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There is no person alive who cannot relate to this song. No matter your race, religion, orientation, or culture you've felt this

So for the video: the traffic jam was symbolic of all these people trapped in their individual pain, unable to move forward. Then when they realized that everyone else was going through the same thing they all broke out and moved on together. And a great message for anyone who's out there feeling like they can't go on. Just hold on. You're not the only one. There's people out there who can help you. Don't give up.

The song was written by REM to try to prevent suicide. That was their goal.

You said you wish you had found this song when you were 16. I was in my early teens when this song came out and I listened to it all the time. As a little gay boy growing up in the rural woods of Vermont in the 90s ... knowing that I was "not alone" ... it saved me. Thank you Michael Stipe and REM.

Dude! It's your HUMANITY that makes you popular. It's your humanity that makes this song appeal to you. And to us. Thankyou.

Some songs are happy. Some songs are sad. This song is cathartic.

It might be hard for people to understand, but this is an amazingly beautiful song that can help a person feel better when they're down. And props on Otis Redding. The man is a legend.

When this sone came out, I was like, "This crap is way too depressing." A couple of years later, my heart was broken, I was lost, and I saw no way out. Then this sone came on the radio and it was a true lightbulb moment. I got it. I understood. Thank you, R.E.M., thank you.

When my husband was dying he requested that this song be played at his funeral. It was a long time before I could listen to it again and really listen to the words. It's an amazing song, I often play it now when I'm down. thank you for your reactions. Jeanette, New Zealand.

When my dad passed away, this song came out. Having a narcissistic mother, my dad was my shelter, my rock. My hubby was fighting cancer, dad too, dad lost his fight. (Hubby had many years to fight in front of him) I got PTSD. A lot of pain in my young life back then, everything happened in the same years while dealing with a narcissistic mother. I cried out loud while 'singing' along this song, everyday after dad passed away. How I missed my shelter. This song helped me so much. When I was thinking about ending 'it' all, in total panic, I always played this song. I was not alone, I had to hold on etc and I calmed down. How music can heal us humans. I'm a very happy grandma since 6 years together with my beloved hubby. Free of narcissistic mother and free of cancer. How rich hubby and I am. REM? Everyday, while tears are coming out I'm singing along, having a good feeling inside of me.

To me, this is a song of hope. "Everybody hurts. Take comfort in your friends." "You're not alone." Even though it sounds dark, it really expresses that we're all going through something, but it's temporary. When you're in pain (emotionally or physically), this song is a gentle reminder to take a beat and realize everyone is just getting through this thing called life. I love music that is thought provoking and makes you feel you're part of it. R.E.M. has mastered this ability.

I’m 67 and lived with depression and anxiety most my life. I’ve always fallen back on my music in tough times and this song has been my go too since it came out. I’ve loved and listened to. So much music all my life and nothing has ever hit me to the core of me like this song. I’m glad you get it!💗🇨🇦👍🏼

REM had a ton of hits all worth checking out. I think this song has helped if not saved a lot of people.

Michael Stipe and Thom Yorke are my favourite painfully beautiful male voices ❤ This song never fails to bring tears to my eyes

I haven't seen this video in what I believe has been 30 years and I cried now just as much as I did then. It's beautiful message to not give up on life.

This song never fails to make me blubber like the big blubbering baby I am at heart. Couple of interesting points: John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin scored the orchestrations at the end, and much of the look of the video is homage to the opening scene of the Federico Fellini film 8 1/2, especially when Stipe climbs up on the car roof and begins gliding forward, but also the whole faces lined in pain while trapped in cars schtick. Where are my tissues, anyway...?

This song breaks my heart. So many people suffering in this world.😢

It's 5am in the morning in AUSTRALIA. I found your channel just recently, and I am 'CRYING'. I loved this song when I was a teenager. But, to hear it now, at the age of 50. Is so much more relatable. Your soul is saying everything so beautifully.

"It's The End Of The World As We Know It" was my intro to R.E.M. only the college radio stations would play R.E.M. at first. The song is so far past genius. Always gets me up and dancing!

It is a real pleasure watching someone who really loves melodic music. Never change.

It seems like a sad song, but it's not. It's a song to remind you the everybody hurts sometime, and that you a never truly alone. It has a very positive message for me.

Love your observations about Otis and Stipe's voice, the pain. It made me think of the Cranberries' "Zombie"... you can almost hear the singer weeping in that one too. You should check it out, a lot of reactors have loved it.

I am so happy to see you react to this. This song brought a lot of comfort to me and my family when my grandpa passed away. My cousin and I went into the "breather room" at the funeral home. The big lounge area was sound proof for people to just let it all out. He brought his boom box and we played this song. My mother and her brothers, as well as her brothers children trickled in as it was playing. While it was playing we just all cried and held each other. It was a cathartic experience we all had. It was a bittersweet moment for love and grief.

R.E.M. is one of my favorites. It's always refreshing when you find like-minded people that like almost everything musically (caveat: if it's good, of course). You might enjoy Simply Red. Holding Back the Years, If You Don't Know Me By Now, either/or/both. His voice is phenomenal.

