- Orange Crush (song)
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"Orange Crush" Single by R.E.M. from the album Green B-side "Ghost Riders" Released December 1988 Format 7" Single Recorded 1988 Genre Alternative rock Length 3:51 Label Warner Bros. Producer Scott Litt & R.E.M. R.E.M. singles chronology "Finest Worksong"
(1988)"Orange Crush"
(1988)"Stand"
(1989)"Orange Crush" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Green, in 1988. It was not commercially released in the US despite reaching number one as a promotional single on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks (where, at the time, it had the record for longest stay at number one with eight weeks, beating U2). It peaked at number 28 on the UK Singles Charts, easily making it the band's then-highest chart hit in Britain.
The video for the song, directed by Matt Mahurin, won the band its first VMA, for Best Post-Modern Video. "Orange Crush" was also the first song to win in the category.
The song was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 in 2003, and a live version appears on the R.E.M. Live album recorded in Dublin in 2005.
The song's title is a reference to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange used in the Vietnam War.[1][2] As a guest on the late-night show Last Call with Carson Daly, Michael Stipe explained that the song was about a young American football player leaving the comforts of home for the war in Vietnam.[citation needed] Also, Stipe opened the song during The Green World Tour by singing the famous U.S. Army recruiting slogan, "Be all you can be... in the army."[3] A live performance of the song including this prelude can be found on the "Everybody Hurts" single. The song is a playable track in Rock Band. British indie rock band Editors recorded a cover of "Orange Crush" as the B-side for the re-issue of the "Blood" single.
Contents
Track listing
UK 3" CD W2960CD
- "Orange Crush" (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe) - 3:50
- "Ghost Rider" (Suicide cover, written by Martin Reverby, Alan Vega) - 3:45
- "Dark Globe" (Syd Barrett) - 1:52
Charts
Chart (1988/1989) Peak
positionAustralian ARIA Singles Chart 15 Irish Singles Chart 21 UK Singles Chart 28 U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 1 U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1 References
- ^ "...the barbed-wire edge of "Orange Crush." This song, about the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam,..." "R.E.M. FINALLY EMERGES AS HARD-EDGED, FEROCIOUS" Boston Globe, April 10, 1989
- ^ "Guitarist Peter Buck has said that "Orange Crush," the first single from "Green" (Warner Bros., all formats), is about Agent Orange..." "Records;Uninspired Folk-Rock Routine Releases From R.E.M. and the Bangles" Washington Post, Nov 9, 1988
- ^ Gray, Marcus (March 21, 1997) (Paperback), It Crawled from the South: An R.E.M. Companion (2nd ed.), Da Capo Press, p. 57, ISBN 0306807513
Preceded by
"Desire" by U2Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
November 26, 1988 – January 14, 1989Succeeded by
"Charlotte Anne" by Julian CopePreceded by
"It's Money That Matters" by Randy NewmanBillbord Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
November 26 – December 9, 1988Succeeded by
"Angel of Harlem" by U2Categories:- 1988 singles
- R.E.M. songs
- Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one singles
- Billboard Alternative Songs number-one singles
- Songs about the military
- Songs of the Vietnam War
- Songs written by Bill Berry
- Songs written by Peter Buck
- Songs written by Mike Mills
- Songs written by Michael Stipe
- Warner Bros. Records singles
- Songs based on actual events
- English-language songs
- Songs produced by Scott Litt
- Songs produced by Michael Stipe
- Songs produced by Mike Mills
- Songs produced by Bill Berry
- Songs produced by Peter Buck
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