R.E.M. wrote this about Kurt Cobain after he died in 1994. Cobain was a fan of R.E.M., and when he died, Courtney Love gave them one of Kurt's guitars, which they used on this. It was a left-handed Fender (and one of the few guitars Cobain didn't smash), so Mike Mills had to restring it to play it right-handed.
Kurt Cobain (Rolling Stone, January 27, 1994): "I know we're gonna put out one more record, at least, and I have a pretty good idea what it's going to sound like: pretty ethereal, acoustic, like R.E.M.'s last album (Automatic For The People). If I could write just a couple of songs as good as what they've written... I don't know how that band does what they do. God, they're the greatest. They've dealt with their success like saints, and they keep delivering great music."
