"Man On The Moon"

[Tele Master]

By R.E.M, what is this song about??

[metalisbest]

When I use to listen to REM I always tried to figure out what most of their songs meant, but I really had no idea. With that song it is the same way. I have no idea what he is talking about.

[Axl_Rose]

I think its meant to get people to ask themselves what to believe and what not to. The questions asked in the verse lyrics and both fact and fiction. Also the moon landing was a fake, it never happened! So thats why michael stipe is asking "if you believe"!

[Tele Master]

So is the "Andy Kaufman" figure a real person?Why does he keep referring to different people?Card and Board Games?Then historical figures?

"Andy are you goofing on Elvis"?

[Axl_Rose]

Erm.. well maybe hes just setting the scene, describing the things in his like and thoughts in his head during the man on the moon thing.
I would look into it too much, stipe calls his spewing of random words something, cant remember though, listen to "end of the world" song!

[Lordathestrings]

The song is a tribute to Andy Kaufman, a comedian who created some very special characters during his stint on Saturday Night Live, and Taxi. He used to "spoof on Elvis" quite a bit, as well as doing things like the "Man On The Moon" bit, and lip-synching to the theme song from Mighty Mouse. His Latke (sp?) character on Taxi was one of his more subtle alter-egos. He used to get 'into character' to a degree that had people doubting his sanity. Hence the "if you believe" stuff in the song.

[PonyOne]

There was a movie about Andy Kaufman called Man On The Moon starring Jim Carey as Andy. He was a big prankster, and loved pulling huge ones that freaked people out. When he told his friends he had cancer many of them didn't believe him, and when he died, many people thought, seriously, that he was gonig to rise up out of the casket and do an elvis impression or something. Only when he was buried, did people start to think "okay, maybe this time it was true..."

He was a riot. His Elvis impersonations were just awesome. And has anyone else listened to "Leave" by REM? That's one of the best songs ever recorded, even though REM isn't really my style.