“The song is a composite and fictional narrative in the first person, drawn from different stories I heard growing up around Army bases. This song is about the Vietnam War and the impact on soldiers returning to a country that wrongly blamed them for the war.”

— Michael Stipe, on the meaning of Orange Crush

“I must have played this song onstage over three hundred times, and I still don’t know what the fuck it’s about. The funny thing is, every time I play it, it means something different to me, and I find myself moved emotionally.  Noel Coward made some remark about the potency of cheap music, and while I wouldn’t describe the song as cheap in any way, sometimes great songwriting isn’t the point. A couple of chords, a good melody and some words can mean more than a seven-hundred-page novel, mind you. Not a good seven-hundred-page novel mind you, but more say, a long Jacqueline Susann novel. Well alright, I really liked Valley of the Dolls.”

— Peter Buck, on the meaning of Orange Crush

“Mmm, great on a summer’s day. That’s Orange Crush.”

— Simon Parkin, after R.E.M. performed Orange Crush on Top of the Pops

Despite (or perhaps because of) all of the differing opinions as to what the song is actually about, Orange Crush is one of R.E.M.’s signature songs.  It was not only a hit in the U.S. but it was also their highest charting single in the UK.  It was the popularity of this song that led to R.E.M. being invited to make their first appearance on Top of the Pops, where host Simon Parkin assumed that the song was about the soft drink instead of the cancer-causing defoliant used in Vietnam.

This video, which won the inaugural Best Post-Modern Video award at the VMAs, was directed by photographer Matt Mahurin.  Mahurin has directed several music videos, including the video for Metallica’s Enter Sandman.  His most notorious work, though, might be a 1994 Time Magazine cover that featured a heavily darkened version of O.J. Simpson’s mugshot.

Enjoy!