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."
This is a song about domestic violence. It was written before the O.J. Simpson trial, but many people interpreted it to be about that because of the timing.
Lynda Stipe, sister of lead singer Michael Stipe, sang background vocals. She has been in bands like Oh-OK and Hetch Hetchy, but hasn't enjoyed the commercial success of her brother.
On the album, this precedes one of R.E.M.'s characteristic brief instrumental interludes.
Rain Phoenix also provided backing vocals for this song. The Monster album was dedicated to her late brother, actor River Phoenix, who died from drug-induced heart failure the year before, at age 23. She would later appear in the band's video for "At My Most Beautiful."
