10 Famous Rock Songs Written So Fast You Won't Believe
5. Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
Losing My Religion, the song from 1991's Out of Time that transformed R.E.M. from indie darlings into worldwide rock megastars.
So, naturally, the whole thing was put together in about an hour and the famous mandolin line was written whilst Peter Buck was watching TV.
Buck, the group's guitarist, has admitted that the iconic riff for the song was just him noodling around whilst trying to learn to play the instrument. No confirmation on what he was watching at the time, but as it was the early 90s, it was probably The Simpsons.
As for the rest of the track, well, that came together pretty rapidly as well.
Once again according to Buck, the full music for the song came together in just five minutes. In the liner notes for the compilation In Time, Buck recalled that "The first time the band played it, it fell into place perfectly."
As for the lyrics, Michael Stipe jotted them down in about sixty minutes and recorded them in a single take. He was also apparently basically naked whilst recording that take. Hey, it was a winning formula. Don't question it.