michy36 September 6th, 2005 02:58AM  
This song is about the differences between men and women and that women are an unknown 'species' to men. He's saying that he can't get close to her or understand her.

"The lengths that I will go to, the distance in your eyes" this metaphor shows that he can never know what she's thinking because he looks into her eyes and there's a never-ending stream of thoughts.

"That's me in the corner, that's my in the spotlight, loising my religion". His religion is his woman, the person he loves, and he's watching himself lose her and he can't do anything about it.

rufustfirefly September 12th, 2005 11:26AM  
This song seems to describe the end of a relationship, plain and simple.

"Life is bigger than you", "the distance in your eyes", etc, are just the author's realization of the end of his relationship. "That's me in the corner" describes isolation, "that's me in the spotlight" describes the focus of the disintegration being put solely on him, and he seems to compare his relationship metaphorically to a religion, saying that he had put all of his faith in something which is slipping away from him before his eyes.

This seems to be backed up by "trying to keep an eye on you", and "I think I thought I saw you try/but that was just a dream", saying that all of the effort to keep the relationship together was on him, and that he is finally giving up.

anonymous October 9th, 2005 02:41PM  
Until recently, I didn't have a clue what this song was going on about. I think that this song has to do with an obsession/crush on a girl. The "religion" means how important it is for him to keep it secret. He's dropping hints to let her know how he feels but isnt sure if he's "said too much". I'm really interested in REM interpretations but its bloody deep stuff!

anonymous October 26th, 2005 10:06AM  
Um, the term 'Losing My Religion' is a southern term that means to lose your temper.

spcmntdude October 29th, 2005 07:57AM  
'Losing My Religion' is actually a southern term that means "I don't think I still have faith in this turning out the way I want it to."

The song is about letting someone know you have a crush on them and the emotions that go along with that. "Oh no I've said too much, I haven't said enough" is a reference to the point when you have indirectly let someone how you feel about them -- but then you rethink it and you don't know if they caught "the hint of the century"

"Losing my religion" is about worrying that the other person is not going to be interested in you.

"What if all these fantasies, Come flailing around" -- is the fear that your day dreams about this person will never become a reality.

anonymous September 12th, 2006 04:36PM  
Here’s my interpretation of what it is about, and an explanation of what it is about for me. The song for me is about the efforts of conveying your love to someone, trying to get them to understand how much you love them, without saying it straight out because of the fear of losing them all together.

“life is bigger, it’s bigger than you” is a statement, logically true. It shouldn’t be the end of the world that she doesn’t love you.

“and you are not me” is the sad truth, she’s not on the same page, you are not a part of each other.

“the lenghts that I will go to” shows the power of the love, that you will go to the end of the world for her. “the distance in your eyes” is her lack of interest in you, she’s not there with you with the same emotions. “i set it up” means that you’re trying to create situations where the truth will come out, where you will get what you want.

“that’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight”, you are everywhere, in the background and right in front of her. “losing my religion”, losing your faith that she loves you, losing your faith in love all together. Losing your belief that soulmates would be together no matter what.

“trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it”, trying to stop her from walking away from you, trying to keep moving on together, not sure that it’s working.

“oh no i’ve said too much, I haven’t said enough”, the fear that you hinted too strongly, that it has become too obvious that you love her. Wanting to tell her more, to let it all out, thinking that maybe she didn’t get your hints, that they weren’t obvious enough.

“i thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing”, you thought you were going in the right direction, you thought she was there with you. “i think I thought I saw you try”, you thought she was hinting back, but you are so unsure.

“every whisper, of every waking hour, i’m choosing my confessions”, every second of your time you’re thinking about what to reveal and what not to, planning what to say to her. “trying to keep an eye on you”, trying to see how she reacts, what she feels and thinks about what you’re saying. “like a hurt lost and blinded fool”, you’re hurt that she doesn’t respond to your hints, you’re lost in what to do, you feel blind because you thought that you saw that she felt something for you and you feel like a fool because you allowed yourself to think that she would love you back.

“consider this, consider this, the hint of the century”, you give her the most obvious hint of your love that you can think of. “the slip that brought me to my knees failed”, you gave her the hint of a lifetime, so huge it was basically a slip and the emotional impact it had on you to tell her brought you to your knees, beat you down. But still she did not respond to you.

“what if all these fantasies come flailing around”, express the fear you have that your fantasies about you two together will never become a reality. “now i’ve said too much”, there it was, you want to be with her and you just let yourself think it. There’s no way back, you can’t take that thought back.

