It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Encyclopedia
"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.
, which appeared on their 1987 album Document
, the 1988 compilation Eponymous
, and the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987. It was released as a single in November 1987, 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 previously unreleased R.E.M. song called "PSA" ("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.
, Leonid Brezhnev
, Lenny Bruce
and Lester Bangs
). 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.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, which appeared on their 1987 album Document
Document (album)
Robert Christgau praised the album, and called "It's the End of the World as We Know It " an "inspirational title." Stephan Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that "Where Lifes Rich Pageant sounded a bit like a party record, Document is a fiery statement, and its memorable melodies and riffs are made...
, the 1988 compilation Eponymous
Eponymous (album)
Eponymous is the first greatest hits and the second compilation album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1988. It was their last authorized release on I.R.S. Records, to whom they had been contracted since 1982, having just signed with Warner Bros. Records...
, and the 2006 compilation And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S Years 1982–1987. It was released as a single in November 1987, reaching #69 US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and later reaching #39 in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
on its re-release in December 1991.
The song originated from a previously unreleased R.E.M. song called "PSA" ("Public Service Announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
"); 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
Bad Day (R.E.M. song)
"Bad Day" is one of two previously unreleased songs on and the lead single from R.E.M.'s 2003 compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003....
". In an interview with Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
magazine in the early 1990s, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
indicated that one of the primary inspirations of "End of the World" was Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "Subterranean Homesick Blues
Subterranean Homesick Blues
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is a song by Bob Dylan, originally released in 1965 as a single on Columbia Records, catalogue 43242. It appeared 19 days later as the lead track to the album Bringing It All Back Home. It was Dylan's first Top 40 hit, peaking at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also...
".
The music video was directed by James Herbert
James Herbert (director)
James Herbert is an American painter and director most known for directing a series of classic music videos for the band R.E.M.. He has also made over forty short films, including John Five and Jumbo Aqua , and directed four independent features: Scars , Speedy Boys , Rabbit Pix and Abandoned...
, 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.
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 CramerFloyd CramerFloyd Cramer was an American Hall of Fame pianist who was one of the architects of the "Nashville sound." He popularized the "slip note" piano style where an out-of-tune note slides effortlessly into the correct note...
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
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 EuropeRadio Free Europe (song)"Radio Free Europe" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" was released as R.E.M.'s debut single on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone in 1981...
" - 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
Lyrics
The track is known for its quick flying, seemingly stream of consciousness rant with a number of diverse references, including a quartet of individuals with the initials "L.B." (Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
, Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
and Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
). In a 1990s interview with Musician
Musician (magazine)
Musician was a monthly magazine that covered news and information about American popular music. Initially called "Music America", it was founded in 1976 by Sam Holdsworth and Gordon Baird. The two friends borrowed $20,000 from relatives and started the publication in a barn in Colorado...
magazine, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
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.
Sales chart performance
| Chart (1987/1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart | 222 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
391 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 69 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
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.
1990s
- Italian rock singer LigabueLuciano LigabueLuciano Ligabue , more commonly known as Ligabue or Liga, is an Italian rock singer-songwriter, film director and writer.-Biography:...
covered the song in 1994, 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?"). - Vic ChesnuttVic ChesnuttJames Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...
, who was "discovered" by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, recorded a very loose cover of the song for the 19921992 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992.-January–February:*January 11**Nirvana's Nevermind album goes to #1 in the US Billboard 200 chart, establishing the widespread popularity of the Grunge movement of the 1990s....
R.E.M. tribute album Surprise Your PigSurprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M.Surprise Your Pig: A Tribute to R.E.M. is a tribute album of the songs of R.E.M. released in 1992. The title comes from a misunderstood exchange between Jefferson Holt and Mike Mills.-Track listing:...
. 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. - Newfoundland folk-rockers Great Big SeaGreat Big SeaGreat Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
covered the song on their 1997 album PlayPlay (Great Big Sea album)-Track listing:#"Ordinary Day" 3:09#"When I'm Up " 3:24#"The Night Pat Murphy Died" 3:02...
