Lotus (R.E.M. song)
"Lotus" is a song by R.E.M., released as the second single from their eleventh studio album "Up". The song is somewhat minimalist, with Michael Stipe singing surreal lyrics in a percussive manner. It builds on a four-note keyboard part, with a distorted guitar riff at the beginning and after the second chorus. The song's recurring line "I ate the lotus" appeared in an alternate form ("I'll eat the lotus...") in a previous R.E.M. song, "Be Mine". The line "dot dot dot and I feel fine" is a reference to R.E.M.'s 1987 hit "It 's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". For live performances of the song, Peter Buck alternates between electric guitar (chorus) and keyboard (verse). "Playing keyboard always excites me," Buck explained in a soundbite during MTV "Uplink", a recording of the band's performance at New York's Bowery Ballroom in October 1998, "even though it's only with one finger." "But it's a big finger," joked Mills. "It's great." Music video. The single's video, directed by Stéphane Sednaoui, was included as a bonus video on the DVD release of "In  View - The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003". "I wanted to work with Stephane for a long time," Stipe explained to MTV UK during "An Hour with R.E.M." in 2001 after selecting the video for airplay. "Since I saw the video that he did with Björk for, what was that called, "Big Time Sexuality" or something? Where she looks exactly like Shirley MacLaine, 1959-1961. "The Apartment", I think, was the name of the film. Shirley McLaine and Björk as Shirley MacLaine on the back of a pick-up truck driving down 5th Avenue in New York City, probably. But I  thought this guy exudes sex, he's like sex on a stick, and I wanted to work with him for that reason. He somehow transmogrified that very thing through me. I look very, very foxy in this video, which is why I chose it; it shows off my incredible stomach muscles." Track listings. All songs were written by Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe unless otherwise indicated. CD 7-inch and cassette UK 3-inch CD