“that was just a dream”, all your hinting was for nothing, it turns out she doesn’t love you back and you had just created what you wanted to be there, but what was not really.

I couldn't have said it better myself. This is an awesome interpretation and definitely one that I can relate to.

anonymous November 21st, 2006 04:58PM  
I think this song is about a young person trying to explore the world. He doesn't know what's right what's wrong. He's analysing everything but he's alone in what he believes. He wishes he could find someone who can understand him.

anonymous March 13th, 2007 02:48AM  
This song is actually about a crush micheal stipe had on a girl when he was younger saw it in an interview on micheal stipe.

anonymous September 25th, 2007 02:06AM  
When a person writes a song, he or she usually let's it flow and does not have an intended literal meaning to every single word and phrase and so on...

"losing my religion" is a southern expression used to mean, losing one's temper.

but it is also the title of this song, which in short, is simply about...

believing in something ... and then.. eventually... just
going through the motions.

anonymous October 1st, 2007 05:05AM  
And by the way - why does every song interpretation here have entries for: ex, sex, virginity, cheating? We need to clean up our lives a little - it's showing on the internet.

x_lily_x November 23rd, 2007 09:44AM  
I don't think it's about religion, I think it's about faith. And seeing as religion is all about faith, it's a clever connotation to make.

anonymous December 31st, 2007 08:09PM  
"Losing my religion" is actually a southern expression meaning like you're losing yourself or losing grip of your life. I interpret this song as the singer talking about his struggle with fame. If you look closely at the some of the lyrics, "That's me in the corner That's me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don't know if I can do it" He feels like he's falling apart and can't handle the demands of fame.

"Consider this The slip that brought me To my knees failed. What if all these fantasies Come flailing around" He's insecure and concerned that his fame won't last. It was something he wanted and got but is thinking about how it could crash and burn so suddenly.

"I thought that I heard you laughing, I thought that I heard you sing, I think I thought I saw you try" Could be his perception of the public and how they se him. He's concerned about what they think of him. He's not sure if their going to love him, hate him, make fun of him or praise him.

In the end, when he states "But that was just a dream, That was just a dream" is him realizing that maybe he's focusing too much on the "what if's" and letting his insecurities go to his head. He's saying like yeah, there's the possibility of failure but that's not what's happening in reality.

anonymous February 9th, 2008 02:45PM  
Everyone here is just putting they're own interpretation. The song is about unrequited love. It was said in an interview. The song is about how he loves her but she doesn't feel the same way.

anonymous April 22nd, 2008 12:57AM  
Believe it or not it was said that it was the singers way of coming out of the closet. He's gay. and apparently that was his way of telling people what he feels and that he was coming out of the closet. listen to the song with this in mind and it does kinda make sense.

anonymous May 26th, 2008 07:09AM  
Relationship = Religion

anonymous September 17th, 2008 12:47AM  
The chorus when they are saying in the spotlight in the corner shit. I think that means..when your trying to avoid being the center of attention and suddenly it feels like your the center of attention? that what I feel that it might be! but then again I'm fucking crazy.

CHAD October 17th, 2008 02:58PM  
I always thought that "losing my religion" was a term that originated in the south, but not in my native Florida, that means losing your composure in anger, and using profanity.

anonymous December 24th, 2008 02:43AM  
so many interpretations ... for a woman: same meaning the main user chosen gave, yet more where you know the truth and are waiting for him to tell you ... losing my religion, keep an eye on you ... i don't know, maybe it's about what you are going through atm, yet for me it has a lot to do with unspoken truths, knowing what should be and waiting for something to fall into place.

wondering April 6th, 2009 05:42AM  
I have found some of the interpretations interesting but I still have my doubts. I was married for 9 years but the man of my life was an alcoholic. By the time the song came out we were in diferent countries but I was on my way to meet him again and he knew it, he was just waiting for my arrival, maybe he wasn't sure if I could make it. He told me every time he heard the song he though of me. We got divorced many years later. I am convinced that we were deeply in love with each other but his problem ruined the relationship. That's why I am so interested in the meaning of the song. By the way, every time I hear "One" by U2 I think of him.

serpent September 2nd, 2009 07:43AM  
"Oh no I said too much" can be intended to have more than one meaning. One being the fear of saying the wrong thing, ie. Saying something stupid/not funny or something that does not convince her he is mr. right. "I haven't said enough" can be a reference to not having found the words that will convince her.

I think this text can both be seen in the light of a new love and an old flame/relationship I dire straits