It’s interesting to ponder whether the 1999 film Man On The Moon would have been given the green light by Hollywood if it hadn’t been for the fact that R.E.M. had enjoyed a huge hit single some seven years earlier, and in many ways re-igniting interest in the comedian, Andy Kaufman.
It did therefore make sense that the moguls turned to the band to work on the score to accompany the movie, with the fruits of their labour appearing as orchestral music on a soundtrack album in November 1999, alongside contributions from Kaufman himself and Jim Carrey as Kaufman.
It’s worth interjecting at this point that Man on The Moon is more than a decent watch, but whether you love it or loath it will largely depend on two things;
(i) does the surreal/childish/challenging humour utilised by Kaufman make you laugh or cringe? ; and
(ii) do you think Jim Carrey is a genius or a dickhead?
The latter is important as he really is at the centre of the film, in just about every single scene.
What I will say, is that you should make time to watch Jim & Andy – The Great Beyond, a 2017 documentary which basically is a behind the scenes look at the making of Man on The Moon. Without giving too much away, Carrey remains in character as Kaufman at all times, leading to all sorts of manic behaviour and chaos on the set and the surrounding environs. Michael Stipe makes an appearance in the documentary, clearly bemused by what he was finding during a visit to the set. It’s available on Netflix.
In addition to the score, the band wrote one entirely new song, which would feature (as these things tend to do) as the credits rolled. It was included on the soundtrack, and in late January 2000 just after the Xmas market had died down, it was issued as a single. Incredibly, this stand-alone effort provided R.E.M. with their biggest ever hit in the UK, coming in at #3, eventually spending ten weeks in the Top 75:-
mp3: R.E.M. – The Great Beyond
This chart performance was in complete contrast to the singles lifted from Up, with The Robster over the past few weeks highlighting that even those which did chart tended to drop out pretty quickly.
The reason is quite simple in that The Great Beyond remained part of the radio playlists for weeks as this was the R.E.M. that the producers and DJs wanted, and given the fact it sold consistently for a couple of months, it was what the public wanted.
Let’s face it. The Great Beyond is Man On The Moon (the hit single) Part 2. It had the same sort of feel, sound, energy and sentiment about it. It really was R.E.M. for the masses, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mentioned previously that I’m not a huge lover of Man On The Moon and likewise, I’ve the same ‘meh’ feeling about The Great Beyond. It kind of sounds as if the three remaining members of the band, having listened to the criticism given to Up, decided to prove just how easy it would be to go back to the Automatic era and churn out something with one hand tied behind their collective backs and with their eyes closed. The interesting thing was whether this would be the sort of songs to appear on the next studio album or would they go back to the more challenging and experimental stuff? That’s all for the next three editions of this series……..
Incidentally, I thought that the #3 result for The Great Beyond was partly down to it being tied in with the release of the film, and that people might be buying it after a visit to the cinema. I was very wrong as Man On The Moon, while released in theatres in the USA at the end of 1999, didn’t premiere over here until May 2000, by which time the single was long out of the charts.
Nor was it the result of multi-formatting. One CD and one cassette release only, each with the same bonus tracks, aimed straight at those who hadn’t bought any R.E.M. since the early 90s but still went along to the gigs to hear the old stuff:-
mp3: R.E.M. – Everybody Hurts (live at Glastonbury, June 1999)
mp3: R.E.M. – The One I Love (live at Glastonbury, June 1999)
95,000 singing along…..it really was a far cry from the IRS days.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Excellent post, JC. I’ve only seen the film once, at the cinema in 2000, and it was one of the few exceptions to generally being in the “Jim Carrey is a dickhead” camp. To be honest, The Great Beyond wasn’t particularly memorable and I’d had no idea it had been their biggest UK hit a few months earlier. I think you’re spot on about the public appetite for Man On The Moon, Pt.2 and this is evident on the In Time compilation in 2003, where these are sequenced as the opening tracks. It’s another one of those songs that will appear on a ‘pop’ playlist but my favourite version (albeit a mere 1.30 in length) is the Michael Stipe solo version that he did for a BBC Radio 2 TV promo in 2004, and available on You Tube. Now, that’s a bit more like it…
“REM by numbers” just about sums it up. As for the surprise of it being their biggest UK hit, being a non-album single could be the reason. By this point, I had pretty much stopped buying the singles as the b-sides had ceased to be as enticing. Collecting CD singles never felt the same as collecting 7″ vinyl. Whether that is format or some strange immaturely “grown-up” idea that it was unseemly for a man in his mid-thirties to buy things he’d never play, I don’t know. But I did buy non-album CD singles.
Perhaps this explains some of the increased sales if more fans bought it than could be bothered with the previous more interesting releases (TheRobster’s views on “Suspicion”‘s merits notwithstanding)?
Whatever, I shall search for Khayem’s tip (thanks) and continue to hear it on “In Time” but never seek it out.
Oh, on point (II), Definitely in the dickhead camp (are you going to keep score?), with the exception of The Truman Show (and maybe Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but I’ve only half-seen that once).
I haven’t seen the film but own the CD single. Don’t remember buying it at the time but must have done- probably heard it and thought that it sounded like a return to form. Truth be told, unless I hit play now, I couldn’t tell you anything about this song now except there’s something about pushing an elephant up the stairs. My rupture with REM started with Up and continued for some time although I do have Reveal on vinyl (an album I noticed recently was being offered on Discogs for upwards of £70). The CD years having a big effect on the price of second hand vinyl now a vinyl revival is well under way.
I would generally put Carrey in the dickhead camp, with 2 exceptions-, I claim he is utterly brilliant in the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind which I find is a brilliant film and a brilliant performance (I was and still am flabbergasted of the transformation as an actor), then when I’m in the right mood I can enjoy Mask, and Carrey in that role. Otherwise, dickhead.
Thanks for the ‘Jim & Andy – the Great Beyond’ film recommendation, just watched the first 45 minutes – doesn’t leave much doubt about which camp Jim Carrey belongs in. But the Courtney Love cameo is surprisingly good.
I, like many, fall firmly into the Jim Carrey=Dickhead camp, though The Truman Show is a fantastic film and is the only time I’ve ever seen Jim Carrey not being Jim Carrey. I’ve never seen Man On The Moon because of my loathing of him.
The Great Beyond is one of R.E.M.’s most ‘meh’ singles ever as far as I’m concerned. I’m amazed to this very day how it ever became such a big hit. But then the “Great” British public never ceases to amaze me. For all the wrong reasons…
‘Great Beyond’ might not have made the cut on any of the IRS releases. Another instance of a JC/Robster post being better than the song.
It’s a single I like, and I bought it at the time, but had no
idea it was such a big hit. I’ve seen Jim Carrey in Eternal
Sunshine… and The Truman Show and thought he was
great in both. Fine post, JC.
The exception that proves the rule that non-LP singles perform less well than singles from LPs probably because there’s more promotion for LPs. The explanation here may be that they played it live before it was released as a single- certainly remember hearing it on at least 1 UK date. Which might have built up a degree of anticipation.