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Song · R.E.M.

“So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)” by R.E.M.

Released 2006

“So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)” by R.E.M. appears on 39 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 1984 and 2023. It was first released in 2006. Its best result is #7 on the Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #95 alternative song of 1984, #396 alternative song of all time and #372 of the '80s.

39countdowns
15stations
#7best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1984–2023years charted

Watch

R.E.M. - So. Central Rain (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (REMVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" was the first single from R.E.M.'s second album, Reckoning, out on I.R.S. Records in May 1984, and it's the band at their most gorgeously murky: Peter Buck's guitar chiming and fretting, the rhythm pushing ever forward, and Michael Stipe's voice pleading through the fog, with all four members sharing the writing credit. They had already given it a trial run months before, a rough, still-untitled take on Late Night with David Letterman in October 1983, their first appearance on American network television.

Howard Libov shot the video at Reflection Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, while the album was being made. The others play behind white screens in a bare room with Stipe up front, and he flatly refused to lip-sync, singing a fresh vocal on the spot instead.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1984 56 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1984 106
1984 83 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1984 91

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1988 348 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1988) 496
1988 131 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 36 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1989 368 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1990 297 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1991 19 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1992 150 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 180 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 167 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1996 225 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 222 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 476 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 197 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 299 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
2001 533 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 533 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 7 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 374 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 533 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 81 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 533 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 288 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2005) 500
2005 535 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 882 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 339 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2006) 499
2007 314 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 428 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 252 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 258 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 278 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 292 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 293 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 299 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2019 114 KEXP KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time 627
2021 313 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2023 63 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 303 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909

Also listed as: So. Central Rain; So Central Rain.

Charting alongside it in 1984

Best songs of 1984 →
  1. 1Two TribesFrankie Goes to Hollywood
  2. 2Pride (In the Name of Love)U2
  3. 3RelaxFrankie Goes to Hollywood
  4. 4The Wild BoysDuran Duran
  5. 5The Killing MoonEcho and the Bunnymen
  6. 6TendernessGeneral Public

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