All The Way To Reno (You're Gonna Be A Star) by R.E.M.

Album: Reveal (2001)

Charted: 24

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Reno is a city in Nevada known as a cut-rate Las Vegas. You don't really become a star in Reno unless you have very low expectations.
The video was shot at Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School in Brooklyn, New York. Some of the students were used as actors, and the band's manager, Bertis Downs, made a cameo appearance as the school's announcer.
The documentary filmmaker Michael Moore directed the video. Some of his movies include Roger And Me and Bowling For Columbine.
This was originally called "Jimmy Webb on Mars." Peter Buck wrote in the liner notes for In Time: "From the six-string bass intro, to the semi-rococo chord changes and through the bridge to the outro, this was musically a kind of sick tribute to a songwriter who we all admire." Webb wrote the Glen Campbell hits "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," among others.

Comments: 4

John from Reno, NvReno is too good for people who can't even pronounce the name of the state it's in.
Billy from Liverpool, EnglandPeter Buck thinks Michael wrote the lyrics, from the viewpoint of a female.
Epp from Pittsburgh, PaThis song is about all those people that dream of stardom, but fail. That's why Reno is in the title, because it would be almost impossible to become a star there. Thus it shows how hard it is to succeed in Hollwood.
Erin from Richmond, VaThe song is meant to be both optimistic and ironic as Reno is NOT the place someone would go to be a star, unless, as Peter Buck put it, they were seriously deluded.

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