
There are repeated mentions of Andy Kaufman, including references to his Elvis impersonation and work with wrestlers Fred Blassie and Jerry Lawler. The song's lyric does not tell a conventional story and instead forms a collection of cultural references, images and ideas. After Stipe went back to the studio to complete the vocal track, the track was mixed that night and sent out the following day to be mastered. Stipe listened to the track on a walk around Seattle on his Walkman cassette player and was inspired to write about Andy Kaufman. Stipe attempted to argue the track should be an instrumental, but his bandmates were insistent.

As of the final week of the recording sessions, Stipe was still struggling to write the lyric, and the others continued to plead with him to finish it. members had written and performed the music of the song and recorded it along with the rest of the Automatic for the People album during studio sessions in Seattle. Michael Stipe explained in an interview with Charlie Rose how the lyric was written independently of the music, which had no prior association with the song's eventual lyrical content regarding Kaufman. I think we might have played some mandolin on it in the rehearsal studio." I think Bill played bass and I played guitar we kept going around with it. I remember we showed it to Mike and Michael when they came in later definitely we had the song finished. I sat down and came up with the chorus, the bridges, and so forth. he would come up with the riffs, but I would be the finish guy for that. Guitarist Peter Buck has explained how the music came together: "'Man on the Moon' was something that Bill had, this one chord change that he came in with, which was C to D like the verse of the song, and he said: 'I don't know what to do with that.' I used to finish some of Bill's things. Īn early instrumental demo of the song was known to the band as "C to D Slide". The song has six lines in the first verse but only four in the second and third verses. "Man on the Moon" is a mid-tempo country-rock song following a verse-chorus structure with an added pre-chorus and an instrumental bridge following the second and third choruses. The song gave its name to Miloš Forman's Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon (1999), and features prominently in the film's soundtrack. The song's title and chorus refer to Moon landing conspiracy theories, as an oblique allusion to rumors that Kaufman's death in 1984 was faked. "Man on the Moon" is a tribute to comedian Andy Kaufman, with numerous references to his career including his Elvis impersonation, wrestling, and the film My Breakfast with Blassie. 1988–2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011. It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time: The Best of R.E.M. The song was well received by critics and reached number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 17 on the US Cash Box Top 100, number 18 on the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Iceland. The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck. " Man on the Moon" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in November 1992 as the second single from their eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992).
