“When you have a crush on somebody and you think that they understand that but you’re not sure, and you’re dropping all kinds of hints and you think that they’re responding to these hints, but you’re not sure - that’s what this song is about: thinking that you’ve gone too far and you’ve dropped a hint that is just the size of Idaho, and they’ve responded in a way that maybe confused you… or they haven’t responded at all, or they’ve responded in a way that seemed like, ‘Wow, maybe something’s gonna happen here!’ I think I’ve probably said this 7,000 times, but the phrase ‘Losing My Religion’ is a Southern phrase which means that something has pushed you so far that you would lose your faith over it; something has pushed you to the nth degree, and that’s what this is about. Now, some people still think it’s a song about religion - it’s not, it’s just a song about having a crush.”

- Michael Stipe on Losing My Religion. VH1 Storytellers, October 23, 1998.

So I just came home, turned on the TV, and find Stipe talking to me. Well, not directly to me since it’s a recorded show from 1998, but you get the idea. I, for one, have not lost my religion yet. One can only hope these hints work out in the end.