"Ages of You" is a song by alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 from their album Dead Letter Office

Dead Letter Office (album)

Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally...

. It was one of the first songs the group wrote.

Song information

The song rose from another early R.E.M. song, "Burning Down." According to guitarist Peter Buck

Peter Buck

Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....

, as recounted on the Dead Letter Office

Dead Letter Office (album)

Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally...

liner notes, "When we got tired of ['Burning Down'], we kept the two pieces that we liked and rewrote the rest to come up with 'Ages of You'. We got tired of that one, also."

It was intended to be a track on the band's EP Chronic Town

Chronic Town

Chronic Town is the debut EP by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1982 on I.R.S. Records. Chronic Town is the first illustration of R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio, murmured vocals, and obscure lyrics.-Background and recording:After...

, but producer Mitch Easter

Mitch Easter

Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...

 felt it let down the track list—"Gardening at Night", "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)", "1,000,000", and "Stumble". Easter felt that the song "Wolves, Lower" was a better and stronger song in the context of the EP.

The song was later re-recorded during sessions for the band's 1984 album Reckoning

Reckoning (R.E.M. album)

Reckoning is the second album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1984 by I.R.S. Records. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984...

, but was left off the album and later relegated to b-side status, appearing on the 7- and 12-inch versions of the single "Wendell Gee

Wendell Gee

"Wendell Gee" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released as the third and final single from the group's third studio album Fables of the Reconstruction in 1985. It was released in Europe only, in two 7" and two 12" formats....

" in 1985, remixed by engineer Steve Fjelstad (as noted on the Dead Letter Office liner notes.)

Both "Ages of You" and its "companion piece" (as Buck called it), "Burning Down" (also remixed by Fjelstad), were featured on the aforementioned Dead Letter Office B-side compilation album in 1987. The ending of the Dead Letter Office version differs slightly from the original 7" version, editing out the applause at the track's end. A live version recorded at the Paradise Theater in Boston on July 13, 1983, which was originally released on the compilation album Live for Life can be found on the second disc in the special collector's edition version of And I Feel Fine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years

And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987

And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982–1987 is a compilation album by R.E.M. that features songs from the band's years at I.R.S. Records. All tracks have been remastered, and the set was released 12 September 2006...

, a 2006 compilation of the band's I.R.S. Records work.

Charts

Chart (1987)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...	39