Strange Currencies

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe takes unrequited love a step further in this yearning track as he begs his indifferent crush for multiple chances to prove himself worthy. Stipe confirmed the song's meaning in the 2004 book Reveal: The Story Of R.E.M. by Johnny Black: "It's about when somebody actually thinks that, through words, they're going to be able to convince somebody that they are their one and only."

This almost didn't make the album because the rhythm was too similar to "Everybody Hurts," but the rest of the band loved Stipe's melody too much to let it go, so they slightly reworked the original rhythm.

To muster the right level of passion, Stipe said he tried to emulate Michael Hutchence, who sang sexy tunes like "Need You Tonight" as the lead singer of the Australian rock band INXS. "He raised the bar for both myself and Bono," Stipe told The Guardian in 2018. "The middle eight of that is completely taken from INXS and from Michael. He was such an amazing rock star."