• Biography (contactmusic.com)

R.E.M. (formed 1980) is an alternative American rock band. The lineup of the band consists of Michael Stipe on lead vocals, Peter Buck on guitar, Mike Mills on bass guitar and Bill Berry on drums and percussion. R.E.M. gained early attention because of Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's unclear vocals.

Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in 1980 whilst Buck was working in a record store in Athens, Georgia. They shared a love of bands like Television, Patti Smith and The Velvet Underground. The pair of them soon met Bill Berry and Mike Mills, who were students at the University of Georgia. Their debut gig as a band was at a friend's birthday party in April 1980. 

In 1990, following a 12-month break, R.E.M. reconvened and recorded Out of Time, using the mandolin, organ and acoustic guitar to break away from the expected sound of alterative guitar bands. The lead single, 'Losing My Religion', became a massive worldwide hit, as was its follow-up, 'Shiny Happy People', featuring Kate Pierson of the B-52s.

In March 1995, Bill Berry suffered a brain aneurysm and collapsed onstage in Switzerland. Although he recovered within a month, the band was plagued with other health issues, as Mills required abdominal surgery and Stipe also required emergency surgery to repair a hernia. The following year, however, they still managed to release an album, Adventures in Hi-Fi, having re-signed with Warner Bros for a staggering $80 million contract.

In April 1997, Bill Berry left the band. The remaining three members decided to carry on as a three-piece.

R.E.M.'s music has inspired a number of bands, most notably Nirvana. Lead singer Kurt Cobain was vocal in his praise of the band and he and his wife, Courtney Love, of Hole, became good friends with Michael Stipe.

• Review (musicradar.com)

Another classic-in-waiting, the (on initial exposure) simplistic slow tempo melody pushing the same emotional buttons as Everybody Hurts, while sharing that song’s lyrical message of hope, strength and support: “I cannot tell a lie/It’s not all cherry pie/But it’s all there waiting for you...”.

Buck’s unfussy picked guitar line is doubled by Mills on what sounds like a glockenspiel, giving the track the feel of a reassuring lullaby. The repeated “Hey, yeah!” of the chorus cries out to be sang lustily by audiences, although early indications are that the band won’t be playing live to promote the album.

• Personal review

To my mind Everyday is yours to win could be a kind of spiritual message disguised as a song. In fact this song contains a lot of ideas and suggests a new view of things, even if it isn't clearly expressed. It's like if this song was reasuring and giving a kind of protection. First it deals with common places, things that everybody have heard about and that are aware of. It confers a kind of credibility to the song, in a way to identify ourselves with. The singer uses expressions such as "I know", and talks about everyday life ideas, for instance the "talk" and the "walk", or the "tick tock clock". Secondly, he tries to comforting us through advices like "it's all there waiting for you" or the sentence of the tittle. It's a very optimistic way of thinking, that could reduce people's worries,  sadness and loneliness.

• Video interpretation

I envoy this video, we see a lot of people, in various moments of their everyday lives. It gives a large panorama of our main occupations, passions, emotions, etc... Moreover there is not only one type of person that has been represented : There are black people, chinese people, children, magicians... The main purpose of this video to my mind could be that, that's simply "how heroes are made", and that everybody can be a heroe in their life.