That's great, it starts with an earthquake,
Birds and snakes, an aeroplane
And Lenny Bruce is not afraid
Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs,
Dummy serve your own needs
Feed it off an aux speak, grunt, no,
Strength, no, ladder start to clatter with fear
Fight down height
Wire in a fire, representing seven games,
A government for hire and a combat site
Left of West and coming in a hurry
With the furies breathing down your neck
Team by team reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped
Look at that low playing!
Fine, then
Uh oh, overflow, population, common food, but it'll do
Save yourself, serve yourself
World serves its own needs,
Listen to your heart bleed
Dummy with the rapture
And the revered and the right, right
You vitriolic, patriotic, slam, fight, bright light,
Feeling pretty psyched
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-TV hour
Don't get caught in foreign towers
Slash and burn, return,
Listen to yourself churn
Locking in, uniforming, book burning, blood letting
Every motive escalate
Automotive incinerate
Light a candle, light a votive
Step down, step down
Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh,
This means no fear cavalier
Renegade steer clear!
A tournament, tournament, a tournament of lies
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline

It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine

The other night I dreamt of knives,
Continental drift divide
Mountains sit in a line,
Leonard Bernstein
Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs
Birthday party, cheesecake, jelly bean, boom!
You symbiotic, patriotic,
Slam book neck, right? Right
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)

It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine
(It's time I had some time alone)
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
(It's time I had some time alone) and I feel fine
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone) and I feel fine
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone)
It's the end of the world as we know it
(It's time I had some time alone) and I feel fine



Lyrics submitted by smeghead

Track duration: 04:07

"It's the End of the World as We Know It" as written by William Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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It's the End of the World as We Know It song meanings
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107 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Obviously metaphoric except for the Mayans. Thought this song was appropriate considering the calendar. I would have had a margarita if I were only a believer! This song is self-explanatory and already analyzed to death. It's a good song from a better band.
    Flag ILUVUon December 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:My interpretation is that this song is about Cross-Examination (or Policy) Debate. Not only is this song sung similarly to how CX Debaters talk (and that's to say, really fast), but there's a line in there, "A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies / Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline". Think about this interpretation in a debate setting and it'll make sense.
    Furthermore, three of the four R.E.M band members went to the same high school where it's rumored they were on the debate team.
    For those of you who think this is about 9/11, please keep in mind that this song was written before 9/11 (this song was released 1988; 9/11 happened in 2001).
    I've also got a story to share. According to my debate coaches, while traveling to a tournament, one of them was on the plane as lead singer Michael Stipe, who confirmed that this song was indeed about CX Debate.
    Oh, and according to Policy Debaters, everything will lead to Global Thermonuclear War. Want to legalize marijuana? Yup, that'll lead to Global Thermonuclear War.
    I guess you could say it's the end of the world... as we know it.

    Of course, this doesn't mean it's only about CX Debate, if it's about CX Debate at all. This is just my interpretation; hope it wasn't too confusing.
    It's a great song, though.
    Flag ThatsGreaton October 20, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Once you realize and accept that the world and its' leaders don't and never did have your best interest at heart and were workers of iniquity, it's the end of the world as you know it and you'll feel fine letting go of the world's ways. Only Christ will fix it, that's the plan. So don't be deceived and hang on to this fallen world when it's time to let go.
    Flag soulfreedomon August 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The 9/11 echoes from 14 years before haunt me. I had a whole theory about the LB people dying, but Leonard Bernstein was still alive when the record came out (1987).
    Flag stormvilleon February 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i just listened to this song for the 1st time a few minutes ago while watching a youtube video of it with a so very cute cute cute boy in it *--*

    i fell in luv with boy and music just to find out this song is very old (like 1980ish) and that boy is probably a grown up man now while im still 14

    wish i could just fall in luv with justin bieber like everyone else T-T
    Flagged sukita98on February 21, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I'm with those who favor the link to Policy Debate. For those who have never debated or seen a varsity level policy debate, you would have no reference point to see the similarities.

    According to folklore, the writer of the song was himself a policy debater and so very familiar with the discourse involved.

    For those unfamiliar, Policy debaters (the good ones anyway) speak at about 200-270 words per minute. Part of defending the status quo on the negative is to run "Disadvantages" to the affirmative plan. This is saying that if we were adopt the affirmative suggested policy to fix the current harms then these much worse set of circumstances will occur. As a negative, one would always want to get "blood on the flow" and the more the better. We can't possibly instigate this Farm Bill Policy because it will lead to Nuclear War. We can't possibly do anything to increase political stability in Latin America because the cold war will erupt into WWIII and we will all die. But policy debate is just a game. So as debaters spew warnings of the "end of the world as we know it..." they are still feeling fine. Because if you can show that the affirmative plan will lead to the end of the world, then the negative will win. They make outrages claims by asserting outrageous links. Nonsense words that all come together to proclaim disaster beyond imagination.
    Flag angiehon January 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation: It's about keeping up a cheerful attitude in the face of the possibility of catastrophe. I think it's Harold Camping's anthem :-)
    Flag CuteSparkinaon May 22, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Lenny Bruce was a comedian and truth-teller who said things you were not supposed to say on stage about religion, sexuality and taboos during the late 50s and early 60s. He was arrested many times for obscenity. And although one of his convictions was overturned by the US Supreme Court, he was bankrupted defending these charges and died of a morphine overdose in 1966.

    Famously, he startled audiences during the Cuban Missile Crises by suddenly screaming in the middle of his routine: "We're all gonna die." But he was just mocking the pretensions and certainties of all of us. "Lenny Bruce is not afraid."
    Flag PubliusNYCon May 21, 2011   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:it's not about debate teams you goofballs! lol

    hard to speak for Mr. Stipe, but this is most likely an anti-Reagan, anti-American, anti-Christian song. Stipe doesn't like American policy toward other countries. He also likes to poke fun at those who predict a rapture. Apparently he and some of you even believe that the cold war was "made up" by evil right-wing politicians and the media. (?) (Yea, they always work together, lol) One doofus on here went as far as to say that there was no build up of nuclear weapons.

    It's amazing that our country continues as the world's lone super power when it's so full of clueless idiots, who are completely ignorant of how blessed we and the rest of the world were to have a Ronald Reagan. He brought our economy back from the joys of gas lines, stagflation, huge interest rates and unemployment. He won the most important war since WWII and liberated millions from the oppression of communism without spilling a drop of American blood. He wasn't afraid to look into the face of evil and call it that. The only thing as big as his balls was his heart. This was obvious to anyone there at the time not living in Hollywood or squarely up the ass of the democrat party.
    Flagged stepouton May 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Dude that's a great idea X] the entire world should blast this simultaneously that day! =D
    Flagged alistrine13on December 19, 2010   Link

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