Tongue (song)

Infobox Single |
Name = Tongue


Artist = R.E.M.
from Album = Monster
Released = start date|1995|10|21
Format = CD single, 7" single, Cassette
Recorded = 1994
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:08
Label = Warner Bros.
Producer = Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Last single = "Crush with Eyeliner" (1995)
This single = "Tongue" (1995)
Next single = "E-Bow the Letter" (1996)

"Tongue" is a song by R.E.M., released as the fifth and final single from their ninth studio album "Monster". It was only released in the UK. In the song, lead singer Michael Stipe performs in falsetto; he has stated several times he is in fact supposed to be a girl in the song. Stipe has also said the track is "all about cunnilingus."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] However, in July 1995 at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England, Stipe said "This song is not about giving head to a woman..." before the performance; this may have been done as an inside joke.

On March 1 1995, Bill Berry had to leave the stage during a performance of this song complaining of a serious headache. It in fact turned out to be a brain aneurysm, and is the likely reason for his leaving the band in October 1997. On subsequent dates Berry admitted that it gave him an eerie feeling every time the band performed "Tongue". Fact|date=February 2007

The single's video, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, shot during the soundcheck prior to the band's June 20, 1995 performance at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York, [ [http://members.iinet.net.au/~darryl74/1995.html R.E.M. Timeline - 1995 Concert Chronology ] ] shows a group of teenagers in a living room watching the band perform on TV. It was included as a bonus video on the DVD release of "In View - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003".

The three live songs that make up the CD single's B-sides were performed on "Saturday Night Live".

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe

UK/DE CD Single

# "Tongue" – 4:08
# "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" (Live) – 4:04
# "Bang And Blame" (Live) – 4:52
# "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" (Live) – 3:48

7" US Single

# "Tongue" (Album version) – 4:09
# "Tongue" (Live) – 4:34

7" and Cassette UK Single

# "Tongue" (Album version) – 4:09
# "Tongue" (Instrumental version) – 4:09

* "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?," "Bang And Blame" and "I Don’t Sleep, I Dream" recorded live at Saturday Night Live appearance, New York, New York, on November 12 1994.
* "Tongue" recorded live at Detroit, Michigan on June 7 1995.

Charts

References

External links

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