Depression

I was watching TV last night (the show is immaterial) and this character was a bit depressed. REM's anti-suicide "Everybody Hurts" started playing on the soundtrack. This is probably the worst song in the world to cheer up someone.

REM's Automatic For The People, released in 1992, is a moody, atmospheric album, with fine numbers like "Man On The Moon" and "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite." I remember feeling depressed about something around then (the cause is immaterial) and "Everybody Hurts" was the one song I could not bear to hear.

It's unpleasant enough even if you don't understand English. But the lyric, where Michael Stipe keeps whining how "everybody hurts," makes you want to jump off a roof. Think about it. When you feel low, do you want to be reminded there's lots of other misery around? "I just lost my lover--oh, other people feel bad, too--how's that supposed to help me?" Now if the song was "Everyone Gets Better" then you got something.

The popularity of this song is beyond me. It's maybe of the worst thing REM ever did. Now excuse me while I put on "Shiny Happy People."