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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

Bill Berry told Spin magazine in 1986 that the song was specifically about Acid Rain, which occurs when the burning of fossil fuels releases sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, causing rain to be acidic and threatening the environment.

The video was filmed upside down in a rock quarry, and snippets of the environmentally concerned words flash on-screen throughout: "Buy" the sky, "Sell" the sky, etc. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 2)

Comments:

Best thing about this song, at the beginning its "TELL the sky don't fall on me", as if we can tell nature or life what to do...by the end, it's "ASK the sky don't fall on me"...when its clear what is beyond our control and what we are at the mercy of
- Nick, Arlington Heights, IL

According to VH1's Behind The Music and other sources, R.E.M. initially honed their musical skills practicing in an abandoned church. Fall On Me has a religious tone to it, with lyrical images of the sky falling, talking to the sky, etc..
- Seth, Freehold,

This is such a great and soaring melody, which really reflects and echos the lyrical theme of sky and falling. I just love it.
- Mark, Austin, TX

This song alone would have been enough for me to have REM be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which happened for them this year. (2007) Naturally they were honored accordingly for so much more than one single record.
- Lee, Euclid, OH

This is my favourite REM song. Only country feedback even comes close.
- Paul, Redditch, England

According to Stipe, the song "is still believed to be about acid rain. Initially it was. But then I rewrote the song. If you listen to the second verse, there is a countermelody underneath it. That's the original melody to the song; that was the part about acid rain. In fact, the 'Fall On Me' that we all know and love is not about acid rain. It's a general opression song about the fact that there are a lot of causes out there that need a song that says, 'Don't smash us.' And specifically, there are references to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the guy dropping weights and feathers."
- Andrei, Chicago, IL

Brian, Bill Berry experienced a non-fatal brain aneurysm during a concert in Europe and later decided to retire. He didn't have a brain tumor. He wanted to spend his time on a farm he bought in Georgia.
- Harllee, Sacramento, CA

um, the album title is NOT "Life's Rich Pageant" but rather "Lifes Rich Pageant". This was intentional and should be corrected.
- bsd987, Long Island, NY

The video for the song had the title, "FALL ON ME" and others appear in big letters on the screen because the music press had always complained that REM's lyrics were not packaged with their albums.
- steve, Sacramento, CA

Extraordinary song! My R.E.M.´s favourite.
- Oskar, Bilbao, Spain

The backing vocals are by Mike Mills and Billy Berry. Bill's line is just "It's going to fall" repeated once for each line in the chorus.
- Brian, Hanover, PA

This is one of the best songs by a band that had so many medium to uptempo college rock/country and folk-tinged great ones. The songs were at once beautiful and vibrant with energy. They had a great sound, led by Peter Buck's minimalist guitar style and the band's high harmonies backing Stipe's urgent, strained lead vocals through which he painted his own odd lyrical images of often unclear and even dark, bizarre subject matters, along with the more directed, cause-oriented efforts. Stipe remains one of the more interesting and inventive lyricists in rock. Buck's occasional piano work and bassist Mike Mills's backup vocals were sometimes incorporated, along with the powerful, even explosive drumming of Bill Berry, who later had to quit due to a serious brain tumor. In the 90s and while they still had the help of Berry, they turned to a harder-edged sound but had too much talent to be dismissed as bombastic. This proved vaild as the band enjoyed new heights of success. Definately the best band in the USA for a time, they could probably still be considered a contender.
- Brian, Meriden, CT

Early on in their career, Michael Stipe commented this was his favorite REM song. Mike Mills contributes to singing the lyrics in several of the lines in the middle of the song.
- Roger, Los Angeles, CA