Update: Thanks for all your comments here, on Facebook and on Twitter — all told, we've received more than 5,000 of them. At the audio link above, you can hear NPR Music's Frannie Kelley talk about your favorite songs for the end on All Things Considered.
[Note: Christian radio host Harold Camping (and others) say the Rapture — in which God separates the wicked from the good — will take place this Saturday, with the end of the world to soon follow.]
There are a few problems with predicting a set date and time for the world's end: For one, time has a way of passing, and nothing discredits a controversial worldview quite like getting punked by your own wristwatch. But let's face it: The world is going to end sooner or later, in one way or another, and it could theoretically happen on Saturday night, as some predict. Heck, it could happen sooner, given the universe's capacity for irony.
Now, I'm not here to tell anyone how to prepare for the End Times, or to predict when they might or might not occur. But let's just say, for the sake of discussion, that Saturday marks the occasion when the righteous ascend to heaven and the wicked are sent to writhe miserably in the eternal damnation of hellfire. What single song do you plan to play when the end arrives? " It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"? " We Didn't Start the Fire"? Something by The Rapture?
Naturally, your choice may depend on where you feel you reside on the righteous/wicked spectrum, and you'd be forgiven (by me, anyway) for hedging your bets and picking outro music for several different conceivable outcomes. But however you choose, please do so in the comments section, where your decisions can be judged by your peers in advance of a different kind of judgment altogether.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAxNDQ2NDAxMDEyNzU2NzM2ODA3ZGI1ZA001))
