"Nightswimming" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in July 1993 by Warner Bros. as the fifth single from the band's eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The song is a ballad featuring the singer Michael Stipe accompanied only by the bassist Mike Mills on piano, a string arrangement by the former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and oboe by Deborah Workman in the latter part of the song. Mills wrote the music and Stipe the lyrics of the song, but it is credited to the entire band. Stipe sings about a group of friends who go skinny dipping at night, w
"Nightswimming" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in July 1993 by Warner Bros. as the fifth single from the band's eighth album, Automatic for the People (1992). The song is a ballad featuring the singer Michael Stipe accompanied only by the bassist Mike Mills on piano, a string arrangement by the former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, and oboe by Deborah Workman in the latter part of the song. Mills wrote the music and Stipe the lyrics of the song, but it is credited to the entire band. Stipe sings about a group of friends who go skinny dipping at night, which draws from similar experiences in the band's early days. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Jem Cohen.
==Background and recording== Bassist Mike Mills recalled he was playing a piano riff at John Keane's studio in the band's hometown of Athens, Georgia; while Mills almost discarded the melody, it attracted the interest of singer Michael Stipe. Mills said, "I never thought it would amount to much because it was just a circular thing that kept going round and round and round. But it inspired Michael." While the song was not included on Out of Time, the demo recorded during those sessions was used for Automatic for the People, with a string arrangement by John Paul Jones added to the track. According to Mills, his piano part was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, on the same piano used on "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos.
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