Stipe had never before sounded so honest, lyrically, as he for once refused to hide behind allegory and allusion and instead told the truth: we all suffer pain, sometimes, but we all get over it.

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has encouraged people to boycott ... ‘Shiny Happy People’, ‘Losing My Religion’ and ‘Everybody Hurts’ has detailed his plan to take part in the ‘Lights ...