Songs about the end of the world

[Mr Light]

Anyone have any favorite songs to recommend about the literal apocalypse or the end of the world? Or at least some dreadful calamity. I'm looking for more to use in a story I'm working on...

ones I know:
Day the Earth Stalled by Bad Religion
Josephine by Tori Amos
Paris is Burning by St. Vincent
Apocalypse Song by St. Vincent

 

[1001001]

Well of course REM comes immediately to mind...

 

[Mr Light]

Ah, of course! But I am looking for more haunting / creepy than upbeat.

 

[1001001]

How about Plainsong by The Cure?

"And it's all running out,
Like the end of the world you said..."

 

[Silvercrest]

"Wooden Ships" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
"King of the World" by Steely Dan.
I always thought "Domino" by Genesis was about this, but it's "only" about Beirut.

 

[Mr Light]

That Plainsong song had a really nice beat but there's no dialogue!

 

[1001001]

That Plainsong song had a really nice beat but there's no dialogue!

There are lyrics. It just has a long instrumental intro.

If you're looking for haunting and creepy, it's about perfect..

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[HIjol]

How about "Ball of Confusion", by The Temptations?

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[JirinPanthosa]

1999 by Prince
Dance Apocalyptic by Janelle Monae

 

[The Old Mixer]

The first song that came to mind for me after the obvious R.E.M. song was:

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[Nerys Myk]

I Melt With You. Modern English.

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[Ar-Pharazon]

This wiki page lists a large number of apocalyptic & post-apocalyptic songs.

 

[Guy Gardener]

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[J.T.B.]

"The Overload" by Talking Heads. Maybe not about the end of the world per se, but whatever is going on, it's bad.

 

[auntiehill]

99 Luftballons by Nena.

A red balloon goes over the Berlin Wall and starts World War III.

 

[Owain Taggart]

The one that immediately comes to mind is Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Speaking of the Talking Heads

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[publiusr]

Not exactly the end of the world--but how it continues to run over us all--one could do worse than to listen to "The Show Must Go On" by The Alan Parsons Project.

On the dismal side-- https://www.hos.com/playlists/1993/10.29.html

 

[Awesome Possum]

Five Years by David Bowie.

But the whole Ziggy Stardust album is about that.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

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There's also a Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apocalyptic_songs

What, no Koyaanisqatsi?