R.E.M. - Man On The Moon

What this video is

Released November 1992 as the second single from R.E.M.'s landmark album 'Automatic for the People', 'Man on the Moon' arrived at the peak of alternative rock's mainstream breakthrough moment, concurrent with Nirvana's dominance and the cultural mainstreaming of post-punk American indie aesthetics. The video's black-and-white Steinbeckian desert Americana — truck stops, cowboys, working-class locals — situates…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of early-1990s alternative rock's visual language, the video established a template for introspective, narrative-led black-and-white Americana clips that influenced the mid-decade aesthetic of acts from Counting Crows to Hootie & the Blowfish. Its ensemble lip-sync conceit —…

The director

Peter Care (b. 28 April 1953, Penzance, southwest England) studied at Falmouth Art College and the School of Art in Sheffield. He co-founded the Sheffield Independent Film Company before relocating to Los Angeles in 1986. His early music video 'Sensoria' for…