“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” by R.E.M.

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” utilizes a lyrical style which is referred to as a ‘stream of consciousness’. And at least the way the lyrics read on paper, we can say that this method is akin to a rap song, even though the words don’t actually rhyme. In other words, instead of the verses sticking to just one topic, each line can be about a completely-different subject.

For instance, in the first verse alone the singer references “an earthquake”, “bird and snakes”, “Lenny Bruce”, “the Furies”, “the Rapture”, “population”, etc. But ultimately what the lyrics comprehensively point back to is the titular concept of the world coming to an end. That is to say that most of these references allude to harrowing issues the world is facing.  Others, like the shoutouts to particular individuals or “birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean”, are comedic or more personal to the singer.

So there is a whole lot going on in this song. But we can presume that the contrast between the frightening and the frivolous is intended by the singer.  Indeed as illustrated in the title, whereas he acknowledges the world is in a bad state, he personally feels okay.  So perhaps the general idea he is truly trying to put across is that in the face of our everyday, normal lives there is also a whole bunch of alarming stuff, in terms of politics or war or the climate or what have you, going on in the background. Or another way of looking at it is that the harrowing news we face on a daily basis, being that it is indeed regular, is not going to change the singer’s disposition.

Release Date of “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”

This track is from R.E.M.’s fifth-studio album, “Document”. The song was released by I.R.S. Records on 1 September 1987. And it also served as the second single from “Document”.

Writing Credits

This song was written by R.E.M. bandmates Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe. It was originally conceived as a track called “Bad Day”, which was critical of the way US President Ronald Reagan (1981-1987) was running the country. And R.E.M. produced the tune along with one of their regular collaborators, Scott Litt.

Success

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” proved to be a moderate success. For instance, it appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart, going on to be certified Silver in the UK. And generally speaking it charted in six countries.

Appearances in Movies

Movies that have featured this song include Chris Farley’s “Tommy Boy” (1995) and Will Smith’s “Independence Day” (1996).

Inspiration behind “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”

This song is said to have derived the inspiration for its ‘stream of consciousness’ flow from a track Bob Dylan dropped back in 1965 entitled “Subterranean Homesick Blues”. For the record, the old school movie “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes” is considered to be the medium where the term “the end of the world as we know it” was first applied.

Perception by Major Powers

This track has an interesting history in terms of how it has been perceived by major powers. For example, the ultra-tight Soviet Union allowed the tune to be featured on an album Greenpeace sold in the country in 1989. However, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks Clear Channel Communications, a major owner of radio stations in the US, recommended that their affiliates do not play this song.

A popular song during serious global issues

The ancient Mayans prophesied that the end of the world would occur on 21 December 2012. And around that time interest in this song peaked, especially in Canada. Interest in the song also grew in the early parts of 2020, following the global coronavirus pandemic.

R.E.M. talks about “It’s the End of the World”

Michael Stipe has taken primary credit for writing this song. And he stated that “Peter [Buck] hated it”. 

Throughout “It’s the End of the World”, specifically in the third verse, Michael Stipe references four individuals whose initials are L.B. And they are as follows:

• Comedian Lenny Bruce (1925-1966)
• Music journalist Lester Bangs (1948-1982)
• Soviet politician Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982)
• Music composer Leonard Bernstein (1918-1908)

The stated reason why he did so is that he had a dream where he attended a party with all four of these diverse individuals present. Then he went on to expound, as alluded to earlier, that the lyrics of this song are a hodge-podge of different thoughts, with many of the ideas being derived from ‘a lot of stuff he’d seen when he was flipping TV channels’.

But in the case of Lester Bangs it seems the story may be a bit deeper than that. For as Peter Buck tells it, he and Stipe actually attended a party in Lester Bangs’s home in 1980. And the only food present at the gathering – which they were compelled to consume since they were quite hungry – “was birthday cake and jelly beans”. So that would explain why in the third verse the singer namedrops “Lester Bangs” and then goes on to mention “birthday party… jelly bean”.