14 Greatest Apocalyptic Songs of All Time
This is a list I’ve been assembling for quite some time, with input from a number of people, most often our other resident musicologist, my son Van. These are not songs about the Apocalypse or Armageddon (or even Ragnarok, for my Odinist friends). Instead, I’ve always been fascinated with songs with an almost manic, barely controlled intensity, in the lyric or the music or the vocals – or, in a perfect world – all three. I’m looking for songs where the performer is either losing control or has just lost control. I’m drawn to songs where there is a hint of hysteria and … sometimes … a hint of insanity.
In short, I’m not looking for anything by Chicago or Celine Dion or Taylor Swift or anybody who has ever appeared on American Idol.
Not surprisingly, this manic, dangerous intensity often occurs in gospel music. Getting lost in the Holy Spirit in a divine madness is one of the hallmarks of the genre, so I’m saving all religious songs for a second list.
This list of what I’m calling “Apocalyptic Songs” is purely arbitrary. On a few occasions, I’m doubtless reading a lot more into the song than what the writer and/or performer intended … or what other listeners may hear. I’m OK with that.
If you have time and are interested, I’ve included YouTube links to most of the songs. I think you will be surprised by some of these. And yes, they were meant to be played LOUD.
I’m sure there is more such music out there. I welcome your suggestions.
Honorable Mention:
“Joe Hill” by Billy Bragg (written by Phil Ochs); “Rock and Roll” by Lou Reed; “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman; “This is the Sea” and “Whole of the Moon” by the Waterboys; “A Sea Epic” by Crack the Sky; and “Summertime Blues” (from Live at Leeds) by the Who (with a nod to Blue Cheer’s version as well).
Greatest Apocalyptic Songs of All Time
In reverse order:
14. In assembling Apocalyptic Songs, I turned to Van for help in the metal field. He came up with a couple of suggestions. One, the original song “Black Sabbath” by Black Sabbath, was already on my list. But the other artist was someone I had never heard of, Blut aus Nord, the name chosen by a French musician who creates all of this in his studio. I spent a good portion of the morning listening to various songs by Blut aus Nord and I was overwhelmed by the sheer melodic menace and sturm und drang of this stuff. Van recommends you start with anything from the 777 trilogy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKsYnHPX6Ns
13. “Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan
Originally thought to be Dylan’s kiss-off on the folk music, “Maggie’s Farm” has become to be regarded as one of the great anti-war songs of all time. It would be higher on this list, except no one version (and there are many out there, including some excellent, raging live renditions) captures the fury I was looking for. Nearly as good, incidentally, is Rage Against the Machine’s interpretation.
12. “Love Rain O’er Me” by the Who
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygOaNo3M_Hw
The Who’s rock opera Quadrophenia never got the attention of Tommy, much less the attention it deserved. The closing “Love Rain O’er Me” is the equal to anything Pete Townshend ever wrote or the band ever recorded. And the final, towering chords are among the “biggest” ever recorded in rock ‘n’ roll.
11. “Hurt” by Johnny Cash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22eIJDtKho
One of the great artists of our generation singing as if he knows – and he does – that there are just a few minutes left until midnight. A great producer (Rick Rubin) wisely pairs Johnny with a great song (by Trent Reznor) and the Man in Black delivers a haunting four-minute sermon on heart-wrenching regret. A truly memorable, elegiac video, too.
10. “Ballad of Tom Joad” by Tom Morello and Bruce Springsteen, from Springsteen’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-mq0uJ7rlM
Depending on the version, “This Land is My Land” could very easily been on this list. Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello (along with Billy Bragg) are our best living protest singers. Morello’s incredibly inventive, passionate solo here echoes the righteous anger (mixed with not a little angst) of the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
9. “Barton Hollow” by The Civil Wars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrOUwbsy12E
This is the most recent Apocalyptic Song on my list. I wanted to include at least one of those spooky, pinched-voice, high lonesome Appalachian ballads about betrayal and murder and things that wander between the worlds. Chilling.
8. “Black Sabbath” on Black Sabbath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akt3awj_Ah8
Doom-laden, hag-haunted, and impossibly talented, the original Sabs created a genre with this dark and frightening slab of thundering noise. It never gets old. Often imitated …
7. “Fight the Power” Public Enemy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-4AtiOjBmg
Likewise, if you had to pick only one rap song, this would be a strong contender. The barely controlled anger of the words is matched by the furious, ferocious performance.
6. “The Walls Came Down” by the Call
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kX8lqXAONg
Remember them? The late Michael Been was a tortured genius with a singular vision of faith and nihilism. This song was said to be crazily powerful live, especially when fueled by Garth Hudson’s booming organ chords. This is music to accompany live readings of the Book of Revelation.
5. “Down by the River” – both the Neil Young and Buddy Miles versions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_5ik5ZM6M
There is a palpable sense of foreboding and dread about this song. It doesn’t make much sense, but madmen are always the most dangerous foes. It builds and subsides, builds and subsides – like a fever. In a similar vein when performed live: Young’s titanic “Like a Hurricane” and (sometimes) “Cortez the Killer.”
4. “All Along the Watchtower” by Jimi Hendrix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_L4RtU1iRg
The greatest cover ever of a Bob Dylan song (it is allegedly Dylan’s favorite as well) and a once-in-a-generation combination of music and lyric. Hendrix’s guitar mimics the howling winds of change blowing outside the “watchtower,” snarling and cajoling, pleading with the unseen mob below.
3. River Deep, Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0wPrN_Y_4
Phil Spector’s justly acclaimed wall-of-sound masterpiece is elevated to the supernatural with Tina’s vocals – where she somehow channels years of abuse into a desperate plea … as if she’s trying to sing Ike into loving her. Terrifying. If Spector wasn’t crazy before, the commercial failure of this song alone would have been enough to tip him over the edge.
2. “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDnJ0vXUgw
Arguably the Stones’ greatest song. “Gimme Shelter’s” legendary status in the annals of rock was cemented when it was played at the infamous Altamont Free Concert. But it is included on my list because of gospel artist Merry Clayton’s superhuman performance on the third verse. Her vocals are cataclysmic, a sonic assault that energizes the band and caused me to jump in my chair the first time I heard it. All kinds of stories have popped up about this performance, that Clayton sang so hard that she miscarried that night, that she actually sang 10 feet away from the mic to keep from blowing the speakers, that she was touched by an angel while she sang. I only believe that last one.
That said, the Ashley Cleveland version is a close second:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74qWOdNYjLc&playnext=1&list=PL6722E5AD26645BD3&feature=results_main
Finally, what I consider the greatest Apocalyptic Song of all time:
1. Stay with Me – Lorraine Ellison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrYwtAz-LZQ&feature=related
Not by accident, also my favorite rock/R&B/soul song/performance of all time. In my mind, no one has ever poured this much of her soul into a lyric. It’s as if Ellison (another former gospel singer) is projecting the pain and heartbreak and desperation of all women in her performance. “Stay With Me” is too overwhelming for me to listen to very often. The sense of urgency and despair is too great. But if you’re feeling reasonably confident at the moment, and you can play the song on decent speakers at a serious sound volume, do yourself a favor. Listen to this song. God bless you, Lorraine Ellison, wherever you are.