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Cover of Green by R.E.M. — Cover: Green

Song · R.E.M.

“World Leader Pretend” by R.E.M.

From the album Green (1988)

“World Leader Pretend” by R.E.M. appears on 17 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1999 and 2021. It was first released in 1988 on the album Green. Its best result is #280 on the WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,740 alternative song of all time.

17countdowns

4stations

#280best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2021years charted

Watch

R.E.M. - World Leader Pretend, TourFilm (official video)

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

"World Leader Pretend" sits on Green, R.E.M.'s sixth studio album, which Warner Bros. released in November 1988, and all four members share the writing credit: Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Bill Berry. Stipe sings lead over Buck's guitar, Mills's bass and Berry's drums, and two guests change the color of the whole thing, Bucky Baxter on pedal steel and Jane Scarpantoni on cello.

Green was the band's second record co-produced with Scott Litt, who also engineered and mixed this track with Jay Healy, and it found R.E.M. stretching out: trying major-key rock songs and new sounds such as the mandolin, swapping their usual instruments on other songs, and keeping politics in the lyrics and even the packaging.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#1,740 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	1601	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	1601	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	1601	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	1593	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	1591	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2003	1588	Fred (XM 44)	Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003)	2044
2004	1591	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	1589	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	936	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2007	280	WTMD	WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time	897
2008	876	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	899	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	930	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	959	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	1010	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	1066	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2021	758	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s	909

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