Top 20 Favorite R.E.M. Songs: Femme Fatale (#11)

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As promised, my countdown of favorite R.E.M. songs would contain some covers in addition to their own stellar original recordings. For the final song until the top ten I'm featuring one of those covers. Here's today's song. #11: Femme Fatale Lou Reed wrote this song about Edie Sedgwick, one of the people at Andy Warhol's Factory. The Velvet Underground originally recorded it, and it's become one of the classic songs from their career. It's been covered by acts from Big Star to Duran Duran to the Tom Tom Club. There are very, very few instances where I like a cover better than the original. This is one of them. In fact, I like their version of "Pale Blue Eyes" better than the Velvet Underground's original. (They did three Lou Reed songs as B-sides, the third one being "There She Goes Again," making me think an "R.E.M. Sings Lou Reed" album would have been dynamite!) Here's to Lou Reed. And here's to R.E.M. for such a fabulous cover. Femme Fatale Written by Lou Reed Originally released as the B-side to "Superman," 1986 From Dead Letter Office, 1987 You're number 37: