If you were looking for a soundtrack for the current pandemic plaguing our planet, then fear not, because it seems the people have spoken and chosen R.E.M.'s 'It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' to play us all out.
You may as well enjoy the track as you read this article:It should come as no surprise to anyone that the track has once again re-entered the Top 100 on the US iTunes chart, according to Chart Data, as it features the now-iconic pessimistic lyrics that better resembles a stream of consciousness rant.
One section of the beloved song goes:
"Uh oh, overflow, population, common group
But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed
Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light
Feeling pretty psyched
It's the end of the world as we know it..."
The track originally appears on the American rock band's 1987 album, Document, and was later released as a single in November that year. It reached #69 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and #39 in the UK singles chart on its re-release in December of 1991.
According to the chart and music data analytics website kworb.net, as of 10:55 EDT, 'It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)' is sitting at #64 on the US iTunes Top 100 - just above Idina Menzel's Frozen 2 banger, 'Into The Unknown'.
The song reportedly re-entered the chart on the same day President Donald Trump declared a "national emergency" for the United States.
During a press conference from the Rose Garden in Washington, the POTUS said:
"To unleash the full power of the federal government for this effort today, I am officially declaring a national emergency. Two very big words.
"The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for States and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.
"In furtherance of the order, I am urging every State to set up emergency operation centers effective immediately."
As per the most recent situation report from the World Health Organization, there have been 132,758 confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the world, resulting in 4,955 deaths - these numbers have only continued to climb today.
In an interview with Q Magazine in 1992, R.E.M. lead singer Michael Stipe spoke about the song's lyrics, saying:
"The words come from everywhere. 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.
"There's a part in 'It's The End Of The World As We Know It' that came from a dream where I was at Lester Bangs' birthday party and I was the only person there whose initials weren't L.B. So there was Lenny Bruce, Leonid Brezhnev, Leonard Bernstein... 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."
It good to see we can still have our sense of humor at a time like this...
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