People tossed aside a traditional rock instrument or two, but this particular track leaves no traces of the genre. Instead, a piano leads against a string arrangement.

Nightswimming is a minimalist ballad, and an unbelievably pretty one at that. Though not shouting out rage like his contemporaries, Michael Stipe suitably bares all as his words hint at skinny dipping. But this is not a provocative song. Rather, Stipe is conjuring a place where the truth is overwhelmingly present. It is altogether bittersweet, a reflection on a moment of finding oneself while also realizing how much has changed in the intervening years. With such a minimal sound, Stipe reveals himself to be a true vocal powerhouse. Yet it is the piano that keeps drawing me back. It seemingly rolls over itself in an endless loop, suggesting infinite interpretations of our memories. Nightswimming is nostalgia in musical form.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/