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Strange Currencies

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"Strange Currencies"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Monster
B-side"Strange Currencies" (instrumental version)
ReleasedApril 3, 1995 (1995-04-03)[1]
Genre
Length3:52
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
R.E.M. singles chronology
"Crush with Eyeliner"
(1995) 		"Strange Currencies"
(1995) 		"Tongue"
(1995)

"Strange Currencies" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was included on their ninth studio album, Monster (1994), and was released as the album's fourth single on April 18, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records. The song reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 47 in the United States. Like "Everybody Hurts" on R.E.M.'s previous album, it has a time signature of 6
8. The song's music video was directed by Mark Romanek.

Composition

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Stipe has said that the song is about "when somebody actually thinks that, through words, they're going to be able to convince somebody that they are their one and only."[4]

The song almost did not make it on the album due to its rhythmic similarities to "Everybody Hurts." Yet Michael Stipe's melody, the band felt, was too good to pass over, so the original rhythm was slightly reworked.

Critical reception

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Steve Baltin from Cash Box named "Strange Currencies" "maybe the sweetest song" from the Monster album. He explained, "There's a simple longing, mixed with reassuring, in the way Michael Stipe sings "I tripped and fell/did I fall/what I want to feel I want to feel it now." A sparse but lovely melody accompanies Stipe's tour de force. [...] Of course it will be a smash at the usual outlets, it's R.E.M.; but look for this one to break out at Top 40 and maybe even at Adult/Contemporary."[5] Chuck Campbell from Knoxville News Sentinel said it's the song "with perhaps the most enduring appeal" on the album, declaring it as "a languid track on which Stipe explores the enigma of a would-be lover with alternating fits of determination and vulnerability."[6] Jennifer Nine from Melody Maker complimented it as "buoyant".[7] Another Melody Maker editor, Andrew Mueller, wrote that it "puts the accompaniment to "Everybody Hurts" through a cheap and brutal amplifier and replaces universal balm with the self-abasing heroics of the unrequited admirer. "Fool might be my middle name", he sings, gloriously, uselessly besotted, "I tripped and I fell...you will be mine". Ah, the pathos, the hopeless deluded joy of it all. Lovely."[8] Barbara Ellen from NME said, "Like Morrissey, Michael Stipe is an expert on the agonies of obsessive, unrequited love. [...] The lyrics of "Strange Currencies" are among his most deceptively simple and potent yet, encapsulating all the need, hope and dread of a painful, secret crush".[9] Howard Hampton from Spin felt it's better than its "tearjerking predecessor", "Everybody Hurts", describing it as a "tremulous, pledging-my-soul" track.[10]

Music video

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The accompanying music video for "Strange Currencies", directed by Mark Romanek, was shot on the first anniversary of the death of Michael Stipe's close friend River Phoenix and features Phoenix's last girlfriend, actress Samantha Mathis.[citation needed] It also features an early performance by actor and model Norman Reedus. It is in black and white, and shows the band playing in an industrial area. The images of the band are interspersed with other shots, some of which, such as a child playing with a dead bird, suggest urban decay.

A second music video for a remix that incorporates live footage from Road Movie and the second season of The Bear was released on June 27, 2023.[11] A lyric video for the Monster 25th anniversary remix was published on July 20, 2023.[12]

Live performances

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"Strange Currencies" was played live frequently throughout the Monster tour but was not performed live again until 2003, when the song would then only appear on and off throughout various set lists until their final tour in 2008.

Track listings

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  1. "Strange Currencies" (album version) – 3:52
  2. "Strange Currencies" (instrumental version) – 3:52
  • UK maxi-CD and 12-inch single, UK and Australian CD single[17][18][19]
  1. "Strange Currencies" – 3:52
  2. "Drive" (live) – 4:17 (4:10 in UK)
  3. "Funtime" (live) – 2:16 (2:20 in UK)
  4. "Radio Free Europe" (live) – 4:43

Note: All live tracks were recorded at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, on November 19, 1992. The performance, a benefit for Greenpeace, was recorded on a solar-powered mobile studio.

  • 2023 digital edition, released to coincide with the second season of The Bear[20]
  1. "Strange Currencies" (25th anniversary remix by Scott Litt) – 3:52
  2. "Strange Currencies" – 3:52
  3. "Strange Currencies" (Live version from Road Movie) – 4:13

Charts

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Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom April 3, 1995
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Warner Bros. [1]
United States April 11, 1995 Contemporary hit radio [37]
Japan May 25, 1995 CD [38]
Worldwide June 24, 2023 Music streaming [20]

References

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  1. ^ a b "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. April 1, 1995. p. 35. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  2. ^ Melis, Matt; Gerber, Justin; Weiss, Dan (November 6, 2017). "Ranking: Every R.E.M. Album From Worst to Best". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ http://remhq.com/albums.php [dead link‍]
  4. ^ Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.. London: Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-776-5.
  5. ^ Baltin, Steve (May 6, 1995). "Pop Singles" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 11. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  6. ^ Campbell, Chuck (October 7, 1994). "R.E.M. Rocks Anew On Heady 'Monster'". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  7. ^ Nine, Jennifer (April 8, 1995). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 39. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  8. ^ Mueller, Andrew (October 1, 1994). "Albums". Melody Maker. p. 37. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
  9. ^ Ellen, Barbara (April 8, 1995). "Singles". NME. p. 58. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  10. ^ Hampton, Howard (November 1994). "Spins". Spin. p. 91. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  11. ^ "The Band & FX's The Bear Release Music Video for "Strange Currencies (Remix)"". R.E.M. 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  12. ^ "Watch Lyric Video for "Strange Currencies"". R.E.M. 2023-07-20. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  13. ^ Strange Currencies (US CD single disc notes). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. 9 17900-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Strange Currencies (US cassette single sleeve). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. 917900-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Strange Currencies (UK limited 7-inch single sleeve). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. W0290X.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Strange Currencies (UK cassette single sleeve). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. W0290C.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ Strange Currencies (US maxi-CD single disc notes). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. 9 43513-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ^ Strange Currencies (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. 9 43513-0.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ Strange Currencies (UK & Australian CD single liner notes). R.E.M. Warner Bros. Records. 1995. W0290CD, 9362435132.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ a b ""Strange Currencies" EP Available to Stream". R.E.M. 2023-06-24. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  21. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 232.
  22. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 04 Jun 1995". Retrieved June 2, 2016 – via Imgur.
  23. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 9220." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  24. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 16. April 22, 1995. p. 16. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  25. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (8.4. '95 – 14.4. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). April 8, 1995. p. 50. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  26. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Strange Currencies". Irish Singles Chart.
  27. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 20, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  28. ^ "R.E.M. – Strange Currencies" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  29. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  30. ^ "R.E.M.: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  31. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  32. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
  33. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  34. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard.
  35. ^ "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1995". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  36. ^ "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1996. p. 25. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  37. ^ "Selected New Releases" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1089. April 7, 1995. p. 44. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  38. ^ "ストレンジ・カレンシーズ | R.E.M." [Strange Currencies | R.E.M.] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
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