| "Imitation of Life" | ||||
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| Single by R.E.M. | ||||
| from the album Reveal | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released | April 16, 2001 | |||
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| Genre | Jangle pop | |||
| Length | 3:57 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
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| R.E.M. singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Imitation of Life" on YouTube | ||||
"Imitation of Life" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was written by band members Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe and produced by the band with Pat McCarthy for their 12th studio album, Reveal (2001). The track's title comes from Douglas Sirk's 1959 film of the same name and is used as a metaphor for adolescence and adulthood. One of R.E.M.'s most pop-influenced tracks, "Imitation of Life" has been described lyrically as "see[ing] through the puffed-up performance of a hopeful entertainer",[1] as well as the enjoyment of love.
R.E.M. chose to release "Imitation of Life" as the first single from Reveal due to its commercial potential. The song was serviced to European radio in March 2001 and was issued worldwide commercially throughout April and May 2001. Upon its release, the song received positive reviews from music critics, who were more complimentary toward the instrumentation than the lyrical content. Commercially, the single peaked at number 83 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Triple-A chart for three weeks. Internationally, "Imitation of Life" reached number six on the UK Singles Chart, giving R.E.M. their ninth top-10 single in Britain. It was also successful in Italy, Norway, and Spain, reaching the top five in these counties, and it charted within the top 40 throughout Europe and Australia.
At the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002, the song was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, losing to U2's "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of". A music video directed by Garth Jennings was made to promote the song. Filmed in Calabasas, California, in February 2001, the video uses a series of cameras and pan and scan techniques to create a 20-second clip of a pool party scene in which various incidents occur in both forward and reverse time. Critics praised the video for its concept, and it was nominated for two awards at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, losing in both categories to Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice".