From the album New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996).
The song’s title plays with the rock ‘n’ roll cliché of “living fast and dying young”. Stipe has lost many friends due to their choice for intensity over extension. In particular, it is widely speculated that this song is about River Phoenix, who died O...
[Verse 1]
You're moving through rough waters, motel boy
And swimming in your sleep
How could I be so blind, mis-sighted
Not to see there's something wounded deep?
Well, anyone could scratch your surface now
It's all amphetamine
You're blasting yourself into the present
To blur some past indignity, say that
[Pre-Chorus]
You say that you hate it
You want to recreate it
[Chorus]
I've been around, I've been your lover
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel
[Verse 2]
You're drinking raw adrenal, baby
And do-si-do, saddo
You're eating cartilage, shark eyes, shark heart, all present tense
And boy, your blood is running cold
Listen, this is now, this is here, this is me
This is what I wanted you to see
That was then, was that, that is gone, is passed
You cast yourself, cast passed by, thrown down fast
[Pre-Chorus]
You say, you say that you hate it
You want to recreate it
[Chorus]
I've played this round, I've played your lover
I played it out to the hilt, woah
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel
[Guitar Solo]
[Bridge]
You love it, you hate it
You want to recreate it
Now, this is here, this is me
This is what I wanted you to see
That was then, was that, that is gone
Is what I wanted you to feel
[Pre-Chorus]
You love it, you hate it
I'm spitting out the bitter pill, woah
[Chorus]
I've been around, I've been your lover
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel, woah
I've played this round, I've played your lover
I played it out to the hilt, woah
You're coming onto something so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel
You've played around, you played me lover
I let it go at Kill Devil Hill, woah
You're moving so hard, so fast, so numb
That you can't even feel
So Fast, So Numb was written by Michael Stipe & Mike Mills & Peter Buck & Bill Berry.
So Fast, So Numb was produced by Scott Litt & R.E.M..
R.E.M. released So Fast, So Numb on Mon Sep 09 1996.