Song · R.E.M.
“(Don't Go Back To) Rockville” by R.E.M.
From the album Reckoning (1984)
“(Don't Go Back To) Rockville” by R.E.M. appears on 39 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 1989 and 2026. It was first released in 1984 on the album Reckoning. Its best result is #2 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #387 alternative song of all time.
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"(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" comes from Reckoning, R.E.M.'s second album, released on I.R.S. Records in 1984, and it's the sound of a band loosening its collar. All four members, Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, share the writing credit, and Mitch Easter and Don Dixon produced.
It's a loping, twangy thing, and its title reads like a plea to someone not to head back where they came from. It's jangle pop with a honky-tonk heart, and it sounds like a band enjoying itself.
It followed "So. Central Rain" as the album's second and last single and missed the charts in both the US and the UK, but it never needed them. It has kept turning up on countdowns for decades, from the late '80s all the way to 2020.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: Don't Go Back To Rockville; Rockville; (Don't Go Back to) Rockville; (don't Go Back To) Rockville; Don't Go Back to Rockville.
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