Best APOCALYPTIC pop song?

[CanuckAmok]

Kaboom...Kaboom...KABO-O-O-O-OM!

Wow, remember when all we had to worry about was Reagan and those Dirty Reds?

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Man, how *old* are people?

"In The Year 2525" — Zager and Evans, 1969.

Remember when all we had to worry about was Goldwater and those dirty reds? :7

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. Holy Fuck You Beat Me To It! I Don't Friggin Believe It!!

:yourock:

[Oeditpus Rex]

6. Popped right into my head

upon reading "apocalyptic" and "song" in the same sentence. :toast:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

10. Same reason as me! Since I was 4 any mention of the end of the world

makes me immediately think of that song. The song has terrified me since the first time I heard it. Sooooo haunting. Soooooo brilliant.

:toast:

[qnr]

19. Same here "In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" instantly popped

into my head.

[Chovexani]

5. I heard that song once

And was creeped the hell out so badly, I didn't go to sleep that night.

Will never listen to it again, either. :scared:

[WCGreen]

34. Now it's been ten thousand year....

Man has cried a billion tears...
For what he never knew...
Now man's rein is through...
But through eternal night..
The twinkling of starlight...


From memory...

[mac56]

3. "It's A Mistake" by Men At Work

"Zor And Zam" by the Monkees

[CanuckAmok]

7. Oooh, obscure!

I remember the stop-motion GI Joes from the Men at Work video.

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. 'Zor and Zam' is more anti-apocalyptic

The war, it was over before it began.

Two little kings playing a game

They gave a war and nobody came

[mac56]

17. yeah, you're right

I was thinking more about the buildup portion.

"They fashioned their weapons one upon one
Ton upon ton
They called for a war at the rise of the sun"

[LisaLynne]

29. I agree, but ...

"Underground" by Men at Work might be even more apocolyptic. Hmm ... it's like they had a theme or something. :)

"Keep all the food lines moving
Don't come crying for more
The signs were there
You should have bought connections before"

[dolo amber]

32. I forever thought that said

"It's on a stick"...and I just so didn't get what that had to do with ANYTHING... :shrug:

:silly:

[Ladyhawk]

33. I like that one, too! :)

It has references to ol' Ronnie. :)

[evlbstrd]

4. Depends on the level of apocalypse.

Zappa's "Trouble Every Day," all of Joe's Garage.

[ornotna]

13. "Trouble Every Day" was about the Watts riots

I do believe.

[evlbstrd]

15. That's correct.

Localized apocalypse.

[name not needed]

8. Ivan Meets GI Joe

[ovidsen]

9. I'm doubly shocked!

I'm shocked that Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" isn't up for a vote.

I'm shocked that Tom Lehrer IS!! (You show your age if you remember Tom Lehrer)

Although, come to think of it, 'Eve', and 'We Will All Go Together' are so different, maybe they shouldn't be in the same competition...

[GrpCaptMandrake]

24. Trebly shocked, I guess

About the absence of "Eve of Destruction." It's old, but it's still current "The eastern world/it is explodin' . . .

[Orangepeel]

12. Where's 1999?

If you discount that he was dreaming, that has *got* to be the best one.

[AntiCoup2K4]

27. Considering that the REAL apocalypse started on December 12, 2000.....

Does that mean Prince was a prophet?

[Orangepeel]

28. you're right!

I was dreamin' when I wrote this
Forgive me if it goes astray
But when I woke up this mornin'
Coulda sworn it was judgment day
The sky was all purple,
there were people runnin' everywhere
Tryin' to run from the destruction,
U know I didn't even care

CHORUS
say say two thousand zero zero party over,
oops out of time
So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999

I was dreamin' when I wrote this
So sue me if I go to fast
But life is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last
War is all around us, my mind says prepare to fight
So if I gotta die I'm gonna listen to my body tonight

CHORUS
say say two thousand zero zero party over,
oops out of time
So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999


intro 2x
Lemme tell ya somethin'
If U didn't come to party,
don't bother knockin' on my door
I got a lion in my pocket,
and baby he's ready to roar
Yeah, everybody's got a bomb,
we could all die any day
But before I'll let that happen,
I'll dance my life away

Oh, they say
say say two thousand zero zero party over,
oops out of time
So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999
say say two thousand zero zero party over,
oops out of time
So tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999

we gonna, oww

1999
Dont ya wanna go 1999
Dont ya wanna go 1999
Dont ya wanna go 1999

[tuvor]

14. It's the End of the World as We Know It by REM?

One Tin Soldier?

The Apocalypso? (by some Canadian band they used to play on Brave New Waves)

(Voted for Ultravox. When the end is imminent, you might as well dance!)

[Err]

16. "End Of The World" by Cold

"It's The End Of The World As We Know It" by R.E.M.

[Cocoa]

18. "Supper's Ready," Genesis

longest, anyway.

