Supernatural Superserious
Encyclopedia
"Supernatural Superserious" is a song by American alternative rock
band R.E.M.
. It is the first single and third track from the band's fourteenth album Accelerate
and was first released on February 11, 2008 as an MP3
, and February 25, 2008 on CD. Like most of the songs on Accelerate, it made its debut during the band's "working rehearsals" at the Olympia Theatre
in Dublin between June 30 and July 5, 2007, in an unfinished form with the name "Disguised"; the song appears on Live at The Olympia
in this form. Its title was changed on the advice of Coldplay
frontman Chris Martin
.
The song itself proved an early success, entering the UK Singles Chart
at #54 on downloads, before its official physical release, although—unlike most of R.E.M.'s lead singles in the UK—it was not a hit there. It also became R.E.M.'s first song since 2001's "Imitation of Life
" to enter more than two charts and to chart on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
, with an entry position of #36, eventually reaching #21. The other chart that the song charted was the Billboard Hot 100
where it reached #85.
The song was used by ESPN
as part of their coverage of Major League Baseball
's 2008 Opening Day.
A special 7" single was released to commemorate Record Store Day
on April 19, 2008, in the US. The single was made available exclusively for participating stores along with special releases from Björk
and Death Cab for Cutie
.
in various locations around New York City
. On February 12, 2008 the website supernaturalsuperserious.com was launched, containing ten takes of the video available for download in high definition as well as a YouTube page for users to upload their own versions of the video.
CD single #2 (UK) (W798CDX)
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
. It is the first single and third track from the band's fourteenth album Accelerate
Accelerate (R.E.M. album)
Accelerate is the 14th studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on March 31, 2008 in Europe, and on April 1 in North America. Produced with Jacknife Lee, Accelerate was intended as a departure from the 2004 album Around the Sun. R.E.M...
and was first released on February 11, 2008 as an MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, and February 25, 2008 on CD. Like most of the songs on Accelerate, it made its debut during the band's "working rehearsals" at the Olympia Theatre
Olympia Theatre, Dublin
The Olympia Theatre is a concert hall/theatre venue in Dublin, Ireland, located in Dame Street.-History:Built in 1879, it was originally called the "Star of Erin Music Hall". Two years later in 1881, it was renamed "Dan Lowrey's Music Hall" and was renamed again in 1889 to "Dan Lowrey's Palace of...
in Dublin between June 30 and July 5, 2007, in an unfinished form with the name "Disguised"; the song appears on Live at The Olympia
Live at The Olympia
Live at The Olympia is a live album by American alternative rock band R.E.M.. It is a recording of five-night residency the band held at Dublin, Ireland's Olympia Theatre between June 30 and July 5, 2007, and released on October 27, 2009. In this series of "working rehearsals" many songs on...
in this form. Its title was changed on the advice of Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
frontman Chris Martin
Chris Martin
Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin is an English song-writer, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.-Early life:...
.
The song itself proved an early success, entering the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at #54 on downloads, before its official physical release, although—unlike most of R.E.M.'s lead singles in the UK—it was not a hit there. It also became R.E.M.'s first song since 2001's "Imitation of Life
Imitation of Life (song)
"Imitation of Life" is a song by R.E.M., the first single released from the band's 12th album, Reveal in 2001. The song peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 . It was the lowest chart of a lead single from an R.E.M. album in the United States since "Fall on Me" from Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986...
" to enter more than two charts and to chart on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
, with an entry position of #36, eventually reaching #21. The other chart that the song charted was the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
where it reached #85.
The song was used by ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
as part of their coverage of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's 2008 Opening Day.
A special 7" single was released to commemorate Record Store Day
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
on April 19, 2008, in the US. The single was made available exclusively for participating stores along with special releases from Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
and Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
.
Music video
The music video was shot by director Vincent MoonVincent Moon
Vincent Moon is an independent filmmaker from Paris mainly known for his field work music videos of indie rock related musicians as well as some notable mainstream artists like Tom Jones, R.E.M. or Arcade Fire. Besides making music videos he also makes experimental films and documentaries...
in various locations around New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On February 12, 2008 the website supernaturalsuperserious.com was launched, containing ten takes of the video available for download in high definition as well as a YouTube page for users to upload their own versions of the video.
Track listing
CD single #1 (UK, Germany) (W798CD), 7" Single (US)- "Supernatural Superserious" – 3:25
- "Airliner" – 2:21
CD single #2 (UK) (W798CDX)
- "Supernatural Superserious" – 3:25
- "Airliner" – 2:21
- "Red Head Walking" – 2:11
Personnel
- "Supernatural Superserious" written by Peter BuckPeter BuckPeter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
, Mike MillsMike MillsMichael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
, and Michael StipeMichael StipeJohn Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
. - "Airliner" written by Buck, Mills, Stipe, and Scott McCaugheyScott McCaugheyAs a singer and songwriter, Scott McCaughey is the leader of the Seattle and Portland-based bands The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5.He is also bassist for Robyn Hitchcock's most recent touring band, The Venus 3, along with Bill Rieflin and Peter Buck....
. - "Red Head Walking" written by Calvin Johnson (Beat HappeningBeat HappeningBeat Happening is an American punk band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members...
cover, from their album Dreamy, 1991).
Release history
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | February 11, 2008 | Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
February 25, 2008 | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... |
| March 24, 2008 | ||
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
April 15, 2008 | 7" Vinyl |
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
26 |
| Belgian Singles Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
17 |
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
50 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
26 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
41 |
| Norwegian Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
17 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
32 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
54 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
85 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
82 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 36 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 21 |
| U.S. Billboard Triple A Adult album alternative Adult album alternative is a radio format. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots trace to the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier freeform and progressive formats.... |
1 |