Synopsis

The video opens on a series of teenagers and other viewers gathered in separate living rooms, watching television. The screen then reveals R.E.M. performing "Tongue" in a stark, theatrical setting, with Michael Stipe singing beneath a disco ball as the band plays around him. The contrast between the private viewers and the distant televised performance gives the song an intimate yet detached atmosphere, turning a simple concert broadcast into an observation of adolescent fascination and isolation.

Factoids & Trivia

• The performance footage was filmed during the band's soundcheck before its June 20, 1995, concert at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.

• Although the setting looks like a staged concert environment, the band footage was created from this pre-show performance rather than from a separate live event.

• The audio in the video is pitched slightly higher than the album version of "Tongue."

• "Tongue" was released as the fifth and final single from R.E.M.'s 1994 album "Monster." The single was issued in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Japan.

• The video's carefully designed interiors and period television imagery earned art director Clam Lynch a nomination for Best Art Direction at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

• The video was later included as a bonus on R.E.M.'s "In View: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003" DVD.