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Strange Currencies
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Strange Currencies
| cover = R.E.M. - Strange Currencies.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = R.E.M.
| album = Monster
| B-side = "Strange Currencies" (instrumental version)
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:52
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer =
| producer =
| prev_title = Crush with Eyeliner
| prev_year = 1995
| next_title = Tongue
| next_year = 1995
}}
"'Strange Currencies'" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. It was included on their ninth studio album, 'Monster' (1994), and was released as the album's third single on April 18, 1995. The single reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 47 in the United States. Like "Everybody Hurts" on R.E.M.'s previous album, it has a time signature of .
Composition
Stipe has said that the song is about "when somebody actually thinks that, through words, they're going to be able to convince somebody that they are their one and only."
The song almost did not make it on the album due to its rhythmic similarities to "Everybody Hurts." Yet Michael Stipe's melody, the band felt, was too good to pass over, so the original rhythm was slightly reworked.
Music video
The video, directed by Mark Romanek, was shot on the first anniversary of the death of Michael Stipe's close friend River Phoenix and features River Phoenix's last girlfriend, actress Samantha Mathis.. It also features an early performance by actor and model Norman Reedus. It is in black and white, and shows the band playing in an industrial area. The images of the band are interspersed with other shots, some of which, such as a child playing with a dead bird, suggest urban decay.
Live performances
"Strange Currencies" was played live frequently throughout the 'Monster' tour but was not performed live again until 2003, where the song would then only appear on and off throughout various set lists until their final tour in 2008.
Track listings
'US CD and cassette single, UK 7-inch and cassette single'
# "Strange Currencies" (album version) 3:52
# "Strange Currencies" (instrumental version) 3:52
'UK maxi-CD and 12-inch single, UK and Australian CD single'
# "Strange Currencies" 3:52
# "Drive" (live) 4:17 (4:10 in UK)
# "Funtime" (live) 2:16 (2:20 in UK)
# "Radio Free Europe" (live) 4:43
* All live tracks were recorded at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, on November 19, 1992. The performance, a benefit for Greenpeace, was recorded on a solar-powered mobile studio.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
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