Barry Salzman, Abdallah’s Department Store, 2014. Courtesy of the artist.
The earworm for R.E.M.’s catchy anthem “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” has stuck. First released as a single in 1987, from their album Document, what is interesting making it all the more significant, is that the song originated from a previously unreleased song entitled “P.S.A.” (“Public Service Announcement”).
2019 might have been a bad year for some – but none of us could have imagined that just two months into 2020 a viral pandemic would take hold of humanity creating a new reality for all of us.
As the whole world grapples with new realities, so the editorial team at ART AFRICA too has done some deep introspection to prepare ourselves for our new reality. This will most certainly include a more intimate engagement with our digital platforms and an even closer collaboration with our community.
Over the coming weeks and months, we will introduce a range of new approaches, content and online offerings that include a robust look into our archives too.
Below are the lyrics to the song, so check out some of the references and how relevant they are 33 years after the song’s original release.
That’s great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes, and aeroplanes
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs
Don’t mis-serve your own needs
Speed it up a notch, speed, grunt, no, strength
The ladder starts to clatter
With a fear of height, down, height
Wire in a fire, represent the seven games
And a government for hire and a combat site
Left her, wasn’t coming in a hurry
With the Furies breathing down your neck
Team by team, reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped
Look at that low plane, fine, then
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
[Chorus]
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it
It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
Six o’clock, T.V. hour, don’t get caught in foreign tower
Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself churn
Lock him in uniform, book burning, bloodletting
Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate
Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crush, uh oh
This means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear
A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline
[Chorus]
The other night I drifted nice continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line, Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom
You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right, right
[Chorus]
