Released: October 4, 2004

Songwriter: Michael Stipe Mike Mills (R.E.M.) Peter Buck

Producer: Pat McCarthy R.E.M.

[Verse 1]
You see there's this cat burglar who can't see in the dark
He lays his bets on eight more lives and walks into a bar
Slips on the eight ball, falls on his knife, says
"I don't know what I've done, but it doesn't feel right"
Some things don't hold up over the course of a lifetime
When's the first time you heard that one, 1954?
Get to the punch line, fall to the floor

[Chorus]
Give me a minute and I'll tell you the setup for the worst joke ever
I never
I'll tell you my version of the greatest life story
Don't bore me

[Verse 2]
Now I am floating, I feel released
The moorings have been dropped, the weights unleashed
Everything is crystalline, simple and free
The crime of good men who can't wrestle with change
Or are too afraid to face this life's misjudged unknowns
You're not hurting anybody else's chances but you're disfiguring your own

[Chorus]
Give me a minute and I'll tell you the setup for the worst joke ever
I never
I'll tell you my version of the greatest life story
Don't bore me

[Outro]
You see there's this feeling that I've heard this one before

R.E.M.

R.E.M. were an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry.

Berry quit the band in April 1997, as they were getting together to record demos for the album Up. He was not replaced on a permanent basis, but the band used an assortment of drummers in his place.