It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) explained

It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Cover:R.E.M. - It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (United States).jpg
Alt:Block text in all capitals spells out "R.E.M" in large black letters against a light background; under the band's name is a horizontal line spanning the width of the cover; under the line are four lines of purple text in a font half the height of the font used for the band's name. The four lines: IT'S THE END/OF THE WORLD/AS WE KNOW IT/(AND I FEEL FINE).
Caption:Cover of the USA 7" release
Type:single
Artist:R.E.M.
Album:Document
B-Side:Last Date
Recorded:1987
Studio:Sound Emporium (Nashville, Tennessee)
Label:I.R.S.
Prev Title:The One I Love
Prev Year:1987
Next Title:Finest Worksong
Next Year:1988

"It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, Document. It was released as the album's second single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and later reaching No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart on its re-release in December 1991.

Lyrics

The track is known for its quick-flying, seemingly stream of consciousness rant with many diverse references, such as a quartet of individuals with the initials "L.B.": Leonard Bernstein, Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce, and Lester Bangs.[1] In a 1990s interview with Musician magazine, R.E.M.'s lead 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 those initials. "The words come from everywhere," Stipe explained to Q in 1992. "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, so that ended up in the song along with a lot of stuff I'd seen when I was flipping TV channels. It's a collection of streams of consciousness."[2]

The song originated from a previously unreleased song called "PSA" ("Public Service Announcement"); the two are very similar in melody and tempo. "PSA" was itself later reworked and released as a single in 2003, under the title "Bad Day". In an interview with Guitar World magazine published in November 1996, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck agreed that "End of the World" was in the tradition of Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues".[3]

The song was included on the 2001 Clear Channel memorandum of songs thought to be "lyrically questionable" after the September 11 terrorist attacks.[4]

Reception

Cash Box said that "Overdriven guitars push this blazing rock ode to the modern calamity. A high energy AOR smash with R.E.M.'s unique stamp of disapproval."[5]

Chart performance

In 1992, the song was played repeatedly for a 24-hour period (with brief promos interspersed) to introduce the new format for WENZ 107.9 FM "The End", a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. When the station underwent a new format change to mainstream urban on May 14, 1999, they again played the song in 24-hour loop.[6] [7] There was a documentary film made about the station entitled The End of the World As We Knew It, released in 2009, which featured many of the former staffers and jocks.[8] [9]

The song was featured in several satirical videos on YouTube, in connection with the prediction of radio pastor Harold Camping of Family Radio, that the world would end on May 21, 2011; the song was later played on a loop following the sale of Family Radio station WKDN (now WKVP) in Philadelphia prior to a format change on that station.[10] Also, before the supposed Mayan apocalypse on December 21, 2012, sales for the song jumped from 3,000 to 19,000 copies for the week.[11] Alternative radio station CFEX-FM in Calgary, Canada, stunted by playing the song all day on December 21, 2012, interspersed with "Get to Know a Mayan" and "Apocalypse Survival Tips" segments.[12]

Amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, the song received an increase in downloads and streaming in March 2020 alongside other apocalypse- and sickness-themed songs.[13] Online downloads of the song rose 184 percent, while streams rose 48 percent.[14]

Music video

The music video was directed by James Herbert, who worked with the band on several other videos in the late 1980s. It depicts a teenage skateboarder, Noah Ray,[15] in a cluttered room of an abandoned, half-collapsed farmhouse. As he rummages through the junk, including several band pictures and flyers, he shows off various toys and items to the camera and plays with a dog that wanders into the house. As the video ends, he removes his shirt and starts performing skateboard tricks while still inside the room.

According to Herbert, the dog's appearance in the video was entirely unscripted, something he was quite happy with. Over three decades after the video's release, he said, "I wanted the distortions and the magic that can come just out of spontaneous combustion."[16]

Track listing

Initial release

  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"  – 2:59
  2. "This One Goes Out" (live acoustic version of "The One I Love") – 4:19
  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"  – 3:29
  2. "Last Date" (Floyd Cramer cover) – 2:13

The single edit on US & Canadian releases removes about 23 seconds of audio at 0:21. Two edits were released, the first with "you" before "vitriolic, patriotic" and the second with "height" (possibly "high").

