It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
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| "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" | |||||
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| Single by R.E.M. | |||||
| from the album Document | |||||
| Released | November 1987 | ||||
| Format | Vinyl record (7" and 12"), tape cassette, CD | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 4:07 | ||||
| Label | I.R.S. Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe | ||||
| Producer | Scott Litt | ||||
| R.E.M. singles chronology | |||||
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"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by the rock band R.E.M., found on their 1987 album Document and the 1988 compilation Eponymous. It was also released as a single in 1988, reaching #69 US Billboard Hot 100 and later reaching #39 in the UK singles chart on its re-release in December 1991.
The song originated from a previous, unreleased, R.E.M. song called "PSA", which is short for "Public Service Announcement". The two songs are very similar in melody and tempo. "PSA" was itself later released as a single in 2003, under the title "Bad Day". In an interview with Guitar World magazine in the early 1990s, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck indicated that one of the primary inspirations of "End of the World" was Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues".
The music video was directed by James Herbert, who worked with the band on several other videos in the late 1980s. It depicts a young skateboarder (Noah Ray) rifling through an abandoned, collapsing farmhouse and displaying the relics that he finds to the camera.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Initial release
- "7: IRS IRM 145 (UK):
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "This One Goes Out" (live acoustic version of "The One I Love") - 4:19
- "7: IRS IRS-53220 (US); cassette: IRS IRSC-53220:
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "Last Date" (Floyd Cramer cover) - 2:13
- "12: IRS IRMT 145:
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "This One Goes Out" (live acoustic version of "The One I Love") - 4:19
- "Maps and Legends" (live acoustic)
- "12 Promo: IRS 7363 (US):
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "Disturbance at the Heron House (Live from cassette 5.24.87 McCabes Guitar Shop)" - 3:41
[edit] Re-issue
- CD: IRS DIRMT 180:
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "Radio Free Europe" - 4:03
- "The One I Love" (Live Acoustic) - 4:19
- CD: IRS DIRMX 180:
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "Radio Free Europe" (Hib-Tone version) - 3:46
- "White Tornado" - 1:59
- "Last Date" - 2:13
- "7: IRS IRM 180; cassette: IRS DIRMC 180:
- "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" - 4:04
- "Radio Free Europe" - 4:03
[edit] Lyrics
The track is known for its quick flying lyrics taking the form of what appears to be a stream of consciousness rant with a number of diverse references, including a quartet of individuals with the initials "L.B." (In a 1990s interview with Musician Magazine, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe claimed that the "L.B." references came from a dream he had in which he found himself at a party surrounded by famous people who all shared these initials.)
Among the references are:
- Eye of a hurricane, which is the quiet part of a storm.
- The Furies
- Book burning
- The Rapture
- Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets
- Continental drift
- Lenny Bruce
- Leonard Bernstein
- Leonid Brezhnev
- Lester Bangs
[edit] Live
Since it was written, it was used as the show closer at the large majority of the live shows that R.E.M. performed. However, for the 2004/2005 Around the Sun tour, it was dropped from the set almost entirely, only played twice in the whole tour. On November 4, 2004 it was used to open the show for the first time ever in response to the outcome of the United States presidential election two days earlier. They also played it during the encore of the re-scheduled Hyde Park concert at the very end of the tour in summer 2005. The replacement show closer for the tour was their 1992 hit, "Man on the Moon".[1] The song returned during R.E.M.'s 2008 Accelerate tour. It was mostly used in the encore, played back-to-back with "Man on the Moon".
[edit] Sales chart performance
| Chart (1987/1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 222 |
| UK Singles Chart | 391 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 69 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 16 |
- 1 - The single originally reached #87 in the UK. It reached #39 in 1991 after the song was re-released.
- 2 - Only charted in 1991 after the song's re-release.
[edit] Covers
- Vic Chesnutt, who was "discovered" by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, recorded a very loose cover of the song for the 1992 R.E.M. tribute album Surprise Your Pig. Chesnutt's version uses a completely different structure and melody from the original and only uses fragments of its lyrics, most notably the opening line "That's great, it starts with an earthquake," which is repeated throughout the song.
