Bang and Blame

"Bang and Blame" is a song by the American alternative rock group R.E.M. It was released as the second single from the album Monster in 1994. It is the last R.E.M. song to reach the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 19, and also their last number one on the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

When the album version of the song finishes, an untitled instrumental featuring vibrato effects on the guitar amp and amplified slap bass techniques follows, lasting approximately 30 seconds from fade in to fade out.

The song was the most successful single by the band in America since 1991's "Shiny Happy People". After "Bang and Blame", the band did not have a single that matched its success. Despite its success, it was left off of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 and Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage 1982–2011.

"Bang and Blame" was featured in the Cold Case episode "Blackout" as well as in the Danish mini-series "Charlot og Charlotte" by Ole Bornedal (director of "Nattevagten"/"The Night Watch"), the My Mad Fat Diary episode "Not I" and the Melrose Place episode "No Strings Attached". The song was also used in "Weird Al" Yankovic's polka medley "The Alternative Polka" from his 1996 album Bad Hair Day. The cover of the single somewhat resembles the cover of the 1994 Nirvana single "Pennyroyal Tea."