Song of the Day #1816

Song of the Day: The End of the World, music by Arthur Kent, lyrics by Sylvia Dee, was a crossover Skeeter Davis hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (#2), Hot Country Singles (#2), Hot R&B Singles (#4), and Easy Listening (#1) charts. Over the next seven days, I will be featuring compositions that include the phrase “end of the world” in their song titles. There have been more than two dozen songs recorded with that phrase in the title and countless others devoted to apocalyptic visions of things to come. But I’ve decided to pick just seven songs, touching on themes both personal and political. Folks have wondered why have I not talked much about the upcoming election. Why have I not made any predictions or endorsements? Does it matter? Given how entrenched everybody’s opinions are with regard to the godawful selections before us—and I acknowledge only that some selections are more godawful than others—I know that nothing I say will change anybody’s mind. After a sustained period of pandemics, lockdowns, racial, civil, and political upheaval, protests and riots, hurricanes, massive fires, and flooding—and the year ain’t over folks—I have decided to embrace gallows humor as a coping device! Hellish projections are coming from all sides of the political spectrum as we march toward the upcoming U.S. Presidential election on November 3rd. I dedicate the next week to songs about the “end of the world.” Don’t resist it! Revel in nihilism just a bit—and let’s sing our way into the apocalypse! Here is the first song—and one of the best—to ever use the Phrase of the Moment in its title: the classic original 1962 recording by Skeeter Davis [YouTube link]. Check out other renditions by Brenda Lee, the Carpenters, Sonia, Pat Carroll, Mike Wallace & the Caretakers, Patti Page, Allison Paige, Susan Boyle, Herman’s Hermits, Vonda Shepard, and two “terror-tinged” takes from Anika and, from the psychological horror film, “mother!“, Patti Smith [YouTube links].