SONGS OF THE END

Sure, I hope I'm overreacting about my looming colonoscopy exam on Friday.  But to continue on with this dreary theme, there are all kinds of lists for the top songs about the apocalypse, end of the world and doomsday.

Here are some of my favorites, now that I know what they are about:

• 99 Luftballoons by Nena, which was released in 1983 from Germany.  How many of you knew that those 99 air, and colored red in America, balloons, are mistaken for a first strike nuclear attack, resulting in a 99-year war?  Nena is the band, which came from the childhood name (Spanish for little girl) of vocalist Gabriele Kerner.  All my life I thought this song was a light ditty about floating red balloons.

• Then, of course, there is Skeeter Davis' The End of the World, which was released when I graduated from college in 1962, and deals with the aftermath of a romantic breakup.  It is the only song that placed in all four of Billboard's Top 5.  Plus, it was ranked #2 in 1963.  #1 that year was Surfin' USA by The Beach Boys.  She had a productive life and wrote 70 songs, with her end coming in 2004.

• Eve of Destruction is a 1964 protest song by Barry McGuire, recorded in one take, with lyrics scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper.  The 1965 Selma to Montgomery march line has been replaced by other incidents as they happened, such as the 1999 student massacre at Columbine.  Red China has been referenced and the assassination of John F. Kennedy is prominent.  The song was banned by a variety of American radio stations, claiming it was an aid to the enemy in Vietnam.

• Bad Moon Rising is a 1969 song by John Fogerty, performed by his Creedence Clearwater Revival, and is about the apocalypse that is going to be visited upon us.  You've heard it in a whole lot of films and TV programs.  In Argentina, BMR has become a soccer chant sung by fans to support their team.  Can't imagine why.  Manchester City of the UK has also adopted this tune.  Interestingly enough, Fogerty also wrote Proud Mary, in 1968, which people think is virtually owned by Tina Turner.

• In 1969 the Beatles released their final song with all four involved, The End.  How appropriate.  While not much of a hit, good way to end this posting, so I'll send you to the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics where Paul McCartney performed the closing couplet of The End just prior to Hey Jude. 

Here is one list of the Top Five Apocalypses in classical music, with #1 being:  Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time.  Feel free to enjoy all 54 minutes.  Certainly deserves its ranking.  Can you imagine listening to that into Eternity?  This one is about The End of World by Audiomachine.

Then of course, most of you will be going to Heaven, which is an almost desirable end.  Here are 157 top songs about Heaven, and #1 is Jackie Evancho's Open Fields of Grace.  I've been following her career since she first auditioned for America's Got Talent in 2010, and this is the first time I've ever heard it.  Remember, the 2019 version of AGT begins on May 28.

-