End of Days Mixtape
My top 10 list of songs that I will play as the world comes to an end.
As a GenX’er, I have fond memories of creating the perfect mixtapes for all sorts of activities. I made mixtapes for roadtrips to the beach, for crusin’ around town with my friends, and for all those special ladies in my life. There was a lot of fun in finding the right mix of songs for the right events. Tapes varied in play time and minutes per side. Much thought had to go into each recording. It was an art form unto itself.
Always prefering to have some theme music to play with each passing event, I went back to work creating “mixtapes” in 2020, through my Spotify account. As the pandemic started and everyone was beginnnig to panic, I created an “End of Days mixtape.” I decided that these would be my top 10 songs to play if the world came to an end. Here they are, starting with number 10:
(Click the album cover to go to the End of Days mixtape on Spotify.)
#10 Onigo Boingo, “No One Lives Forever” – Starting off this top 10 countdown of songs I’ll be listening to as the world ends, comes from one of my favorite bands growing up, Onigo Boingo. Headman Danny Elfman makes no truer statement than, “No one lives forever.” This perfect song to start with, since it will remind us that the Grim Reaper is coming for everyone sooner or later. “So celebrate while you still can ‘Cause any second, it may end.”
#9 Barry McGuire, “Eve of Destruction” - It’s been over 50 years since Barry McGuire sang to us about the Eve of Destruction; and, many of his words still ring true today. A song that speaks of war, racism, political corruption, protests, and the destruction of humanity. It’s easy to see how “This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’.”
#8 Genesis, “Land of Confusion” – Genesis was right, we are living in a Land of Confusion. However, there is always hope near the end. Even when the whole system is falling into corruption, we have our own hands to make things better. And even though some will say that “the danger’s gone away,” we can still see the fires “burning into the night.”
#7 Billy Joel, “We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Who can accurately sing the lyrics to Billy Joel’s famous song? Pretty sure that Dwight Schrute can. What an iconic visual of all the problems leading up to the end of days? Thanks to Billy Joel, we are reminded that we didn’t start this mess.
#6 Rush, “Distant Early Warning” – My next song is from one of the greatest bands of all time, Rush. Distant Early Warning was released during the Cold War, so it plays into the fears we had in the 1980s. The Iron Curtain fell, but we can still “see the tip of the iceberg”; so, I still worry about all of you.
#5 Nena, “99 Luftballons – Nena’s 99 Luftballons is another Cold War era song. Her words reflect the fears of a generation believing that the paranoia of world leaders would bring us into WWIII over the accidental release of 99 red balloons.
#4 The Jam, “Going Underground” – Seeing the signs of the times, the fears, and tensions of the world today, who doesn’t feel like Going Underground? “The public gets what the public wants, but I want nothing this society’s got”. Like The Jam, I’m going underground.
#3 – Michael Bradley (Yellow Dancer), “Look Up The Sky Is Falling” - Michael Bradley’s song, Look Up The Sky Is Falling, might not be familiar to many listeners. This appropriate end of days number comes from one of my favorite animated shows in the 80s, Robotech. From every verse, to the perfect chorus, this is one of the final songs I will be playing as when the end is nigh.
#2 Europe, “The Final Countdown” – Next we have The Final Countdown, by Europe, before the number 1 song to end all times with. Let’s hope that when this song plays for the last time, some of us will be on a ship leaving this danger, “and maybe we’ll come back; To Earth, who can tell?”
#1 R.E.M., “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” – C’mon, you all knew that the number 1 and final song on this list could only be R.E.M.’s, It’s The End Of The World As We Know It; and, you know what? I do feel fine.
If you like this mixtape, and would like to hear the songs in their entirety, please click on the Spotify link right here. And, to hear more mixtapes as they come out, please subscribe to my Substack and Spotify accounts. Thanks for reading and listening to my thoughts!
~ my Brain