"Imitation of Life" was the first single released from R.E.M.'s twelfth studio album Reveal in 2001. The song struggled in the United States where the band's popularity had waned, peaking at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100 (though the song did reach #22 on the U.S. Modern Rock list, also published by Billboard). It was the lowest chart of a lead single from an R.E.M. album in the U.S. since "Fall on Me" from Lifes Rich Pageant in 1986, and no song from R.E.M. has charted in the U.S. since. However, it reached #6 on the UK Singles Charts, making it what was then the eighth top 10 for the band in Britain. In Japan, the song was extremely well received, becoming R.E.M.'s first number one single in the country.

According to the liner notes on In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003, this song was inspired by Douglas Sirk's 1959 film of the same name.