When R.E.M. released “Imitation of Life” as the lead single to Reveal in 2001, social media was in its infancy. The popularity of the platforms has made us all too aware of the pull we feel to live a performative life, but focusing on image over one’s own felt experience is nothing new. The title and general theme of “Imitation of Life” were borrowed from a 1959 movie that bore the same name. In the film, a young girl rejects her black mother in order to live her life separately, so she can more easily pass as white.
Videos by American Songwriter
No one in R.E.M. had seen Imitation of Life when they wrote the song, but they liked the idea of writing a song about guiding one’s life on the basis of others’ perceptions. Their “Imitation of Life” doesn’t address racial discrimination, but it takes on the topics of external validation and looking for acceptance and belonging. Ensuring that you’re in a socially dominant group may appear to be the best way to live to some, but R.E.M. calls it out as an “imitation of life.”
Koi and Goldfish as Role Models
In the first verse, lead singer Michael Stipe alludes to a series of seemingly unrelated things. On closer inspection, there’s a common theme.
Charades, pop skill
Water hyacinth, named by a poet
Imitation of life
Like a koi in a frozen pond
Like a goldfish in a bowl
I don’t want to hear you cry
Charades is silent acting. Pop skill is being able to please a crowd. Water hyacinths are a beautiful but aggressively invasive plant species, which have been given a poetic-sounding name. Humans generally view koi and goldfish as beautiful things to be looked at and admired but not valued for their own life.
The verse’s final line, I don’t want to hear you cry, suggests that we should treat ourselves and fellow humans the way we treat koi. If you’re going to be worthy of our attention, you need to have a certain look, and you also can’t allow your emotions to place demands on us.
What gives us the notion that this is life and how we should live it? The idea permeates our mainstream culture and entertainment, which makes being one of the cool people look glamorous and fun.
That’s sugarcane that tasted good
That’s cinnamon, that’s Hollywood
Come on, come on, no one can see you try
Don’t Mind the Hurricanes and Avalanches
As the chorus suggests, it’s not enough to have the right image. It has to appear as if it comes effortlessly. Yet the reality is that orchestrating a certain image for oneself does require effort. R.E.M. addresses this in the second verse, particularly with their recognition that the song’s subject has got it sized.
You want the greatest thing
The greatest thing since bread came sliced
You’ve got it all, you’ve got it sized
Like a Friday fashion show teenager
Freezing in the corner
Trying to look like you don’t try
This verse is also where Stipe first contrasts the cool, unflappable look the song’s subject is aiming for and the misery that they are actually experiencing. He builds on this contradiction in the bridge, where the protagonist won’t cop to any sort of distress, even when disasters ensue.
This sugarcane, this lemonade
This hurricane, I’m not afraid
Come on, come on, no one can see me cry
This lightning storm, this tidal wave
This avalanche, I’m not afraid
Come on, come on, no one can see me cry
The Impact of “Imitation of Life”
Though “Imitation of Life” spent just five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 83, it is one of their most popular songs from the five studio albums made after the departure of drummer Bill Berry. It was the first of four R.E.M. singles to top Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. It also went to No. 15 on the Adult Top 40 chart and No. 22 on the Alternative Airplay chart. With more than 63 million streams on Spotify, “Imitation of Life” is one of R.E.M.’s 10 most popular tracks on the platform and its most popular from the post-Berry era.
As the lead single and most popular track from Reveal, “Imitation of Life” contributed to that album’s Gold certification. Reveal spent 10 weeks on the Billboard 200, and in reaching No. 6, became R.E.M.’s sixth straight studio album to reach the Top 10 and their seventh Top 10 entry overall.
“Imitation of Life” was nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 44th Grammy Awards. The song’s Garth Jennings-directed official video was nominated for the Breakthrough Video and Best Direction awards at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards.
In our heavily mediated lives, we face increasing pressure to put on a show for the rest of the world. It is becoming such an ingrained part of our lifestyles that we can forget the social media versions of our lives are merely imitations of life. While this wasn’t what Stipe was singing about in “Imitation of Life,” the song is still a useful reminder to pay attention to what’s happening in our actual lives.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
