According to Mike Mills, R.E.M.’s new music video for “Mine Smell Like Honey” is their tribute to Buster Keaton, the silent-film star and comedian. But having no accessible reference point stored in my noggin, the homage is totally lost on me.

Directed by Dominic DeJoseph, who previously helmed the band’s clips for “Bittersweet Me” and “New Test Leper,” the video for “Mine Smell Like Honey” plays like a lesson in assisted indoor parkour for the over-50 set. Watch as a mostly-lifeless Michael Stipe takes a tumble up the stairs. Maybe you’ll get the joke. Still a tight song, though:

I much prefer the lyrics video for “Mine Smell Like Honey” that R.E.M. previously released, with its pulsating, colorful graphic treatment. But I’m a words-over-pictures kinda guy.

R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now arrives March 8.

Purchase R.E.M. – “Mine Smell Like Honey” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.

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