"At My Most Beautiful" is a song by R.E.M. and the third single from the album Up. With a heavy influence from the Beach Boys (mainly Pet Sounds-era songs) and the Beatles, lyricist Michael Stipe wanted it to be the most romantic song he'd ever written.
According to an interview to the Canadian news site CANOE, this was the inspiration for the song:
The song borrows part of a melody refrain from the aria "Musetta's Waltz" in La bohème.
The single's video, directed by Nigel Dick, shows an accident-prone cellist, played by Rain Phoenix, on her way to an audition, of which the band are the panel. It appears on In View, the DVD companion to In Time, R.E.M.'s Warner Brothers 2003 "best of" album, which also includes the song.
The single's B-side is a live version of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger" as performed on the BBC's Later with Jools Holland R.E.M. special, a 14-song set which aired on November 6, 1998.