This is one of the songs tgat got me through chemo this past year. The hold on lines at the end make me bust out in tears every time. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley is another one that has gotten me through. If you are looking for another REM I like End of the World as we Know It. You may want the lyrics because it goes fast. Holding on... Here's to a healthy 2023.

An indescribably beautiful song…….

This album came out while I was in nursing school, training in a public hospital during the height of the AIDS epidemic. I listened to it on repeat walking to and from class, processing all the death and life and sorrow and hope and love I was confronting every day. Nightswimming is my favorite REM song. I hope you'll react to it at some point.

REM is one of my favorite bands and this is my favorite song by them.❤️😊

I was 16 and going through boy problems!! I sang it to the top of my lungs.. That was 1992

While i really do enjoy Ottis's voice, for me there have been 1 voice to me that has been able to express pain in the most beatutiful way imaginable... And that is Jeff Buckley

REM was among the insightful college bands of that era! Thank you for reacting to this great song.

REM and The Cure are my two goto bands when I’m feeling down .

It can be very ... satisfying and emotionally liberating to just cry or connect with sadness. I think part of it is ... shared? And I think that's part of the magic of this song, is people coming together to recognize their sorrows and bad times.

This song and Rush's The Pass have a deep anti-suicide message that rocks you to the core when you're at a low point.

Got me again .. the tears flow when I hear this ... RIP my dear friend Doug, you are missed

"Whoever wrote this song experienced a lot of pain", and hope! Great reaction friend, we're all in this together.

Red Hot Chili Peppers " Under The Bridge " is similarly beautiful. Love R.E.M., love this song.

HOPE, EMPATHY, TENACITY & OVERCOMING OBSTACLES in LIFE & TO KEEP GOING...is what this song relates to me. REM Murmur.

The next track on this album, Automatic for the People, is also beautiful: Nightswimming. The string arrangement was done by John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin).

Love R.E.M.! They are amazing live in concert. The video for Everybody Hurts was filmed in my hometown very close to home house.

I know this song from my teenage years. Very powerful and a big message. Don’t give up. Keep going. We all feel pain, sorrow, regret. Just keep moving forward. Thank you so much for listening to this song. Xoxo

This song has saved the lives of so many people that I know personally. Not to mention the people I've never met. Beautiful. As far as what you said about "sad" music making you feel good. That is the core tenet of the blues, my friend, which it has passed on to all of its children (country, rock, and r&b, among all the others)

This is comfort and catharsis in one shot. And makes me cry every time.

"You did it to yourself, you clicked on this video" lmao, that was the quote of the year.

I cry every time i listen to this 😢❤

This message absolutely needs to be heard always!!

HS days…REM was my go to as an awkward high school kid in 84 in Texas. I was a farm boy and this music resonated with me…to me it was a continuation of my parents country and R&B , but they didn’t get it. Thanks for this reaction.

Michael's voice is amazing.❤❤❤

Hi! Dimash Qudaibergen « SOS » ~ sa great place to start with this 29yo, 7 octave, 17 languages, 7 instrument-playing gentleman from Kazakhstan. PLEASE .. you won’t regret, he’s astonishing! PS; love your review style!

Michael has such a pure voice. K.D.Lang has a powerful, pure voice too. You should check her out. Her rendition of hallelujah is phenomenal.

"You did it to yourself..." That's hilarious! Honestly, I wasn't sure you'd like this one, but I'm so glad you did, Polo. Keep on doing this! You're fun to watch!

you earned a new fan -- not because of musical tastes, but because of your observations

Can definitely say i agree that this is a beautiful and ultimately uplifting song. We all been there.

R.E.M. is my favorite band. This song came out in 1992. The lead singer Michael Stipe said he wrote this song for teenagers because their suicide rate is so high. The last line of the song is "you are not alone." You don't hear it very loud here, but when you see live videos, he does it loud and clear. TRUST me when I tell you to listen to their songs live in concert. R.E.M. has 15 studio albums, live albums and many bootlegs. All of their songs are unique from album to album and they made it a point to change their sound in each song.

Michael Stipe was THE MAN to introduce "Nirvana" in Rock and Roll Royal All of fame in 2014... Thx Mike ❤ 🌈❤️👍

Love the group! They sang songs that actually tried to make it resonate with the audience and the issues @ the time!! REM stood for meaning not just songs that were tacky like many other @ the same time REM was around!! REM was 1 of a kind as well. Often misunderstood!!!

The first couple of notes are mind blowing

Brings tears. 😮

Losing my Religion, ❤ it❣️ Every body hurts is great too❣️

I have hurt lots in my life. I'm 69 yrs old and music can help soothe. This is one song.

REM - Nightswimming. One of the most beautiful all time songs to me.

This song gives me the chills and makes me cry (in a good way)

This song is as relevant today as it was to the 17 year old Me ,who just wanted out. Im 52 , Thank You R.E.M.

This song came out 30 years ago when I was in high school and it still basically brings me to tears every time. I’ve had depression my whole life, although thankfully not with any associated dark thoughts, but it’s still so relatable.

