Songs in the Key of Apocalypse

Things seem to be heating up these days, (Climate Change, anyone?) and things don’t seem to be getting easier as far as the economy goes. Not to mention we’ve had two earthquakes in the past two months, a Snowmaggedon and for all intensive purposes, a snow hurricane that just hit N.Y.C. with a foot and a half of snow within the past week. In the media, we’ve been bombarded with movies like 2012 and The Road, television has programs like History Channel’s Life After People.
So, with all these terrible things goin’ down, D+T thought of a good list of apocalyptic songs to sing along to, with the likes of Johnny Cash, Bon Jovi and TOOL. Here’s the list.

Johnny Cash, When the Man Comes Around

Johnny Cash became somewhat of a prophet of doom on his third to last album, American IV: The Man Comes Around. Opening the title track with a quote straight from the Bible’s Revelations, Johnny Cash hits it home within the verse, singing, “Will you partake of that last offered cup/ Or disappear into the Potter’s ground/ When the Man comes around.”

Bright Eyes, Four Winds

Bright Eyes – Four Winds
Uploaded by misslupin. – See the latest featured music videos.
On his last outing under the moniker Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst threw his hat in the apocalyptic ring on his track Four Winds. He describes a mural of a young woman “standing in the ashes at the end of the world/four winds blowing through her hair.” This is a track that’s oddly upbeat for the content. He later goes on to denounce the apocalyptic warnings held in our most holy books, singing “The Bible’s blind, the Torah’s deaf, the Qur’an is mute/
If you burned them all together you’d be close to the truth.”

Bon Jovi, Goin’ Down in a Blaze of Glory

Possibly the sexiest song on this list, “Goin’ Down in A Blaze of Glory” has apocalypse written all over it. Jon brings in up the standard dialogue between God and the Devil, clearly taking sides as “the Devil’s son.”
“Let me make my final stand
Shot down in a blaze of glory
Take me now but know the truth
Im going out in a blaze of glory”

Check out the rest of the list on the next page.