Recorded 1990 Label Warner Bros. | Length 3:37 | |
Released March 11, 1991 (UK)
March 12, 1991 (US) Genre Alternative rock
country rock Writer(s) Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe. | ||
"Texarkana" is a song from R.E.M.'s studio album Out of Time. Though not released as a single, it managed to chart at number 4 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 6 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. This song was written, musically and lyrically, by bassist Mike Mills (credited to Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe), as vocalist Michael Stipe had been having problems for weeks trying to come up with lyrics for it. As a result, Mills also sang lead vocals.
The title is a reference to the city of Texarkana (located on the border of Texas and Arkansas), originally mentioned in the chorus before it was changed. As heard on the Outtakes of Time bootleg as well as Out of Time's 25th Anniversary edition, Stipe's original chorus was "When I'm out in Texarkana / where's that county line / another county line."
It is one of few songs that the band never performed live.