So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released in May 1984 as the first single from the group's second studio album, Reckoning.

R.E.M. performed a rough version of the song on the NBC television show Late Night with David Letterman on October 6, 1983—before the song had a title—in what was the band's first U.S. network television appearance.

Music video

The video, directed by Howard Libov, was filmed at the Reflection Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, during the recording of Reckoning, and first aired in June 1984. It featured the members of the band playing their instruments behind white screens (gobos) in an otherwise empty room, with Michael Stipe singing in the foreground. Stipe refused to lip sync to the song. Guitarist Peter Buck said, "We played a recording of the track, and the rest of us faked it, but Michael insisted on singing a new vocal to make it more real for him."

The song is also featured in the Left of Reckoning video shot by James Herbert.

Track listings

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe unless otherwise indicated.

7" Single

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" – 3:16
"Walter's Theme" / "King of the Road" (Roger Miller) – 4:44

12" single

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" – 3:16
"Voice of Harold" – 4:25
"Pale Blue Eyes" (Lou Reed) – 2:54

Notes:

"Walter's Theme", "King of the Road", "Voice of Harold" and "Pale Blue Eyes" can all be found on Dead Letter Office.
"Walter's Theme" is not listed on the cover.
The album title-listing contains an initial lower-case 's', following a pattern in the album's listings where random capital letters are made lower-case and random lower-case letters are capitalized. The front cover art lists it as 'So CENTRAL RAiN', with '7 chineSe bros.' on the back track listings differing from the cover art as well.
The album's inner sleeve lists the full title as "Southern Central Rain (I'm Sorry)".

Chart positions

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" became the second R.E.M. single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 85.

Chart (1984)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	85

References

"Reckoning - R.E.M. | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
"Reckoning". remhq.com. February 15, 2016.
Greene, Andy (February 20, 2014). "Flashback: R.E.M.'s National TV Debut in 1983". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 4, 2021.
Schultz, Barbara (1 February 2009). "Classic Tracks: R.E.M.'s "So. Central Rain"". Mix Online. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
Black, Johnny. "The Greatest Songs Ever! So. Central Rain". Blender. June/July 2002. Retrieved on May 11, 2008.
Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 701.

External links

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" video at VH1 Classics.com

v t e R.E.M.
Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills Michael Stipe Bertis Downs Jefferson Holt
Studio albums	Murmur Reckoning Fables of the Reconstruction Lifes Rich Pageant Document Green Out of Time Automatic for the People Monster New Adventures in Hi-Fi Up Reveal Around the Sun Accelerate Collapse into Now
Live albums	R.E.M. Live Live at The Olympia Unplugged: The Complete 1991 and 2001 Sessions R.E.M. at the BBC Live at the Borderline 1991
Compilations	Dead Letter Office Eponymous The Best of R.E.M. The Automatic Box Singles Collected In the Attic In Time iTunes Originals And I Feel Fine Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011 Complete Rarities (I.R.S. · WB) 7IN—83–88
EPs	Chronic Town Not Bad for No Tour Vancouver Rehearsal Tapes Live from London Reckoning Songs from The Olympia
Other albums	Man on the Moon r.e.m.IX
Singles	"Radio Free Europe" "Talk About the Passion" "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" "Cant Get There from Here" "Driver 8" "Wendell Gee" "Fall on Me" "Superman" "The One I Love" "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" "Finest Worksong" "Orange Crush" "Stand" "Pop Song 89" "Get Up" "Losing My Religion" "Shiny Happy People" "Near Wild Heaven" "Radio Song" "Drive" "Man on the Moon" "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" "Everybody Hurts" "Nightswimming" "Find the River" "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" "Bang and Blame" "Crush with Eyeliner" "Strange Currencies" "Tongue" "E-Bow the Letter" "Bittersweet Me" "Electrolite" "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us" "Daysleeper" "Lotus" "At My Most Beautiful" "Suspicion" "The Great Beyond" "Imitation of Life" "All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star)" "I'll Take the Rain" "Bad Day" "Animal" "Leaving New York" "Aftermath" "Electron Blue" "Wanderlust" "#9 Dream" "Supernatural Superserious" "Hollow Man" "Man-Sized Wreath" "Until the Day Is Done" "Mine Smell Like Honey" "Überlin" "Oh My Heart" "We All Go Back to Where We Belong"
Other songs	"Sitting Still" "Gardening at Night" "Perfect Circle" "Pretty Persuasion" "7 Chinese Bros." "Begin the Begin" "Cuyahoga" "Ages of You" "Turn You Inside-Out" "Texarkana" "Country Feedback" "First We Take Manhattan" "Ignoreland" "Dark Globe" "Star 69" "New Test Leper" "All the Right Friends" "Out in the Country"
Videos	Succumbs Tourfilm Pop Screen This Film Is On Parallel Road Movie In View Perfect Square When the Light Is Mine R.E.M. Live Live from Austin, TX REMTV
Support and side projects	Nathan December Buren Fowler Peter Holsapple Barrett Martin Scott McCaughey Bill Rieflin Ken Stringfellow Joey Waronker The Baseball Project Filthy Friends Hindu Love Gods The Minus 5 Tanzplagen Tuatara Tired Pony
Related articles	Discography List of songs Awards Tours 170 College Avenue Peter Buck Athens Andover "I Belong to You" Hib-Tone Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. Drive XV: A Tribute to Automatic for the People
Category

Categories: