All the Best

Album: Collapse Into Now (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This rocker features bassist Mike Mills and frontman Michael Stipe sharing lead vocals whist Peter Buck and second guitarist Scott McCaughey lay down a wall of sound. McCaughey has worked with R.E.M. both on stage and in the studio since he being brought on as a second guitarist for the 1994 Monster tour.
  • The song features a typically cryptic Stipe lyric, which despite the seemingly upbeat title, appears to be more of an barbed comment on a tainted relationship than an act of well-wishing.
  • After R.E.M. broke up in September 2011, the band admitted that this song was written with the breakup in mind. Said Mike Mills: "There are some straightforward see-you-laters on that one."
  • Collapse Into Now was littered with clues undetected at the time that it was to be their final album, from the lyric of this song to the fact that Stipe was waving on the cover. The R.E.M. singer told Mojo: "Yeah, the clues were there. I placed them there intentionally. I took a chapter from Patti Smith, who released her first album, called Wave, and disappeared for years."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Al Kooper

Al KooperSongwriter Interviews

Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, played with Dylan and the Stones, and formed BS&T.

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Harry Shearer

Harry ShearerSongwriter Interviews

Harry is Derek Smalls in Spinal Tap, Mark Shubb in The Folksmen, and Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell NdegeocelloSongwriter Interviews

Meshell Ndegeocello talks about recording "Wild Night" with John Mellencamp, and explains why she shied away from the spotlight.