Strange Currencies

Infobox Single |
Name = Strange Currencies


Artist = R.E.M.
from Album = Monster
Released = start date|1995|4|18
Format = CD single, 7" single, 12" single, Cassette
Recorded = 1994
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 3:32
Label = Warner Bros.
Producer = Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Last single = "Bang and Blame" (1995)
This single = "Strange Currencies" (1995)
Next single = "Crush with Eyeliner" (1995)

"Strange Currencies" is a song by R.E.M.. It was included on the album "Monster" and was also released as a single in 1995. The single hit #9 in the UK singles chart and peaked at #47 in the United States.

The song almost didn't make it on the album, due to its rhythmic similarities to another R.E.M. song, "Everybody Hurts." Yet Michael Stipe's melody, the band felt, was too good to pass over, so the original rhythm was slightly reworked. Stipe has said that it's about "when somebody actually thinks that, through words, they're going to be able to convince somebody that they are their one and only." [cite book | first=Johnny | last=Black| coauthors= | title=Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. | publisher=Backbeat Books | location=London | year=2004 | editor= | id=ISBN 0-87930-776-5]

The video, directed by Mark Romanek, was shot on the first anniversary of the death of Michael Stipe's close friend River Phoenix.

Track listing

All songs written by Berry, Buck, Mills, and Stipe unless otherwise indicated.

12" and CD Maxi-Single

#"Strange Currencies" – 3:52
#"Drive" (live)¹ – 4:17
#"Funtime" (D. Jones/Osterberg) (live)¹ – 2:16
#"Radio Free Europe" (live)¹ – 4:43

7", Cassette and CD Single

#"Strange Currencies" – 3:52
#"Strange Currencies" (instrumental version) – 3:52

Notes

¹ Recorded at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, Georgia; November 19, 1992. The performance, a benefit for Greenpeace, was recorded on a solar-powered mobile studio.

Charts

References

External links

* [http://www.remhq.com/shared_assets/videography/videos/strangeCurrencies.html Video clip at REMhq.com]