Lyric discussion by Kaflerkta 

Cover art for Perfect Circle lyrics by R.E.M.

Doing some research and found this "Buck says that, after a long day recording, he was sitting on his porch, watching a game of touch football; as dusk drew in, feeling quite frazzled from his hectic schedule, he just burst into tears; he described that feeling to Stipe, and that's what the song is about. Stipe claims to have written the song about an ex girlfriend; but that it's about the same feeling that Buck described." The more I think about this song I think it's about how certain moments in your life are perfect in time. You are happy because all is well. Moments where there is laughter, health, love and warmth between friends and family members. It's fleeting though because it never lasts because life catches up with these moments and eventually time moves them to death, separation or other moments. You cry at the beauty of your happiness and contentment because you know it's fleeting and will never last.

Beautiful interpretation; well expressed. At least, I think you've come as close as anyone else on here.

It's hard to get a definitive answer from the R.E.M. camp, as each band member seems to have had a different idea about what this song means.

Of course as another poster said, we can never fully trust the band's explanations of their song-meanings. In some cases they might (understandably) wish to maintain some privacy in regards to the more personal lyrics.

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