R.E.M. - DAYSLEEPER

Released: October 12, 1998

Charts: US: #57    UK: #6 

Released in October 1998 as the lead single from “Up”, R.E.M.’s first album after the departure of drummer Bill Berry, “Daysleeper” stands as both a bridge to the band’s past and a weary glance into their uncertain future. Amid the experimental textures and electronic pulses of “Up”, this song was the most familiar in tone — melodic, melancholic, and unmistakably human.

The inspiration was deceptively small: Michael Stipe saw a handwritten sign on a New York apartment door reading “Daysleeper.” It sparked a meditation on alienation, work, and the erosion of identity in the 24-hour economy. Stipe imagined a night-shift worker adrift between time zones and deadlines — “an international share trader on the verge of a breakdown.” 

“Daysleeper” is lush yet subdued, guided by Peter Buck’s chiming guitars and a somber, almost hymnlike melody. It evokes the woozy imbalance of sleepless days and artificial light. Buck later reflected that it “perfectly captures that sea-sick feeling you get during daylight when you haven’t slept.”

The accompanying Snorri Brothers video visualizes that unease, placing Stipe in a sterile, fluorescent-lit office — the spiritual successor to the mythic dreamers of “Automatic for the People”, now trapped behind screens and schedules.