Remembering When the Rhythm Section of Fleetwood Mac Subtly Inspired One of R.E.M.’s Biggest Hits in 1991

When we hear hit songs on the radio, we often don’t consider everything that goes into them. They’re a product of countless choices made by the writers, instrumentalists, producers, and anyone else involved in the creative process. As an example, consider R.E.M.’s 1991 smash single “Losing My Religion”.

While Michael Stipe certainly took center stage on the track as lead singer, the song might not have made the same impact without the work of the band’s rhythm section. And those two instrumentalists owed a debt to the stalwart bassist and drummer from classic rock heroes Fleetwood Mac.

Mandolin Wind

“Losing My Religion” began with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck fooling around on a mandolin during some downtime in between the group’s projects. He found a chord pattern that he liked and recorded it. That eventually served as the song’s foundation a few years later when they were in the recording process for the Out Of Time album.

At that point, the rest of the band got involved. Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry had to construct a basic rhythm, one that would serve as the basis for Michael Stipe’s melody and vocals. As it turned out, both Berry and Mills would find inspiration in the work of Fleetwood Mac.

Fans of that band know that many guitarists and singers have rotated in and out of the lineup over their long career. But the constants the whole time have been bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, the two men who gave the band their name.

Mac Attack

In the book Anatomy Of A Song by Marc Myers, Mills explained how he struggled at first with his part because the sound of the mandolin left so much space on the bottom end. That’s when he thought of McVie:

“Eventually I asked myself, ‘What would (bassist) John McVie do?’ I super-admired Fleetwood Mac, and John’s lines were always simple but melodic. They lift songs rather than hold them down. Thinking about John inspired me to come up with a line that locked down the bass part.”

As fate would have it, drummer Berry also turned to his counterpart in Fleetwood Mac for inspiration on his part in “Losing My Religion.” “Also, if you listen carefully, you’ll hear that on the second and fourth beats, I’m hitting the snare drum and tom-tom at the same time,” he explained to author Myers. “That’s a Mick Fleetwood trick, particularly on Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’.”

The Finishing Touch

With those clever instrumental touches in place, the band was able to hand the song off to Stipe with confidence that he had an excellent foundation with which to work. Stipe took it from there. In the lyrics, he imagined someone utterly unable to communicate his innermost feelings, hiding away instead.

R.E.M. didn’t think that “Losing My Religion” would be anything other than a table-setter for the rest of Out Of Time, which was released in 1991. Instead, the song took off at radio, giving the band their biggest hit to that point. Consider the rhythm section of Fleetwood Mac to be a crucial, albeit indirect, contributor to the song’s major success.

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