Number One for the BIFF Musical Countdown?

BIFF is fast approaching. It's the final week! What is your top choice for 'end of the world' music? With today's addition, we have featured two dozen chosen tunes. It could be End Times by the Eels, Earth Dies Screaming by Tom Waits, maybe Seconds or Until the End of the World both by U2, or 3 Minutes to Midnight by Midnight Oil. But time is running out . . .

This week's choice is one that many think of at a time like this - - the end of the World? It starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane and "Lenny Bruce is not afraid." And it only gets better as Michael Stipe continues winding through a whirlwind of images, from Lester Bangs to a flurry of furies while feeling just fine.

What music list about the end of the world could not include this song? It’s a happy little ditty that makes everything seem okay. This song also may be the premiere example of overcrowded lyrics. It's the End of the World as We Know It (1987) by R.E.M., a Georgia-based rock group. Can you sing the song in its entirety? Michael Stipe’s cheeky enthusiasm and Peter Buck's carefree guitar-jangle make you feel fine. Perhaps you could do what Chris Farley and David Spade did in Tommy Boy and just make-up the words? Depends on how excited you are about the end of the world.

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, 

regardless of your own needs. 

Feed it up a knock,

speed, grunt, no strength

no ladder starts to clatter with fear, fight, down, height. 

Wire in a fire, 

representing seven games in 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, trump, tethered crop. 

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.

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,and book burning, blood letting. 

Every motive escalate. 

Automotive incinerate light a candle, light a motive. 

Step down, step down, watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, 

This means no fear cavalier. 

Renegade steer clear! 

A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies. 

Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline

[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

I feel fine

[Repeat Chorus]

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! 
Symbiotic, patriotic, slam book neck, right? Right

[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 

[Repeat Chorus: x3]

Number Three!

Written by Jim Morrison 'The End' (1967) was originally about his breakup with a girlfriend, but over time it evolved into nearly 12-minute track that was finally recorded live in the studio with no overdubbing. The song by L.A. band, The Doors, is best known in popular culture as being used in the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film 'Apocalypse Now' during the opening sequence, as well as the movie's famous scene portraying the killing of a figure. "This is the end" is repeated throughout the track, thus depicting a doomsday mood.

This is the end, beautiful friend

This is the end, my only friend

The end of our elaborate plans

The end of everything that stands

The end

No safety or surprise

The end

I'll never look into your eyes again

Can you picture what will be

So limitless and free

Desperately in need of some stranger's hand

In a desperate land

Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain

And all the children are insane

All the children are insane

Waiting for the summer rain

Ride the snake

Ride the snake

To the lake

The ancient lake, baby

The snake is long

Seven miles

Ride the snake

He's old

And his skin is cold

Come on, baby, take a chance with us

Come on, baby, take a chance with us

Come on, baby, take a chance with us

Meet me at the back of the blue bus

Meet me at the back of the blue bus

Do not be ride on the blue bus
Do not be ride
Come on babe
Ride

This is the end, beautiful friend

This is the end, my only friend

The end

It hurts to set you free

But you'll never follow me

The end of laughter and soft lies

The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end

Nine Weeks till BIFF

Alexie Davis pointed us to this week's pick for the musical countdown: Radioactive by the Imagine Dragons (Off their Continued Silence EP recording).

An Indie rock band, Imagine Dragons first appeared in the local music scene of Provo, Utah. By 2009, they were based in Las Vegas, NV and made their first studio recordings there - - released in the following year. In Nov. 2011, Imagine Dragons signed a contract with Interscope Records leading to their first extended play recording being released on Valentine's Day in 2012 - - it included our current pick, Radioactive.

Waking up to ash and dust,

I wipe my brow but I sweat my rust,

Breathing in, the chemicals. Aahh - ahhhhhh.

Breaking in, shaping up, but I'm checking out on the prison bus.

This is it, the apocalypse. Woa-oh.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.

Love to make my systems go.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.

Raise my flags, don my clothes,

It's a 'cupolution' I composed.

We'll paint it red, to fit right in. Woa-oh.

Breaking in, shaping up, and I'm checking out on a prison bus.

This is it, the apocalypse. Woa-oh.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.

Love to make my systems go.

Welcome to the new age, to a new age.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh.h. Radioactive. Radioactive.

All systems go, sun hasn't died.