  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:04
  2. "This One Goes Out" (live acoustic version of "The One I Love") – 4:19
  3. "Maps and Legends" (live acoustic)
  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:04
  2. "Disturbance at the Heron House (Live from cassette 5.24.87 McCabes Guitar Shop)" – 3:41

Re-issue

  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:04
  2. "Radio Free Europe" – 4:03
  3. "The One I Love" (Live Acoustic) – 4:19
  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" – 4:04
  2. "Radio Free Europe" (Hib-Tone version) – 3:46
  3. "White Tornado" – 1:59
  4. "Last Date" – 2:13
  1. "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
  2. "Radio Free Europe"

Personnel

R.E.M.

Charts

Chart (1987/1991)Peak position
Italy Singles Chart16[17]
France SNEP12
Irish Singles Chart22
UK Singles Chart39
US Cash Box Top 100[18] 84
US Billboard Hot 100[19] 69
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks16
Chart (2020)Peak position
Hot Rock & Alternative Songs4
UK Singles Download Chart46

Cover versions

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ventre. Michael. Turn up the volume and cast your vote: Songs to inspire you for Election Day 2004. Today.com. October 29, 2005. September 1, 2006.
  2. Web site: It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M.. Songfacts.com. December 20, 2017.
  3. Web site: YuppiePunk » Podcast #8: List Songs. Yuppiepunk.org. February 1, 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140201194009/http://www.yuppiepunk.org/2008/10/podcast-8-list-songs.html. February 1, 2014.
  4. Web site: Truitt. Eliza. It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It. Slate.com. September 17, 2001. September 14, 2007. https://archive.today/20071015200337/http://slate.com/id/1008314/. October 15, 2007. dead.
  5. Single Releases. 9. Cash Box. January 16, 1988. 2022-11-06.
  6. Web site: RR-1999-05-21 . americanradiohistory.com.
  7. News: Feran . Tom . May 19, 1999 . WJMO gives up soul for gospel . 2E . . Cleveland, Ohio . live . subscription . March 27, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220329015022/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=NewsBank&docref=news/0F80D3C45AEBAAFF&f=basic . March 29, 2022 . NewsBank.
  8. Book: Olszewski, Mike. Radio Daze: Stories from the Front in Cleveland's FM Air Wars. January 1, 2003. Kent State University Press. 978-0-87338-773-6. en.
  9. Web site: Doomsday facts. tribunedigital-chicagotribune. March 12, 2016.
  10. https://formatchangearchive.com/wkdn-ends-family-radio-begins-stunting/
  11. Non-Apocalypse Spurs Sales (Up 612%), Airplay Gains For R.E.M.'s 'End Of The World'. Billboard. November 7, 2014. January 20, 2013. https://archive.today/20130120201501/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/retail/non-apocalypse-spurs-sales-up-612-airplay-1008063432.story. dead.
  12. Web site: Calgary Radio Station X92.9 Plays 'It's The End Of The World' By R.E.M. All Day To Mark Mayan Calendar. Huffington Post. December 21, 2012. July 14, 2016.
  13. Zellner . Xander . March 17, 2020 . 'It's the End of the World as We Know It,' 'I Will Survive' & More Songs Surge in the Time of Coronavirus . Billboard . March 17, 2020.
  14. News: March 17, 2020 . Sales of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know It" & other songs jump amid COVID-19 . ABC News Radio . March 17, 2020.
  15. Web site: Video takes local kid's life for a turn. Jim. Thompson. Online Athens: REM in the hall. Athens Banner-Herald. January 16, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100116081006/http://www.onlineathens.com/rem-hall/stories/noahray.shtml. January 16, 2010.
  16. Web site: Retired UGA professor Jim Herbert reflects on life's work in film and painting . Herrin . Analiese . . May 8, 2023 . July 14, 2023.
  17. The Notorious Stuart Brothers. "A Date With Peter Buck". Bucketfull of Brains. December 1987.
  18. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Cash Box Pop Hits 1952-1996. 2014. Sheridan Books, Inc.. 978-0-89820-209-0.
  19. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Top Pop Singles 1955–2010 (13th Ed.). 2011. Prometheus Global Media. 978-0-89820-188-8.
  20. Web site: Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada. Collectionscanada.gc.ca. November 7, 2014.
  21. Web site: Chris Carrabba To Release "Covered In The Flood" Solo Album. Alter The Press!. Jon. Ableson. June 17, 2013.
  22. Web site: BuffettNews.com • View topic – Buffett Covers R.E.M.. Buffettnews.com. November 7, 2014.

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