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 primarily by their increasing the tempo). They performed it live on New Year's Eve 1999, leading into the year 2000, as an in-joke. - DC TalkDC TalkDC Talk is the first studio album released from vocal trio DC Talk. It is the most hip hop-oriented of all of their albums as each later album gradually progressed into a more rock-centered sound. Michael Tait stated that their original goal for the album was to sell 10,000 units. It sold 7,142...
covered the song on their 1997 live album Welcome to the Freak ShowWelcome to the Freak ShowWelcome to the Freak Show is the name of a live audio and video recording by DC Talk. Chronicling the Jesus Freak Tour in the spring of 1996, they were released separately two months apart in 1997 on CD and VHS, respectively. A DVD version was later released in 2003. Each version has been...
, describing it as "a little ditty from Georgia." - No DoubtNo DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
performed a cover of this song on MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's New Year's Eve Bash on December 31, 1999. The cover was in response to the fear of Y2K.
2000s
- The Detroit ska-punk band The Suicide MachinesThe Suicide MachinesThe Suicide Machines were an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan and disbanded in May 2006. During the course of their career the band released six full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records and Side One Dummy Records...
covered the song on their 2001 album Steal This RecordSteal This RecordSteal This Record is the fourth album by the Detroit, Michigan punk rock band The Suicide Machines, released in 2001 by Hollywood Records. It was the band's last album for the Hollywood label, as they moved to Side One Dummy Records the following year. It was also their last album with longtime...
(this version is the opening theme of the French webserial Le Visiteur du Futur).. - Julee CruiseJulee CruiseJulee Cruise is an American singer, and actress.With a distinctive, airy voice, Cruise has recorded three albums, but is probably best known for the lead vocal on "Falling," the theme song for the cult U.S. television series Twin Peaks...
covered the song in a slow, dancy version. It is available on a compilation called Winter Chill 06.02. - The pop-punk band the Riddlin' KidsRiddlin' KidsRiddlin' Kids was a punk rock band from Austin, Texas and was made up of Clint Baker , Dustin Stroud , Mark Johnson , and Dave Keel .- 2001-2005:...
included their version as a hidden bonus track on their 2002 album Hurry Up and Wait. - Dutch punk rock band Seein' Red (formerly LärmLärmLärm were a Dutch straight edge thrashcore band formed in 1981, first playing under the name of Total Chaoz. Lärm pioneered what would later be called power violence, along with bands Heresy and Siege...
) recorded a version of the song titled "The End Of The World As We Fucking Know It" on their 2003 album This CD Kills Fascists. - Industrial metal band Pitbull Daycare covered the song on their 2004 album titled Unclean.
- The Vitamin String Quartet included a cover of the song on their 2005 album String Quartet Tribute to R.E.M.
- Rapper Pigeon JohnPigeon JohnPigeon John is an American hip hop rapper raised in Hawthorne, California and based in Los Angeles, California.-Biography:Pigeon John is a Los Angeles area rapper who has recorded four studio albums as a solo artist, as well as several others as a member of the groups like L.A. Symphony and...
loosely sampled the song in "As We Know It", recorded on his 2006 album Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool PartyAnd the Summertime Pool PartyAnd the Summertime Pool Party is the 4th solo album by Southern California rapper Pigeon John. It was released on September 12, 2006. It features guest appearances from artists like DJ Rhettmatic, Brother Ali, RJD2 & J-Live...
. - BluegrassBluegrass musicBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band Hayseed DixieHayseed DixieHayseed Dixie is an American band which began in the autumn of 2000 with the release of their first album, A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC. The band performs a mixture of cover versions of hard rock songs and original compositions in a style that is a unique fusion of bluegrass and rock music and are...
has covered the song but never recorded it for a studio album. - ElectroElectro (music)Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...
band Math The BandMath the BandMath the Band is an American electronic band formed in 2003 in Westford, Massachusetts by Kevin Steinhauser. Justine Mainville was added to the lineup in 2007. They've released many full-length albums and various EPs...
covered the song on their 2009 album titled Don't Worry.