"Bad Day"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003
B-side
  • "Favorite Writer"
  • "Out in the Country"
  • "Adagio"
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)
Recorded2003
GenreAlternative rock, college rock
Length4:07
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
R.E.M. singles chronology
"I'll Take the Rain"
(2001) 		"Bad Day"
(2003) 		"Animal"
(2004)
Music video
"Bad Day" on YouTube

"Bad Day" is a song recorded by American alternative rock band R.E.M. It is one of two previously unreleased songs from their 2003 compilation album, In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003, and was released as the album's lead single on September 15, 2003.

An outtake version of the song originally recorded for Lifes Rich Pageant finally appeared on EMI's 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987. A demo version from the same sessions appeared on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Lifes Rich Pageant in 2011. The arrangement of the song is slightly different in each version.

Background and composition

"Bad Day" is an anti-media rant which was inspired by a day when Michael Stipe opened his front door and found a camcorder lens in his face. The lyrics also reference the policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, as the song was originally written in the 1980s during his administration.[1] Stipe sang a few words of it during a concert in Albany, New York in 1985, as part of the Reconstruction Tour. Around the time of Lifes Rich Pageant, the song emerged in a more polished version with the title "PSA"—an abbreviation for "public service announcement".[2]

The song was never released but did serve as a sort of forerunner to "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", a song with a similar cadence and delivery. In 2003, Stipe saw that the song still had contemporary resonance due to the policies of George W. Bush, and the band finally recorded it for In Time, with only slightly updated lyrics and under the new title "Bad Day".[3] In the liner notes for In Time, Peter Buck wrote: "We started writing this song in 1986 [sic]. We finished writing it in 2003. The sad thing is, between those years nothing much has changed."[4]

Music video

The official music video was directed by Tim Hope and shot in Vancouver in May 2003.[5] It is a parody of cable news and was produced by Passion Pictures.[6] It appears on In View, the DVD companion of In Time, and is also found on the main CD of In Time.

In the video, Stipe appears as the Morning Team's news anchor Cliff Harris; Mike Mills doubles as roving reporter Ed Colbert and meteorologist Rick Jennings; and Buck as climate expert Geoff Sayers and the reporter Eric Nelson. News stories shown include a monsoon contained within an apartment, a senator's office flooding, and a tornado inside a boy's bedroom.

In other media

The song can be heard in a third-season episode of Alias, in the Scrubs episode "My Advice To You", in the 76th episode of Boston Public and in the Smallville episode "Slumber".

The song is included on R.E.M. Live.

Track listings

UK CD1 (Warner W624CD1) (UK)

  1. "Bad Day" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe)
  2. "Favorite Writer" (Linda Hopper, Ruthie Morris)
  3. "Bad Day" (video)

UK CD2 (Warner W624CD2) (UK)

  1. "Bad Day"
  2. "Out in the Country" (Paul Williams, Roger Nichols)
  3. "Adagio" (Buck, Mills, Stipe)

US CD single (Warner 16533–2) (US)

  1. "Bad Day"
  2. "Favorite Writer" (Hopper, Morris)
  3. "Out in the Country" (Williams, Nichols)
  4. "Adagio" (Buck, Mills, Stipe)

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[7] 22
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 45
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[9] 4
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[10] 9
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[11] 17
Croatia (HRT)[12] 10
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[13] 20
Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 39
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 11
Italy (FIMI)[16] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[17] 8
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] 68
Norway (VG-lista)[19] 11
Scotland (OCC)[20] 7
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[21] 4
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[22] 43
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 39
UK Singles (OCC)[24] 8
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[25] 1

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States September 15, 2003 (2003-09-15)
Warner Bros. [26]
Australia October 13, 2003 (2003-10-13) CD [27]
United Kingdom [28]

References

  1. ^ "R.E.M. reasserts place at the forefront of rock". Chicago Tribune.
  2. ^ Petridis, Alexis (June 30, 2011). "REM: Lifes Rich Pageant – review". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Pinnock, Tom (April 1, 2016). "REM: "If we couldn't be successful being who we were, then we didn't want to be successful"". Uncut.
  4. ^ Daley, David (November 14, 2011). "Michael Stipe: Why R.E.M. called it a day". Salon.
  5. ^ "R.E.M. SHOOTS VIDEO FOR BAD DAY". R.E.M.HQ. May 29, 2003. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "Bad Day". shots.net. October 6, 2004. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  7. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  8. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  9. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  10. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  11. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Top Lista Hrvatskog Radija". Croatian Radiotelevision. Archived from the original on December 6, 2003. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  13. ^ "European Top 20 Charts – Week Commencing 27th October 2003" (PDF). ARIA. October 27, 2003. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 6, 2003. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  14. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Bad Day". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  16. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day". Top Digital Download. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  17. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 44, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  18. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  19. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day". VG-lista. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  20. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  21. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day" Canciones Top 50.
  22. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day". Singles Top 100. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  23. ^ "R.E.M. – Bad Day". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  24. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  25. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  26. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1521. September 12, 2003. p. 26. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  27. ^ "The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 13/10/2003" (PDF). ARIA. October 13, 2003. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 6, 2003. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  28. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. October 11, 2003. p. 31.

Black, Johnny (2004). Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0-87930-776-5.

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