“Finest Worksong” by R.E.M.

"Finest Worksong" came off R.E.M.'s fifth album, Document, released on I.R.S. in 1987, and it was the third and last single the record gave up. All four members share the writing credit, and it plays like it: Bill Berry drives it like a foreman with a stopwatch, Mike Mills locks the bass to his kick drum, Peter Buck's guitar clangs and chops like metal on metal, and Michael Stipe barks over the top like he's calling shifts on a factory floor. Scott Litt produced it with the band and engineered the sessions, and the sound is big, bright and built to shove.

The single version, known as the Mutual Drum Horn mix, went a step further, bolting on a fresh horn section played by the Uptown Horns. That take later landed on Eponymous, the band's I.R.S. compilation. In April 1988 it climbed to number 50 in the UK, which at that point made it R.E.M.'s best showing on the British charts. It was also the last original single they ever put out on I.R.S., a stomping, sweaty way to close the book on that label.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.