Deep in my bones, straight from inside.

I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones.

Love to make my systems go.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Welcome to the new age, to the new age.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.

Whoa-uh-oh. Whoa-uh-oh. Radioactive. Radioactive.

A Great Suggestion . . .

Countdown Week Twenty-One! Sandy Borthwick nominated this song - another great one with a great story.

This week's pick was written as a Vietnam War protest song by 19 year-old P.F. Sloan in 1965. Originally viewed as a Dylan-type tune, the song was first offered to and rejected by The Byrds. The Turtles, another LA band, also recorded the song on an album released shortly before Barry McGuire's version. The song was again recorded by Jan and Dean (1965) on their Folk 'n Roll album. And The Grass Roots recorded another version on their debut album, Where Were You When I Needed You (1966).

Mid-July 1965 Barry McGuire, formerly of The New Christy Minstrels, was in the studio with a group of top-tier LA musicians that included P.F. Sloan, Hal Blaine, and Larry Knechtel. McGuire has claimed that "Eve of Destruction" was recorded on a Thursday morning in one take from words scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. It was done as a rough mix and never was intended to be the final cut; however a copy of the recording was "leaked" out. A disc jockey began playing it on air. The following Monday, at 7 a.m., McGuire's record company called, telling him to turn on the radio - - his song was being played. It was an instant hit; the plan for completing a more polished vocal track never happened. By September, Barry McGuire's version of "Eve of Destruction" was number one on the charts.

The song is a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. It was banned by some radio stations in the U.S. and was placed on a 'restricted list' by the BBC - - it could not be played on 'general entertainment programs.' It expressed the frustrations and fears of young people in the age of the Cold War, Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, and the Civil Rights Movement. Antigovernment, hypocrisy, racism, injustice; "Eve of Destruction" has it all.

Click here for linked connection to YouTube site.

Eve of Destruction (1965) by Barry McGuire

(Warning: Contains graphic photos)

Written by P.F. Sloan

The eastern world it is explodin',

Violence flarin', bullets loadin',

You're old enough to kill but not for votin',

You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin',

And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin',

But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,

Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say?

Can't you feel the fears I'm feeling today?

If the button is pushed, there's no running away,

There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave,

Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,

And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,

Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin',

I'm sittin' here, just contemplatin',

I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation,

Handful of Senators don't pass legislation,

And marches alone can't bring integration,

When human respect is disintegratin',

This whole crazy world is just too frustratin',

And you tell me over and over and over again my friend,

Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China

Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama!

Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,

But when you return, it's the same old place,

The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace,

You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace,

Hate your next-door-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,

And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,

You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

No no you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.

Musical Countdown - Twenty-two Weeks till BIFF

In looking at possibilities for inclusion in this Countdown list, it's strongly evident that 'end of the world scenarios' have been the focus of songs and songwriters for a long, long time - - and there is no sign that that will change in the future. Unless, we truly would get wiped ....

This week's entry on the BIFF musical countdown is vintage Bob Dylan from almost six decades ago. A young Dylan delivered a light, humorous, whimsical song on the dark subject of devastation by a nuclear war.

The "talking blues" is a style of spontaneous improvised songwriting. Twenty-two-year-old Dylan created some of this song beforehand and about half in the studio during the final recording session for the album: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. He made five takes and the fifth version was selected. The format of the "talkin' blues" allowed Dylan to address the serious subject of nuclear annihilation with humor, and "without resorting to his finger-pointing or apocalyptical-prophetic persona".

If you would like to learn more about the talking blues, you can listen to an NPR program "Listen To The Story" (6:13 minutes) from All Things Considered.

Talkin' World War III Blues

Lyrics to Talkin' World War III Blues (1963) by Bob Dylan:

One time a crazy dream came to me
I dreamt I was walkin’ into World War Three
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what he had to say
He said it was a bad dream

I said, “Hold it, Doc, a World War passed through my brain”
He said, “Nurse, get your pad, the boy’s insane”
He grabbed my arm, I said, “Ouch!”
As I landed on the psychiatric couch
Tell me about it, dream-wise

Well, the whole thing started at 3 o’clock fast
It was all over by quarter past
I was down in the sewer with some little lover
When I peeked out from a manhole cover
Wondering who turned the lights on

