Greatest Songs Of All Time: Everybody Hurts - R.E.M

It's that time of the week again where we cast a critical eye over a couple of songs in musical history and honour those special something’s that stick out head and shoulders above the rest.

This week it's time for that little fox Michael Stipe and his pals in R.E.M to get a pat on the back for their 1993 hit, Everybody Hurts, taken from the super fit album, Automatic for the People.

The song didn't fair too well on American soil and only reached number 29 on the Billboard charts, however us Brits lapped it up and sent it skyrocketing into number 7; whilst the romantic French loved it even more and helped it reached number 3. Ooh la la.

Most of the song is thought to have been written by the bands former drummer, Bill Berry, who didn't actually drum on the single as he was replaced by a Univox drum machine.

In the liner notes of the album In Time - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, Peter Buck writes that "the reason the lyrics are so atypically straightforward is because it was aimed at teenagers", and "I've never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the idea that high school is a portal to hell seems pretty realistic to me." Incidentally, the song was used in the 1992 film of the same name that preceded the show.

Proving that it still has a fair old clout with lovers and music maestros such as my good self many years after its release, it was voted 4th in a 2006 poll of Britain's Favourite Break-up Songs.

So I think it’s about time we relive those joyous moments and all sit quietly and drool over Michael’s weird appeal.

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison