Playboy.com: The band began working on Around The Sun just after the September 11th attack. How did that affect the album?

Michael Stipe: The major affect would be in the lyrics and in my trying to not write a political record, and finally that was what was coming out of me. What I find interesting in music has changed a lot since I first started writing songs. From going to art school, I had this feeling that timelessness was very important to pop music and art. I don't feel that way anymore. I just feel now that the stuff out there that really reflects the moment is the stuff that really has an impact.

PB: Do you hope to affect any sort of change when you write politically minded songs?

MS: It's really just a reflection of where my head's at. I used to write stuff and think, "Well, nobody is going to understand what this is about, because it's really my thing." And at some point, years ago, I realized if I'm feeling something, there's a good chance a lot of other people are feeling it as well. Not that I'm some sort of barometer of emotion, but it does seem to be the case. [Laughs] I have the same feelings and concerns as everyone else and sometimes these are things that aren't really addressed in music.

PB: A lot of people expected the album to sound angrier.

MS: To me, it is a record that reflects the chaos of right now, although it doesn't do so like [Green Day's] American Idiot, which I think is a great record. The songs that do have a kind of poignant political viewpoint aren't shouting from the top of the tallest building. It's much more of a whisper, and that sometimes can be just as effective if not more effective. The politics aren't simply about policymakers and governments, it also involves the politics of emotion and relationships and things more subtle than that.

PB: You campaigned hard for John Kerry. How did you react after he lost?

MS: I feel disappointed, clearly, that the election didn't go the way that I wished it had, but I'm not going to fold my hands and give up hope.

PB: This past year, progressives were able to get their message out through documentaries like Fahrenheit 9/11, the Vote For Change concerts and Al Franken's book, yet conservatives won at the polls pretty convincingly. What went wrong?

MS: For the next four years, we could all pick apart what happened, why it happened, what needs to change and all that stuff. That might be good and that might not be good. The thing I can say is that I feel pretty sure that Kerry didn't lose to Bush, he lost to fear. That was something put forth very strongly through media and through campaigning. Fear is a very potent and very powerful tool, and one that's particularly powerful now in this country after September 11th.