| "Finest Worksong" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byR.E.M. | ||||
| from the albumDocument | ||||
| B-side | "Time After Time, Etc." (Live) | |||
| Released | March 1988 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Studio | Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:48 | |||
| Label | I.R.S. | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
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"Finest Worksong" is the third and final single released fromR.E.M.'s fifth studio albumDocument (1987). It peaked at number 50 on theUK Singles Chart in April 1988, at the time the group's highest-charting single in the UK.[3]
The single version of the song (also known as Mutual Drum Hornmix), featuring a new horn section by The Uptown Horns, was placed on R.E.M.'sI.R.S. Records compilationEponymous. This was the last original single the band released on I.R.S. Records.
All songs written byBill Berry,Peter Buck,Mike Mills andMichael Stipe.
7" single
12" single and 3" CD single
UK CD single
1 Recorded at theMuziekcentrum Vredenburg,Utrecht,Netherlands, September 14, 1987, this live medley included "Time After Time (AnnElise)", a snippet ofPeter Gabriel's "Red Rain" and "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[3] | 50 |
| USBillboardHot Mainstream Rock Tracks[4] | 28 |
Per Stipe in an interview withReveal, 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 theAmerican dream, but it's a pipe dream that's been exploited for years.'"[5] 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.'"[6]
