Pardon me for posting, but…Inspired by the happiest sounding songs with the saddest lyrics thread, and in no small part by the ending of “Dr. Strangelove,” I wanted to ask…what normally cheery song/s would YOU play during the end of the world, or any similar event of mass carnage, just to appreciate the irony? I once read an article by a video-game columnist who mentioned that he liked playing Sinatra’s “My Way” while waging wars of global conquest in “Civilization.” My personal picks tight now would be Peter Gabriel’s “When You’re falling” or Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (Well, that last choice isn’t very original, if you know the reference. )
I was just discussing this with a friend who’s very into goth/darkwave/synthpop/industrial/etc. - she just realized that a lot of the music that she found so cheery, most people find quite dark.
That being said, I’d have to second:
"It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)" (R.E.M.)
as well as,
"The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades" (Timbuk 3)
…and add some of my own…
"99 Luftballons" (Nena) - I’ve recently read the literal translation of the lyrics in a quest to settle a disagreement w/ the abovementioned friend. (She swore the chick had suicided in the '80’s - she’d heard that from many people. I disagreed, looked it up last night, found the woman’s alive, & called to gloat. My friend was out on a date, so really, who am I to gloat, but that’s neither her nor there, is it?)
Anyway, I’ve always liked the sound of the original version more than the English lang. one despite my lack of translation skill; I got the gist & that was enough for me.
"Time Bomb" (Rancid) - Doesn’t have to do with nuclear destruction, but it’s a peppy song with depressing lyrics, as is…
"Date Rape" (Sublime) - I mean, she gets the asshole in the end, but even that’s depressing.
And who could forget…
"Don’t Worry, Be Happy" (Bobby McFerrin)? There’s a sarcastic little nugget.
If I get the drift of your original post, you’re looking not for songs ABOUT destruction and apocolypse, but disgustingly happy and cheerful tunes which would be so incongruent with these circumstances as to come full circle to be the ONLY thing that would truly capture the awsome moment. Right?
Well, I’ve always thought “The Happy Wanderer” would be perfect for such an occasion.
It’s a disgustingly, idiotically, imbecilicly cheerful song, espescially when sung by a choir of children, which it always is.
Another vote for Tom Lehrer’s We Will All Go Together When We Go, which he deliberately wrote as an upbeat end-of-the-world song, in the style of the Revivalist hymns (“This might more aptly be called a SURvivalist hymn,” he noted).
It’s a pretty bouncy and catchy song.
“…When the air becomes Uranious
We will all go simultaneous…”
I think “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” by BJ Thomas would be a pretty inane yet appropriate song to enjoy Armageddon with. Take a look at some of the lyrics:
[ul][li]Talks to the sun about not getting the job done. Obvious reference to nuclear winter.[/li]
[li]Raindrops keep falling on his head. The unending rain from too much pollution, a la Bladrunner.[/li] Eyes soon turning red. Too much smoke from all the destruction.[/ul]Yeah, that’d be my song. Nothin’s worrying me…
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