I’m not a musician, neither am I touchy feely and emotional about music. However, I do find that good music enhances most everything we do in life–whether it is worship, cleaning the house, or baking biscuits, music just helps elevate the mood. That is why my Twitter followers and Facebook friends will observe that on Thursdays I usually post a “Sermon Writing Soundtrack” that tells what I am listening to while I type out the manuscript from all the notes, research, ideas, study, and contemplation I’ve gathered all week long. My tastes vary. Sometimes it is Elvis, Guns-N-Roses, Bach, or Sinatra.
I was thinking about soundtracks and the whole Mayan Apocalypse thing and wondering–what would the soundtrack be for the end of the world? Please note–I in no way believe the world is ending tomorrow. That is all just junk and only fools would buy into it. However, it is a fun thought–what if the world were ending, what playlist would enhance that experience? Here’s my End of the World Playlist. Note, they are all on shuffle and in no particular order.
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)–How could you not have R.E.M.’s song from the movie Independence Day on the list?
- Kashmir–You’ve got to get the Led Out for the end of the world.
- Going to School–This is my favorite Yo-Yo Ma. It would be very tempting though. to just let the whole Appasionato album play.
- Welcome to the Jungle–We would have to swivel our hips and heads the way Axl Rose always did. You know where you are? You’re in the jungle baby!
- Lost the Plot–Newsboys. Just listing this one here makes me miss the Old Newsboys a lot. You know, when they played rock-n-roll.
- All Along the Watchtower–With all apologies to Dylan, this needs to be the Hendrix version. This song has the dual purpose of reminding me of the awesomeness of Battlestar Galactica. But that is probably for another blog about science fiction (compared to the Mayan End of the World scenario, which is Theological Fiction)
- The Devil Went Down to Georgia–I’m not a big country music fan, but I think the Mayans would have appreciated the classic from Charlie Daniels and his band.
- Live and Let Die–The Beatles don’t make my list, but Paul McCartney does. This is probably my favorite James Bond Theme song.
- Bullet the Blue Sky–You know some u2 has to make the list. This great one off the Joshua Tree would do nicely as we watch brimstone boil boil the Pacific Ocean.
- The Music of the Night–I think this tune from “The Phantom of the Opera” would fit. I don’t know why, but to me it would.
- Space Oddity–It came down to either Space Oddity or Comfortably Numb. Bowie beats Pink Floyd every time.
Okay, that is my list. I would be interested to know what songs you would like to listen to while human civilization dissolves into boric acid. I thought adding some bonus tracks–maybe some Duran Duran or BeeGees, because nothing says end of the world like disco. I almost put in Yoko Ono because whenever I hear her sing it feels like the world is ending.