[DanCa]

20. Barry Mcguire "Eve of Destruction"

The eastern world it is exploding violence flarin bullets floatin.
Your old enough to kill but not for votting.
You dont believe in War or the gun your totin
And even the Jordan River has bodies floattin
And you tell me over and over again my friend
You dont believe were on the eve of destruction

Can't you understand what I am trying to say
Cant you feel the fears that am feeling today
If the button is pushed they'll be no running away
You can bury the dead with the world in a grave
Amd you tell me over and over again my friend
You dont believe were on the eve of destruction

[dajoki]

22. that's mine too

:shrug:

[charlie and algernon]

21. Maimi 2017, by Billy Joel

or more commonly known as "the lights went out on broadway"

[Ladyhawk]

31. My pick, too. Before my father died he heard me listening to that song

and had a FIT. It became one of my favorites. :) I tried to tell him it was an "apocalyptic" song, but he wouldn't listen. He was a fundy. He should have like it. :shrug:

I've seen the lights go out on Broadway.
I saw the Empire State laid low
But life went on beyond the palisades...

[enigmatic]

23. "Holocaust"- Big Star

though Kendra Smith (of The Dream Syndicate)made it her own on the "Rainy Day" record...

Your eyes are almost dead
Can't get out of bed
And you can't sleep

You're sitting down to dress
And you're a mess
You look in the mirror

You look in your eyes
Say you realize

Everybody goes
Leaving those who fall behind
Everybody goes
As far as they can,
They don't just care.

They stood on the stairs
Laughing at your errors
Your mother's dead
She said, "Don't be afraid."

Your mother's dead
You're on your own
She's in her bed

Everybody goes
Leaving those who fall behind
Everybody goes
As far as they can
They don't just care
You're a wasted face
You're a sad-eyed lie
You're a holocaust....

[swag]

25. "Final Day" by Young Marble Giants

not on the orignal vinyl of this album, but on the recent reissues:




When the rich die last
Like the rabbits
Running from a lucky past
Full of shadow cunning
And the world lights up
For the final day
We will all be poor
Having had our say

Put a blanket up on the window pane
When the baby cries lullaby again
As the light goes out on the final day
For the people who never had a say

There is so much noise
There is too much heat
And the living floor
Throws you off your feet
As the final day falls into the night
There is peace outside
In the narrow light

[Robeson]

26. Pearl Jam's "Do the Evolution"...

...

Pearl Jam
Do the Evolution

Woo..
I'm ahead, I'm a man
I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby

I'm at piece, I’m the man
Buying stocks on the day of the crash
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills, I’ll flatten’ em out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh
It's evolution, baby

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my song, here's my coat
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby

I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir:
(hallelujah… hallelujah…)

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my song, admire my clothes
'Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast
Those ignorant Indians got nothin' on me
Nothin', why?
Because, it's evolution, baby!

I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher
Twenty-ten, watch it go to fire
It's evolution, baby (2X)
Do the evolution
Come on, come on, come on

[myrna minx]

30. Nick Cave's

(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World

It was a miracle I even got out of Longwood alive,
this town full of men with big mouths and no guts;
I mean if you can just picture it,
the whole third floor of the hotel gutted by the blast
and the street below showered in shards of broken glass,

and all the drunks pouring out of the dance halls
staring up at the smoke and the flames;
and the blind pencil seller waving his stick
shouting for his dog that lay dead on the side of the road;
and me, if you can believe this,
at the wheel of the of the car
closing my eyes and actually praying;
not to God above but to you, saying:

Help me, girl; help me, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
With your eyes black as coal
and your long dark curls

Some things we plan,
we sit and we invent and we plot and cook up;
others are works of inspiration, of poetry;
and it was this genius hand that pushed me up the hotel stairs
to say my last goodbye
to a hair as white as snow and of pale blue eyes
saying:
I gotta go; I gotta go,
the bomb in the bread basket are ready to blow

in this town of men with big mouths and no guts,
the pencil seller's dog, spooked by the explosion,
leaping under my wheels as I careered out of Longwood
on my way to you waiting in your dress,
in your dress of blue

I said:
Thank you, girl; thank you, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
with your eyes black as coal
and your long, dark curls

and with the horses prancing through the fields,
with my knife in my jeans and the rain on the shield;
I sang a song for the glory of the beauty of you
waiting for me
in your dress of blue

Thank you, girl. Thank you, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
with your eyes black as coal
and your long, dark curls

Writer: Nick Cave
Performed by: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

[Swede]

35. '21st Century Schizoid Man' by King Crimson.

Scary.

[Kazak]

36. Stereolab - Wow And Flutter

I didn't question I didn't know
As far as I'd seen life was endless
When I realised I had to let go
We are mere mortals
As to the rest
It's not eternal, imperishable
While on the move
It's not eternal, interminable
Progress is the clue

I though IBM was born with the world
The US flag would float forever
The cold opponent did pack away
The capital will have to follow
It's not eternal, imperishable
Oh yes it will go
It's not eternal, imterminable
The dinosaur law

Look at the symbols, they are alive
They move evolve and then they die.

[Susang]

37. Diamond Dogs

Without a doubt. Using the Future Legend intro, of course. ;-)

[DS1]

38. Holy Wars - and the punishment due - Megadeth

[Buck Turgidson]

39. It's alright, Ma, (I'm only bleeding) - Bob Dylan

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

[Lochloosa]

40. Space Oddity - David Bowie

Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

Ground Control to Major Tom
Commencing countdown, engines on
Check ignition and may God's love be with you

(spoken)
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Liftoff

This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows"

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do."

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

41. Here's a very ... interesting cover by the Langley Schools Music Project

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/BL/0511/im/21_-_Langley_Schools_Music_Project_-_Space_Oddity.mp3

http://www.keyofz.com/keyofz/langley/