10 Amazing Songs Written Out Of Competition
6. Man on the Moon - R.E.M.
For as much as Nirvana marked the arrival of alternative music, the world doesn't always work out like that. Long before Kurt Cobain threw a riot in a gymnasium in Smells Like Teen Spirit, there were plenty of bands who were a bit different than the pop rock coming down the pipeline. Enter: R.E.M.
Despite being one of the few lowlights of the '80s college rock circuit, frontman Michael Stipe was really supportive of Nirvana when they hit it big, with Cobain calling R.E.M. one of his all time favorite acts. On the other hand, Stipe found it amusing that people were trying to find internal meaning in Cobain's lyrics, which could be complete nonsense at the best of times. Using Lithium as his template, R.E.M.'s next big hit Man on the Moon was about to take a few pages from the alt-rock playbook.
Given that Lithium's chorus is nothing but the word "YEAH" repeated incessantly, Stipe tried to cram as many uses of the word into his lyrics, with practically every other line of the verses being "yeah." This was not meant to be an angry swipe at Cobain either, with Stipe supporting their endeavors further and even writing a tribute song to Kurt after his suicide on Let Me In. For a group that was almost a decade into their career at this point, Man on the Moon still showed that R.E.M. were able to listen to what's going on around them.