The 10 best songs about the end of the world
Among the general chitter chatter of the high street is the sound of a ringing bell. The source? A man with a sign around his neck reading, “The end is nigh”. In between rings, he blesses our souls and tries to save us, but the people don’t listen, brushing off warnings as the ramblings of the deluded rather than as something genuine. He’s right, though. One day, the world will end; whether that’s in our lifetime or not is the question, and it’s one musicians have tried to answer on multiple occasions.
There have been times in history when the end of the world has felt a lot more like a reality than others. Given that music is a form of expression that people often use to talk about the things they are concerned about, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many artists have prophesied pending doom when putting pen to paper. What’s interesting isn’t the fact that these songs exist but how different they all are.
Naturally, every mind is unique, but you would think that the end of the world is perceived by most as a bad thing and something that should generally, if possible, be avoided. So, why are so many of the songs about it positive? It all boils down to what the artist is trying to achieve, how much the genuine threat is, and their attitude to a potential doomsday.
The jump from serene to depressing, happy to sad, a celebration to a cry for help, throughout songs about the end of the world is fascinating. Here, we will talk about some of our favourite songs at the end of the day and highlight what it is about them that makes them stand out.
The best songs about the end of the world:
R.E.M – ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’
Initially released in 1987, ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)’ is one of R.E.M’s biggest hits. The song is a barrage of haphazard and disconnected references, essentially telling the listener the world is always going to end, and there is nothing you can do about it, so why worry?
Michael Stipe spoke about the abstract nature of the lyrics, saying, “The words come from everywhere. I’m extremely aware of everything around me, whether I am in a sleeping state, awake, dream-state or just in day-to-day life.” He gave an example, “There’s a part in [the song] that came from a dream where I was at Lester Bang’s birthday party, and I was the only person there whose initials weren’t L.B.”
Billy Joel – ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’
While the upbeat nature of ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ might make it so that people compare Billy Joel’s offering with R.E.M.’s, they’re actually quite separate in their approach to the end of the world. While R.E.M. essentially celebrates the end of the world and acknowledges nothing could be done about it, Billy Joel also has a celebratory tone but points to actual historical events, essentially saying there is a cause to the end, and something could be done but wasn’t.
Joel offers listeners a string of references to various historical moments as he talks about former presidents, controversial events, and random celebrities. “I started with Harry Truman because in 1949, the year I was born, Harry Truman was president,” he said. “From there, it kind of wrote itself.”
Johnny Cash – ‘The Man Comes Around’
This song talks about the end of the world from a religious point of view. The “Man” referred to in the track is God, who Johnny Cash says will one day come to pass judgment on the Earth. Before the track even begins, the song’s meaning is given to the listener as a spoken word introduction by Cash, who quotes Revelation 6:1-2, talks about John The Apostle’s vision of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Cash says that the inspiration for the song came from a dream, as once, while asleep, he had a vision that he was standing with the Queen in Buckingham Palace, who said, “Johnny Cash, you’re just like a thorn tree in a whirlwind.” When Cash woke up, he believed the quote to be from the Bible, and after researching, he found it in Job 38.
The Joy Hotel – ‘Jeremiah’
A slightly more modern offering, on their debut album Ceremony, The Joy Hotel, include the song ‘Jeremiah’, which talks about the end of the world and how it would impact different people. With a big sound of biblical proportion, the apocalypse has never sounded so good, but the reflective nature of the lyrics gives real insight into how the end of the world might be perceived differently depending on religious beliefs and how content someone is with their life.
“’Jeremiah’ is a song for the end of the world from two opposing perspectives,” said the band’s vocalist Emme Woods when talking about the track, “One side welcoming the end, believing God will be there to meet them and judge them mercifully, the other in a state of existential anxiety as the world spirals towards collapse.”
Prince – ‘1999’
Many people don’t realise it, but ‘1999’ isn’t just a go-to party tune; it’s a warning about the end of the world. Prince, along with many others, was convinced that the world would end in the year 2000, but rather than worry, he told people to do the only thing he knew how to: party.
If you weren’t aware that this was an end-of-the-world ballad, it will become more and more apparent now with every listen. As Prince says, “Party over, oops out of time,” he refers to the coming end of days in 2000, so he tells people, “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.” He also refers to the threat of nuclear warfare at the end of the song as he says, “Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb?”
Sun Ra – ‘Nuclear War’
The majority of songs discussed so far talk about the end of the world in their lyrics, but the message can also be conveyed through sound alone. Jazz has always been a genre that could represent multiple forms of emotion thanks to its versatility, and Sun Ra proved that it could also be used to depict the end of the world.
In a chaotic blend of free jazz, Sun Ra manages to create an unhinged depiction that feels as though you have dived head first into the end of days. He was always exceptional at creating free-flowing, messy jazz passages, and this song reflects his ability to do so beautifully.
David Bowie – ‘Five Years’
On the opening track for Bowie’s classic concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, the Starman talks about the potential end of the world as he describes a drawn-out five-year-long apocalypse. That isn’t the only interpretation of the song, but it is one of the most common.
Though the definitive meaning behind the track is still unknown, Bowie came close to giving a straightforward answer once. He said the song isn’t about the end of days but rather the end of his days. He said that in 1971, he dreamed that his Dad told him he had only five years left to live and that he shouldn’t fly again.
Europe – ‘The Final Countdown’
Though Europe might not have been a band to everyone’s taste, very few people on Earth can hear ‘The Final Countdown’ without singing along. The upbeat nature of the track can often take away from the apocalyptic nature of it; however, this may well have been the band’s intention, as the lyrics also touch upon optimism.
As Earth ends, singer Joey Tempest talks about how humanity survives amongst the stars. “I had the demo without vocals, and I was singing over and over again,” he said, “The music was almost like a soundtrack to a movie, about leaving Earth, and that the Earth was spent.”
The Doors – ‘The End’
There are very few songs that signify the end of time itself than The Doors with ‘The End’. The 12-minute song is a haunting portrayal of the inevitable, which has since been used in popular movies such as Apocalypse Now to represent what it will sound like one day when the Earth stops turning.
‘The End’ certainly represents death and finality but leaves how it will come open to the listener. The ambiguity of the track almost adds to the haunting nature of it, which is something Morrison was keen on doing. He said, “It could be almost anything you want it to be,” when asked about the true meaning behind the song.
Tool – ‘Aenima’
The last song on the list is the brooding offering by Tool. Their trademark heavy metal sound and excellent songwriting can be heard throughout this track, which talks about themes of destruction and rebirth. The title comes from two terms: “Anima”, which means soul, and “Enema”, a medical term dealing with cleansing.
At the heart of the song is hopelessness. The band sing about their lack of hope for humanity and wishes that the end would come as a means to cleanse the rest of the world. It talks of people who care about the preservation of the Earth and their frustration with those who don’t.