Well, I got up and walked around
And up and down the lonesome town
Just a-wondering which way to go
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter and walked on down the road
It was a normal day

Well, I rung me a fallout shelter bell
And I leaned my head and I give a big yell
“Give me a TV dinner, I’m a hungry man”
A shotgun fired and away I ran
I don’t blame them much though, I didn't know any body there

Down the corner I seen another man
turning around by the hot dog stand
I said, “Howdy friend, I guess there’s just us two”
He screamed, down the road he flew
Scared, thought I was a Communist

I spied me a girl, before she could leave
“Let’s go and play Adam and Eve”
I took her by the hand and my heart was thumpin’
She said, “Hey man, you crazy or sumpin’
You seen what happened last time they started"

I remember seein’ some newspaper ad
So I turned on to Conelrad
But I didn’t pay my Con Ed bill
So the radio didn’t work so well
Turned on my record player —
It was Fabian singin’, “Tell our Ma, Tell Your Pa
Our Love’s A-gonna Grow Ooh-wah, Ooh-wah”

I seen me a Cadillac window uptown
There was nobody around
I got into the driver’s seat
And I drove down 42nd Street
In my Cadillac. Good car to drive after a war

By this time I was feeling blue
Needed somebody to talk to
So I called up the operator of time
Just to hear a voice of some kind
“When you hear the beep it will be three o’clock”
She said that for over an hour
And I hung up

Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then
Sayin’, “I’ve havin’ the same old dream
But mine's a little different, don't you see
I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me
I didn’t see you around”

Time passes and now it seems
Everybody’s having them dreams
Everybody sees its self
Walkin’ around with nobody else

All the people can be part right some of the time
And some of the people can be all right part of the time
All of the people can’t be all right all of the time

Abraham Lincoln said that
“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours”
I said that

Musical Countdown to BIFF continues . . .

Okay so in order to get on-track calendar-wise, that is to match up with the Friday startup date of the Bicknell International Film Festival (July 20th, 2012): here is the second installment of the Musical Countdown to BIFF. After posting the first installment earlier this week, I thought it might be a good idea to count how many weeks are between today and the BIFF? Twenty-four! So now I'm wondering; are there twenty-four good tunes about mass destruction, Armageddon, annihilation, apocalypse, catastrophe, decimation, devastation, holocaust, and the end of the world? Make that 25 with the addition of the first entry? Stay tuned and see (8-); but no problem picking today's standout song track.

A brief reminder that this year, BIFF activities include an Independent Film Contest. Anyone can enter and win. Learn more about it at http://www.thebiff.org/ifc.html.

This Week's Countdown Addition - 23 Weeks til BIFF:
Back in 1977 a debut album, "My Aim is True", introduced the world and the U.S. to an English punk band, Elvis Costello and The Attractions. They were at their peak and poised to break onto the American music scene with an appearance on Saturday Night Live and a concert tour. Elvis was 22 years old, skinny as a rail, and possessed his share of youthful angst. The band's album included a swaggering garage-punk story song, "Waiting for the End of the World". From there it was full throttle ahead. Written by Elvis Costello; let us know what you think of the choices, recommend your own picks:

Waiting for the End of the World (1977)
by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

The man from the television crawled into the train

I wonder who he's gonna stick it in this time

Everyone was looking for a little entertainment

So they'll probably pull his hands off when they find out his name

And then they shut down the power all along the line

And we got stuck in the tunnel where no lights shine

They got to touching all the girls who were too scared to call out

Nobody was saying anything at all

We were waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming

'cause you really started something

Things got back to normal as the train began to roll again

We got to the station about twenty minutes later

The legendary hitchhiker says that he knows where it's at

Now he'd like to go to Spain or somewhere like that

With his two-tone Bible and his funny cigarettes,

His suntan lotion and his castanets

He was waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming

'cause you really started something

And then the bride, the groom, the congregation and the priest

All got onto the train when we were three stations east

Hiding from a scandal in the national press

They had been trying to get married since they stole the wedding dress

You may see them drowning as you stroll along the beach

But don't throw out the lifeline till they're clean out of reach

Waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

Waiting for the end of the world

I been waiting

I been waiting

I been waiting

I been waiting

Waiting for you

Waiting for you

So long

So long

So long

So long, soooOOO long

Dear Lord

That's it for this week, back next Friday for No. twenty three.