Losing My Religion

That's me in the corner,
That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion



Every whisper,
Of every waking hour



I'm choosing my confessions



Trying to keep an eye on you
Like a hurt lost and blinded fool



Oh no, I've said too much
--I set it up



Consider this:
The hint of the century



Consider this:
The slip that brought me
To my knees, failed



What if all these fantasies
Come flailing around?

Now I've said too much



I thought that I heard you laughing

I thought that I heard you sing

I think I thought I saw you try



But that was just a dream,
That was just a dream,

Dream.





* * *

I consider this to be an uplifting set of images (though they are obviously not without a tinge of the melancholic). My interpretation of R.E.M.'s song is that the speaker is defiant in the face of his loss.

He describes a painful separation from something that he once treasured, and how that separation leaves him damaged. Ultimately, however, he survives his trial, frees himself from whatever illusions he might have suffered, and discovers a new, somewhat wiser way of seeing the world. This then allows him to go forward and continue with the rest of his life.