Tongue (song)

"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 on several occasions that the narrator of the song is female. Stipe has also said the track is "all about cunnilingus."^[2]

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".

The single's video, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and shot during the soundcheck prior to the band's June 20, 1995 performance at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York,^[3] shows a group of teenagers in a living room watching the band perform on TV. The version of the song that plays is slightly higher in tone than that of the album version. 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 in 1994.

Track listing

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

British and German 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

US 7" and CD single

"Tongue" – 4:09
"Tongue" (Live) – 4:34

British 7" and cassette single

"Tongue" – 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.
The UK cassette single had a reverse insert where the b sides from all other singles could be dubbed onto a cassette and the insert flipped to show artwork and track listing for a live album.

Charts

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart	12
UK Singles Chart	13

References

↑ http://remhq.com/albums.php
↑ Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M. London: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-776-5.
↑ R.E.M. Timeline - 1995 Concert Chronology

External links

Video clip at REMhq.com

R.E.M.

Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills Michael Stipe

Personnel	Nathan December Buren Fowler Peter Holsapple Barrett Martin Scott McCaughey Bill Rieflin Ken Stringfellow Joey Waronker

Managers	Bertis Downs IV Jefferson Holt

Studio albums	Murmur Reckoning Fables of the Reconstruction Lifes Rich Pageant Document Green Out of Time Automatic for the People Monster New Adventures in Hi-Fi Up Reveal Around the Sun Accelerate Collapse into Now

Compilations	Dead Letter Office Eponymous The Best of R.E.M. The Automatic Box Singles Collected In the Attic In Time iTunes Originals And I Feel Fine Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 Complete Rarities: I.R.S. 1982–1987 Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988–2011 7IN—83–88

EPs	Chronic Town Not Bad for No Tour Vancouver Rehearsal Tapes Live from London Reckoning Songs from The Olympia

Other albums	Man on the Moon r.e.m.IX R.E.M. Live Live at The Olympia Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions

Singles	"Radio Free Europe" "Talk About the Passion" "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" "Cant Get There from Here" "Driver 8" "Wendell Gee" "Fall on Me" "Superman" "The One I Love" "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" "Finest Worksong" "Orange Crush" "Stand" "Pop Song 89" "Get Up" "Losing My Religion" "Shiny Happy People" "Near Wild Heaven" "Radio Song" "Drive" "Man on the Moon" "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" "Everybody Hurts" "Nightswimming" "Find the River" "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" "Bang and Blame" "Strange Currencies" "Crush with Eyeliner" "Tongue" "E-Bow the Letter" "Bittersweet Me" "Electrolite" "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" "Daysleeper" "Lotus" "At My Most Beautiful" "Suspicion" "The Great Beyond" "Imitation of Life" "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" "I'll Take the Rain" "Bad Day" "Animal" "Leaving New York" "Aftermath" "Electron Blue" "Wanderlust" "#9 Dream" "Supernatural Superserious" "Hollow Man" "Man-Sized Wreath" "Until the Day Is Done" "Mine Smell Like Honey" "Überlin" "Oh My Heart" "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"

Other songs	"Sitting Still" "Gardening at Night" "Perfect Circle" "Pretty Persuasion" "Begin the Begin" "Cuyahoga" "Ages of You" "Turn You Inside-Out" "Texarkana" "Country Feedback" "First We Take Manhattan" "Ignoreland" "Dark Globe" "Star 69" "New Test Leper" "All the Right Friends" "Out in the Country"

Videos	Succumbs Tourfilm Pop Screen This Film Is On Parallel Road Movie In View Perfect Square When the Light Is Mine R.E.M. Live This Is Not a Show R.E.M. Live from Austin, TX REMTV

Related articles	Discography List of songs Tours Peter Buck Automatic Baby Hindu Love Gods The Baseball Project Tired Pony Athens Andover "I Belong to You" Hib-Tone Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People "Homer the Moe" Scott Litt

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