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Michael Stipe<\/a> finally put to rest a nearly four-decade-long struggle to understand just what he’s singing in R.E.M.<\/a>‘s 1987 song “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”<\/p>\n As fans of the song\u00a0\u2014 the second single from\u00a0R.E.M.’s first Top 10 and gold-selling album,\u00a0Document<\/a><\/em>\u00a0\u2014 know, the famously incomprehensible singer fires off a string of verses that for years could only be discerned in small portions: “World serves its own needs<\/em>,” “Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn<\/em>,” “Leonard Bernstein!<\/em>” R.E.M. rarely reprinted their lyrics in any form.<\/p>\n Over the past few days, Stipe clarified on Bluesky some of the song’s most\u00a0misunderstood lyrics, and it began with a Simpsons meme.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> 50 Misheard Lyrics You May Have Been Singing Wrong<\/a><\/p>\n In the meme, Homer Simpson claims he can sing\u00a0all the lyrics\u00a0to “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” only to be told, “No you can’t, Mr. Simpson. No\u00a0one\u00a0can.”<\/p>\n Stipe shared the image with a two-word reply: ” I can.”<\/p>\n I can<\/p>\n [image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social<\/a>) August 30, 2025 at 1:14 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Two days later, he proceeded to follow up his boast with proof, laying out two of the formerly unintelligible lyrics, noting “It’s ‘Left of west and coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck'” and “It\u2019s ‘Team by team reporters, baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped, Look at that low playing, fine, then’.”<\/p>\n It\u2019s \u2018Left of west and coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck \u2014 Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social<\/a>) August 31, 2025 at 8:10 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s \u201cTeam by team reporters, baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped, \u2014 Michael Stipe (@michaelstipe.bsky.social<\/a>) September 1, 2025 at 2:11 PM<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As with the rest of the song’s quickly delivered verses, the words appear to be randomly tossed together, with no set destination in mind.<\/p>\n In a 1992 interview with Q<\/em>, Stipe said<\/a>\u00a0of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” “The words come from everywhere. I’m extremely aware of everything around me, whether I am in a sleeping state, awake, dream-state or just in day-to-day life, so that ended up in the song along with a lot of stuff I’d seen when I was flipping TV channels.<\/p>\n Watch R.E.M.’s Video for ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’<\/strong><\/p>\n “It’s a collection of streams of consciousness,” he concluded.<\/p>\n The song reached No. 69 in the U.S. following its release as a single in late 1987.<\/p>\n Homer Simpson covered the song in a 2001 episode of The Simpsons<\/em> titled “Homer the Moe.”<\/p>\n Watch Homer Simpson Cover ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’<\/strong><\/p>\n The episode\u00a0featured the voices of R.E.M. members.<\/p>\n While R.E.M. broke up in 2011 after 31 years and 15 albums, the original quartet has performed together a few times since then.<\/p>\n Their most recent reunion was in February<\/a>, when Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck<\/a>, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry played a few songs with an R.E.M. cover band in their hometown of Athens, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n
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Look at that low playing,
fine, then<\/p>\nWhat’s the Story Behind R.E.M.’s ‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’?<\/h3>\n
What Has R.E.M. Been Up to Lately?<\/h3>\n