According to some loosely connected Christian groups the end times may be coming sooner than we all think. A lot sooner, in fact, as the groups in question have paid to put up messages on several local billboards to that effect. According to the signs, Jesus Christ will be coming back precisely this Saturday to begin his Rapture.
Excuse us for being a little skeptical. End of world prophecies have been around nearly as long as the world itself. For instance, according to extensive internet research I've done -- in the past three and a half minutes -- the earliest known end-of-world prediction may date back to a 2800 B.C. Assyrian stone tablet.
So it makes since that there'd be literally hundreds of songs dealing with the subject of the Apocalypse. So in honor of this Saturday's impending doomsday we've assembled our 30 favorite Apocalyptic jams with the most fatalistic lines culled from each.
Apocalypse List
REM - It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
"That's great, it starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane"
Prince - 1999
"But when I woke up this mornin', could've sworn it was judgment day / The sky was purple, there were people runnin' everywhere / Tryin' to run from the destruction, you know I didn't even care"
CCR - Bad Moon Rising
"I hear hurricanes a'blowing / I know the end is coming soon / I fear rivers overflowing / I see the voice of rage and ruin"
Duran Duran - Last Day on Earth
"Now what would you do if there was no tomorrow? / And where would you go if this was your last day on earth?"
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
"The hairs on your arm will stand up / At the terror in each sip and in each sup"
Ozzy Osbourne - Countdown's Begun
"I see the death and the disaster / There is no happy ever after / The time has come / Countdown's begun"
Smashing Pumpkins - Doomsday Clock
"I'm certain of the end / It's the means that has me spooked / It takes an unknown truth to get out"
Slayer - World Painted Blood
"The apocalypse begins / Pain becomes the norm / Seeking homicide / Beware the coming storm"
Megadeth - Blessed Are the Dead
"Flames come from the one called death / Horror and apocalypse follows"
Bob Dylan - Talkin' World War III Blues
"Everybody sees themselves / Walkin' around with no one else"
Steely Dan - King of the World
"Any man left on the Rio Grande / Is the king of the world as far as I know"
Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast
"6-6-6 the Number of the Beast / Hell and fire was spawned to be released"
Chris Cornell - Preaching the End of the World
"Call me now, it's alright / It's just the end of the world / You'll need a friend in the world / 'Cause you can't hide"
Soundgarden - 4th of July
"'Cause I heard it in the wind / And I saw it in the sky / And I thought it was the end And I thought it was the 4th of July"
Nine Inch Nails - Zero-Sum
"And I guess I just wanted to mention / As the heavens will fall / We will be together soon / If we will be anything at all'
Tool - Ænema
"Some say the end is near / Some say we'll see Armageddon soon / I certainly hope we will / 'Cause I sure could use a vacation from this"
Tom Waits - The Earth Died Screaming
"And the great day of wrath has come / And here's mud in your big red eye / The poker's in the fire / And the locusts take the sky"
Marilyn Manson - Last Day on Earth
"I know it's the last day on earth / We'll be together while the planet dies"
Pantera - Floods
"Wash away man, take him with the floods"
Muse - Apocalypse Please
"And this is the end / This is the end of the world"
Elvis Costello - Waiting for the End of the World
"Dear Lord, I sincerely hope you're coming, 'cause you really started something"
The Doors - The End
"This is the end / My only friend, the end"
Metallica - Blackened
"Death of Mother Earth / Never a rebirth / Evolution's End / Never will it mend"
The Rolling Stones - Gimmie Shelter
"The flood is threatening / My very life today"
The Eels - End Times
"The world is ending and what do I care? / She's gone, end times are here"
St. Vincent - The Apocalypse Song
"So take to the streets with apocalypse refrain / Your devotion has the look of a lunatic's gaze"
Suicidal Tendencies - Memories of Tomorrow
"I'll kill myself, I'd rather die / If you could see in the future you'd know why"
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
"I saw it written and I saw it say / Pink moon is on its way / And none of you will stand so tall / Pink moon gonna get you all"
Clash - London Calling
"The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in / Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin"
Peter Gabriel - Here Comes the Flood
"Lord here comes the flood / We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood"