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Document
Studio album by R.E.M.
Released	September 1, 1987
Recorded	31 March–2 May 1987
Genre	College rock
Length	39:51
Label	I.R.S. Records
Producer	Scott Litt & R.E.M.
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link
R.E.M. chronology
Dead Letter Office (1987) Document (1987) Eponymous (1988)

Document is the fifth studio album by the R.E.M. and their sixth overall. It was released in 1987 a few months after their rarities collection Dead Letter Office appeared and is the last album of new material by the band released on the I.R.S. Records label. It is the first album the band worked with Scott Litt.

Contents 1 Details 1.1 Songs 1.2 Cover 1.3 2005 re-release 1.4 Critical praise 2 Track listing 2.1 The IRS Years reissue 2.2 Notes 3 References 4 Personnel 4.1 Additional personnel 5 Charts 5.1 Album 5.2 Singles 6 Certifications 7 External links

Document was R.E.M.'s first album co-produced by Scott Litt and the band, a collaboration that continued through Green, Out of Time, Automatic for the People, Monster, and New Adventures in Hi-Fi, and may account for their success with this album as well as the following five. This album was significant not only in launching R.E.M.'s first U.S. Top 10 hit in "The One I Love" (which reached #9), but also giving them their first platinum album.

"Exhuming McCarthy" makes an explicit parallel between the red-baiting of Joe McCarthy's time and the strengthening of the sense of American exceptionalism during the Reagan era, especially the Iran-Contra affair. Starting with the click-clack of a typewriter, it also includes a sound clip of Joseph Welch's rebuke of McCarthy from the Army-McCarthy Hearings: "Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.... You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

The song "Strange" was originally recorded by the post-punk band Wire. This version has slightly altered lyrics, such as "Michael's nervous and the lights are bright." After Document, their I.R.S. contract expired. With the band poised to become a major rock group—perhaps to the dismay of their college rock fans—R.E.M. signed a five-album deal the following year with major label Warner Bros. and saw their commercial fortunes grow exponentially.

R.E.M. expanded their instrumentation somewhat on the album, adding dulcimer to "King of Birds" and saxophone to "Fireplace"^[1]. This experimentation would lead to their adoption of the mandolin, which featured prominently on their subsequent albums Green and Out of Time. Furthermore, the band's musicians began swapping instruments both in concert and in the studio in an effort to create new sounds (and avoid stagnation).

The original sleeve for the album featured the message "File under Fire", a reference to what Michael Stipe considered to be the central lyrical theme of the album^[2]. A similar message ("File under water") could be found on the cover of the band's second album, Reckoning, as well as on the compilation album Eponymous ("File under grain")^[3]. Two rejected suggestions for the title of the album—R.E.M. No. 5 and Table of Content—also appear on the sleeve artwork.^[4]. Other possible album titles included Mr. Evil Breakfast, Skin Up with R.E.M., and Last Train to Disneyland (the last one having been suggested by Peter Buck, who felt that America under the presidency of former actor Ronald Reagan was beginning to feel a lot like the famed amusement park).^[5]

In 2005, Capitol Records (whose parent company EMI now own I.R.S. Records' catalog) issued an expanded DualDisc edition of Document which includes a digitally remastered version of the album on the CD side, a DVD-Audio, DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound mix of the album done by Elliot Scheiner on the DVD side, and the original CD booklet.

In 1989, the album was ranked #41 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 470 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, it ranked 49th in a Q readers' poll of the "Best Albums Ever".

All songs were written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, except as indicated.

1. "Finest Worksong" – 3:48
2. "Welcome to the Occupation" – 2:46
3. "Exhuming McCarthy" – 3:19
4. "Disturbance at the Heron House" – 3:32
5. "Strange" (B.C. Gilbert, Graham Lewis, Colin Newman, Robert Gotobed) – 2:31
6. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:05
7. "The One I Love" – 3:17
8. "Fireplace" – 3:22
9. "Lightnin' Hopkins" – 3:20
10. "King of Birds" – 4:09
11. "Oddfellows Local 151" – 5:21

On May 11, 1992, EMI (which owns the I.R.S. catalogue) re-released Document with six bonus tracks:

12. "Finest Worksong (Other Mix)" – 3:47
13. "Last Date" (Floyd Cramer) – 2:16
14. "The One I Love" (Live)¹ – 4:06
15. "Time After Time Etc..." (Live) – 8:22
16. "Disturbance at the Heron House" (Live) – 3:26
17. "Finest Worksong" (Lengthy Club Mix) – 5:52

¹ Originally released as "This One Goes Out" on a 1987 single.

1. ^ music-nerds.com [1]
2. ^ www.rem-central.com [2]
3. ^ everything2.com [3]
4. ^ R.E.M. In Time: The Story Behind Every Song, Craig Rosen, 1997
5. ^ Reveal: The Story of R.E.M., Johnny Black, 2004

• Bill Berry – drums, vocals
• Peter Buck – guitar
• Mike Mills – bass, vocals
• Michael Stipe – lead vocals

• Steve Berlin – horns
• Carl Marsh – Fairlight CMI

Year	Chart	Position
1987	The Billboard 200	10 (33 weeks on chart)
1987	UK Albums Chart	28 (5 weeks on chart)

Year	Song	Chart	Position
1987	"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	16
1987	"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"	UK Singles Chart	39
1987	"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"	Billboard Hot 100	69
1987	"The One I Love"	Billboard Hot 100	9
1988	"The One I Love"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
1988	"Finest Worksong"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	28
1988	"Finest Worksong"	UK Singles Chart	50
1991	"The One I Love"	UK Singles Chart	16

Organization	Level	Date
RIAA – U.S.	Gold	November 2, 1987
RIAA – U.S.	Platinum	January 25, 1988

Document at MusicBrainz

v • d • e R.E.M.
Peter Buck · Mike Mills · Michael Stipe Bill Berry
Accompaniment	Scott McCaughey · Bill Rieflin · Ken Stringfellow · Amanda Brown · Nathan December · Buren Fowler · Peter Holsapple · Barrett Martin · Joey Waronker
Management and producers	Bertis Downs, IV · Jacknife Lee · Joe Boyd · Don Dixon · Mitch Easter · Don Gehman · Jefferson Holt · Scott Litt · Pat McCarthy
Studio albums and EPs	Chronic Town · Murmur · Reckoning · Fables of the Reconstruction · Lifes Rich Pageant · Document · Green · Out of Time · Automatic for the People · Monster · New Adventures in Hi-Fi · Up · Reveal · Around the Sun · Upcoming studio album #14
Compilations	Dead Letter Office · Eponymous · The Best of R.E.M. · Singles Collected · In the Attic · In Time · And I Feel Fine
Other albums	Athens Andover · Man on the Moon · Not Bad for No Tour · r.e.m.IX · R.E.M. Live
Singles	List of singles
Videos	Succumbs · Tourfilm · Pop Screen · This Film Is On · Parallel · Road Movie · In View · Perfect Square · When the Light Is Mine
Related articles	Discography · Alternative rock · Hindu Love Gods · I.R.S. Records · Warner Bros. Records · Hib-Tone · Homer the Moe