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Finest Worksong

Song by R.E.M

Summary

Song by R.E.M

Field	Value
name	Finest Worksong
cover	R.E.M. - Finest Worksong.jpg
type	single
artist	R.E.M.
album	Document
B-side	"Time After Time, Etc." (Live)
released	March 1988
recorded	1987
studio	Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
*funk metal<ref>{{cite web	url	https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/document-19871022	title=R.E.M. Document Album Review	author=David Fricke	date=22 October 1987	work=Rolling Stone}}
length
label	I.R.S.
*Michael Stipe<ref>{{cite web	url	http://remhq.com/albums.php	title=Albums	publisher=R.E.M.HQ	access-date=21 December 2011	url-status=dead	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205195817/http://www.remhq.com/albums.php	archive-date=5 February 2012 }}
prev_title	It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
prev_year	1987
next_title	Orange Crush
next_year	1988

| B-side = "Time After Time, Etc." (Live)

Alternative rock
funk metal
Bill Berry
Peter Buck
Mike Mills
Michael Stipe
Scott Litt
R.E.M.

"Finest Worksong" is the third and final single released from R.E.M.'s fifth studio album Document (1987). It peaked at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart in April 1988, at the time the group's highest-charting single in the UK.

The single version of the song (also known as Mutual Drum Horn mix), featuring a new horn section by The Uptown Horns, was placed on R.E.M.'s I.R.S. Records compilation Eponymous. This was the last original single the band released on I.R.S. Records.

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe.

7" single

"Finest Worksong" – 3:50
"Time After Time, Etc." (Live)1 – 8:22

12" single and 3" CD single

"Finest Worksong" – 3:50
"Time After Time, Etc." (Live)1 – 8:22
"Finest Worksong" (Lengthy Club mix) – 5:52
"Finest Worksong" (Other mix) – 3:47

UK CD single

"Finest Worksong"
"Time After Time, Etc." (Live)1
"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"

Notes

1 Recorded at the Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht, Netherlands, September 14, 1987, this live medley included "Time After Time (AnnElise)", a snippet of Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" and "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"

Charts

Chart (1988)	Peak
position
UK Singles Chart	50
US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	28

Lyrics

Per Stipe in an interview with Reveal, the intent "was to attack 'the idea that you can work and work, and get what you want, and then try for even more. It's the American dream, but it's a pipe dream that's been exploited for years.'" It has also been described as a "musical portrait of a disenchanted worker. Michael Stipe sings, 'Take your instinct by the reins You'd better best to rearrange What we want and what we need Has been confused been confused.'"

References

David Fricke. (22 October 1987). "R.E.M. Document Album Review". Rolling Stone.
"Albums". R.E.M.HQ.
"REM - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
"Document - R.E.M.". [[AllMusic]].
(2017-08-21). "'Finest Worksong': R.E.M. Gets Loud and Political but Stays Weird".
Falsani, Cathleen. (2012-05-01). "Working Class Heroes: A Playlist for May Day".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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