<P> "Man on the Moon" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the second single from their 1992 album Automatic for the People . The lyrics were written by lead singer Michael Stipe, and the music by drummer Bill Berry and guitarist Peter Buck, and credited to the whole band as usual . The song was well received by critics and peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the UK Singles Chart . It remains one of R.E.M.'s most popular songs and was included on the compilations In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988--2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982--2011 . </P> <P> Lyrically, the song is a tribute to the comedian and performer Andy Kaufman with numerous references to his career including his Elvis impersonation, wrestling, and the film My Breakfast with Blassie . The song's title and chorus refer to the moon landing conspiracy theories as an oblique allusion to rumors that Kaufman's death in 1984 was faked . The song gave its name to Man on the Moon (1999), Miloš Forman's film based on Kaufman's life, and was featured prominently in the film's soundtrack . </P> <P> "Man on the Moon" is a mid-tempo country - rock song following a verse - chorus structure with an added pre-chorus and an instrumental bridge following the second and third choruses . The song is somewhat unusual in that the verses are unequal in length, with six lines in the first verse but only four in the second and third verses . </P> <P> An early instrumental demo of the song was known to the band as "C to D Slide". Guitarist Peter Buck has explained how the music came together: "' Man on the Moon' was something that Bill (Berry) had, this one chord change that he came in with, which was C to D like the verse of the song, and he said:' I don't know what to do with that .' I used to finish some of Bill's things...he would come up with the riffs, but I would be the finish guy for that . I sat down and came up with the chorus, the bridges, and so forth . I remember we showed it to Mike and Michael when they came in later; definitely we had the song finished . I think Bill played bass and I played guitar; we kept going around with it . I think we might have played some mandolin on it in the rehearsal studio ." </P>

They put a man on the moon lyrics