- Julee Cruise covered the song in a slow, dancy version. It's available on a compilation called "Winter Chill 06.02."
- Italian rock singer Ligabue covered the song in 1995, maintaining the same music but writing brand new Italian lyrics; the song was now titled "A Che Ora È La Fine Del Mondo?" ("At What Time Will The End Of The World Be?").
- Newfoundland folk-rockers Great Big Sea covered the song on their 1997 album Play at a faster pace (under the title "End of the World"). Their version is a minute and a half shorter than R.E.M.'s, yet still contains all the verses (the faster time is achieved mostly through including fewer repetitions of the chorus).
- dc Talk covered the song on their 1997 live album Welcome to the Freak Show, describing it as "a little ditty from Georgia."
- The Detroit ska-punk band The Suicide Machines covered the song on their 2001 album Steal This Record.
- The pop-punk band the Riddlin' Kids included their version as a hidden bonus track on their 2002 album Hurry Up and Wait.
- Rapper Pigeon John loosely sampled the song in "As We Know It," recorded on his 2006 album Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party.
[edit] References in popular culture
- The cult science-fiction comedy Mystery Science Theater 3000 made a few references to this song throughout its eleven-season run; for example, a moment in episode #703 - Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell involved a wizard saying, "Thinking I was the end of your quest,", with in-theater character Mike Nelson quipping "...As we know it, and I feel fine."
- It has been reported that Stipe wrote the song after dreaming that he was at a birthday party where all the other guests had the initials L.B.[2], hence "Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs. birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!"
- The debate community has long rumored that the song is a reference to policy debate. This flows from the rapid-fire delivery (similar to "spread" speech in a policy round), the myriad ways the end of the world will occur (policy debates often devolve into competing claims that the opponent's advocacy will cause the end of the world), and other staples of debate rounds (e.g., "A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline."). This was to some extent confirmed in an interview for the BBC documentary "The Seven Ages of Rock" released on their website where Mike Stipe says: "The End of the World as we Know it...these were songs that were really addressing incredible social concerns of the time."[3].
- The song is heard at the beginning of the film Independence Day just before the alien signal is received. Similarly, it was heard in the film Chicken Little, during the apparent alien invasion. It also appeared in a scene in Tommy Boy, in which the main characters start singing along but quickly prove unable to follow the lyrics; a similar scene is performed by Homer Simpson in "Homer the Moe" (Leonid whats-his-name/Herman Munster Motorcade/Birthday party/Cheetos/Pogo sticks and lemonade/You symbiotic stupid jerk/That's right, Flanders/I am talking about you!"), a 2001 episode of The Simpsons in which R.E.M. guest-star as themselves. The song was also played on Fox after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004.
- The song was included on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ironically, Clear Channel parodied the song in a promotion called, "It's a XM World as We Know It (On 165)", promoting one of their talk radio channels on XM Satellite Radio.
- In the 2001 video game Max Payne there is a reference of the song. During the game, New York City is suffering what the game refers to as "the worst winter storm in history" and at one point in the game, two homeless junkies are standing around a barrel fire and one remarks to the other one "It's the end of the world as we know it and I don't feel fine... I don't feel anything"
- Grey's Anatomy also had pair of episodes in their second season, one called "It's the End of the World" and the other called "(As We Know It)."
- The song is also on the soundtrack of the 1990 film Flashback.
- The song is also on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Tommy Boy.
- This song was voted #69 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's.
- The song is also on the soundtrack of the 1989 film Dream a Little Dream.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ R.E.M. Timeline - 2004/05 Concert Chronology
- ^ "Michael Stipe wrote this after having a dream in which he was at a birthday party and everybody there had the initials L.B." Ventre, Michael (2005-10-29). "Turn up the volume and cast your vote: Songs to inspire you for Election Day 2004". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2004-11-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20041104045400/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6362112/. Retrieved on 2006-09-01.
- ^ BBC - Seven Ages of Rock - Programmes - Left of the Dial