This song is about trying to get anywhere in midtown Atlanta at noon on a Tuesday.

A lot of people see this as a sad song, but I think it's a great song of hope.

My favorite song by R.E.M.!!! Pay attention to what the people are thinking 🤔. And look at those big old cars and trucks.

This is one of those track where I HAVE to turn it up full volume !

This song literally saved my life. Back in the day, i was in a very dark place, and this song helped me get out of it. (This song and the movie Pump Up the Volume... similar themes.)

This was such a huge hit in the UK, beautiful song

Another song from around the same era that you may like. Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity" I am not a huge Queensryche fan. There's somethings that are extremely special about that song though. I love not only the composition of the piece (which is stronger than this piece, and I've been an REM fan for 40 years) but also a vocal performance that will move you and evoke emotion as much or more than this song. Check it out. I'm enjoying your journey and perpective on music that I now almost take for granted. Seeing new eyes and ears on songs really re-energizes my love for these songs.

This song got me through a very hard time in my life, I have a cry every time I listen to it but it gives me hope

I have always felt the vicarious pain in artful sad songs. When I was five yrs old I listened with my 15 yr. old brother. To Elvis, Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke and mostly Ray Charles. As a young adult I'd make 90 min tapes from Janis Joplin,and every kind of heart wrenching favorite and about halfway through I felt so comforted that the later songs were rejoicing like Van Morrison's "Brand New Day" my sadness morphs into optimism great driving therapy when you're discouraged, the rebound of gratitude is worth it!❤

From about 84 to 87, I only had a stack of bootleg tapes. I had to haul down to the Princeton Record Exchange to finally put up my own money. IRS & Post IRS are like they reformed under the same name. This band is a part of me like the water trapped in fruit.

Check out Depeche Mode, they're an incredible band with beautiful songs

This song makes me cry, good reaction.

I was reminded I was not alone and someone appreciated. Never to old to remember where music was a comforting embrace

I love Frank Ocean and Otis Redding too. This R.E.M song is a super powerful and sad song that uses two very happy guitar chords - I always found that interesting. You might like some of the softer melancholic Radiohead songs. "Fake Plastic Tree's" is probably appropriate. Their music varies a lot and changes genre's between albums but there is a constant thread of beauty and sadness. Def one of my GOAT bands.

Another great pick. Another great pick from the 90s... maybe 1992. My daughter & her friends loved this! She drew me in. A REAL surprise from 1990s 😊

I also love sad music. You can take this line from Doctor Who: "Sad is happy for deep people." It's cathartic to hear this much pain and hope put to music. Michael Stipe helped Thom Yorke (Radiohead's singer) a lot. If you haven't listened to How to Disappear Completely yet, you might love it. The main point of the song was the result of Stipe helping Yorke cope with the weight of fame and touring etc. Excellent stuff.

This is a great song to listen to when you are feeling a lot of pain and want to just give up.

I love this song so much. I heard a version by a winner of the voice Australia Bella Taylor Smith and it gives you chills 😊

Well, you have just scratched the surface of REM. Saw them twice and they were just as awesome in concert.

This song was released just as my abusive marriage ended , it gave me the strength to carry on and get through. Its one off those songs that really speaks too you in a moment off need .

The thoughts of the people in the vehicles are so familiar feeling like that at times. It really touches me and.I feel so much of their pain and heartache and lonliness.

Listening to sad music can be a way to remember and celebrate having survived some of the hardest times in our lives as much as it is a comfort to listen during them. No one should assume another's mental health status by their musical choices at any given time.

What you're experiencing is what many of us feel of things that happened in the past and we haven't truly cried the way we need to and songs like this helps with the pain the song is really about people wanting or thinking of suicide but what he's saying that everyone has gone through a similar experience but suicide is not the way their is always a way out.

Thank you for playing that, I don't know why I have not listened to REM for at least a decade, funny, as I own every single one of their records and used to play them all the time.

One of those songs that really hit you in the feels on multiple levels.

Michael Stiipe definatly 1 of the BEST. You took me home was 14 . THANK YOU ... peace outxx

The thing in the video that always hit me was the old man with his wife. The subtitle, "She's gone." Sledgehammer to the heart.

Find the River is another perfect showcase of the "yearning to understand" in his voice

This is a gorgeous song. It says so much. If you like this kind of stuff (and I do, too), check out I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie. It's a beautiful song as well.

My second time listening to this video. I can always listen on Bluetooth but there’s something about you loving great performers and artists like this! What a great time to be young! Best era!

This is such a beautiful, beautiful song.

Fall On Me is my favorite R.E.M. song. You would enjoy it, too, I think!

OH NO... you like REM. Man I did discover this when I was 16. I can't count the number of hrs my father n I must have spent listening to REM and deciphering their lyrics.

Hall and Oates "Sara Smile" "She's gone" "Rich girl" "Kiss on my list" "Private eyes" "I can't go for that" "Maneater" "One on one" "Method of modern love" "Out of touch" "You make my dreams"

My childhood. My twenties. Love them.