R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

What this video is

Released February 19, 1991 as the lead single from R.E.M.'s seventh album Out of Time, 'Losing My Religion' marked the band's definitive crossover from college-radio cult act to global mainstream artists. The song's title draws on a Southern U.S. idiom meaning 'at one's wit's end,' with lyrics addressing unrequited love and romantic obsession rather than literal theology — a nuance widely misread at the time. The…

Why it matters

A watershed document of alternative rock's early-90s mainstream breakthrough, 'Losing My Religion' demonstrated that non-commercial song structures — no conventional chorus, mandolin as lead instrument, five-minute runtime — could achieve mass-market success when paired with visually ambitious…

The director

Indian-born filmmaker Tarsem Singh (credited as 'Tarsem') studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena (FILM '90). Prior to this video he had directed only two music video clips, for Suzanne Vega and En Vogue. 'Losing My Religion' launched his…