Despite the strong religious theme, both in the title and in the music video of one of R.E.M. , the song "Losing My Religion" has a meaning that goes far beyond any kind of spiritual practice – or even a real relationship.
In an interview for the Broken Record , singer Michael Stipe didn't explicitly address the religious theme, but he did say that, despite people thinking this is an autobiographical song, it isn't.
Many had already guessed that the song has a romantic theme, but, according to him, the confusion arises from the line "that's me in the corner / that's me in the spotlight." The original line, in reality, would have the word "kitchen" instead of "spotlight," which would eliminate any possible reference to fame or the artist's career.
“The idea was to portray a shy, introverted person who doesn’t fit in at a party or a dance and doesn’t approach the person he’s hopelessly in love with and say, ‘I have a crush on you. How do you feel about me?’ It’s about a relationship that only exists in the person’s head, and he doesn’t know if he’s said too much or not enough,” Stipe explains.
"So he's in a corner of the dance floor, watching everyone dance, watching the love of his life dancing with everyone because that person is the most enthusiastic of all. Or he's in the kitchen, behind the refrigerator," she concluded.
Spite also said that the "Losing My Religion" video only further confused people's interpretation of the song. "It's probably the weirdest video of all time, and that's pretty cool," he said.
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