Music for the End of Time

All joking aside, I am writing on a day which, according to some commentators, is supposed to be the day of the Rapture. You can read the explanation for that prediction here. As Forrest Gump would say, "That is all I want to say about that."

If this were to be my last day, it would be a good one. My little friend in gray feathers is on my shoulder. I'm enjoying a bit of bourbon (he's not), and we both are enjoying some music that for the past hour or so has followed a distinctive theme in honor of the day, the end of the world.

Now, I am writing this article, mainly in honor of some music and musicians that are not as well-known as I wish they were.

Antony and the Johnsons

New York City based Antony and the Johnsons (website), featuring Antony Hegarty (more ) and named for Martha P. Johnson (more), a transgender activist, is a group that consistently delivers haunting words and music.

Since their self-titled first album was released in 1998, they have released albums more or less regularly, toured often, and appeared in three films: the Leonard Cohen tribute, I'm Your Man (2005), the French Wild Side (2004), and Animal Factory (2000), in which they appeared as prisoners and sang the song "Rapture."

So, that's why they are in this article. As you can see in the lyrics (here), this is a wistful, bittersweet song, typical of many of the songs of Antony and the Johnsons, with a mysterious reference to religion, even to the Rapture.

Listen to the song here, for the haunting, rapturous vocal of Antony Hegarty. If this were the last day, and I were just now hearing this song for the first time, I would regret that I would have no time to hear more of his voice.

The Handsome Family

Formed in 1993, the Handsome Family (website) comprises married couple Rennie Sparks, lyricist, and Brett Sparks, composer. They both play instruments and sing, but throughout their career have been joined by other instrumentalists on albums (over a dozen studio and live albums) and in concerts.

Their songs are generally categorized as country, but I have to wonder just which country - perhaps the one painted by Salvador Dal­i. (I regret having to misspell the great artist's name, but Associated Content no longer allows accent marks and will not respond to my questions about this issue.) At least one of their songs is a barely disguised version of a story by Franz Kafka, and in other songs, Natalie Wood, Amelia Earhart, and the tormented genius Nikola Tesla drop in.

They make two contributions to our commemoration of the end of the world, two short songs (together less than two and a half minutes) from their 2003 album, Singing Bones: "If the World Should End in Fire" (lyrics here; audio here) and "If the World Should End in Ice" (lyrics here; audio here).

The two songs are so short that they might be one song, but it is intriguing to listen to them as two sides of the issue of the end of the world. Notice the exquisite imagery of Rennie Sparks and the rumbling voice for the end of time of Brett Sparks. If fire and ice remind you of Robert Frost's poem (Mr. Frost is in good company with Ms. Sparks), you might want to re-read it here.

Wanda Jackson

Although Bob Dylan's song "Thunder on the Mountain" has an apocalyptic feel to it, in Wanda Jackson's cover, it is a rather rollicking apocalypse. I have already written a whole article on this one song (here).

Or, you can go directly to the video here. As I warned in that article, "make sure your surge protector is on, your smoke detector is off, and children under three and all pets are out of the room."

Olivier Messiaen

Perhaps the greatest piece of music for the end of time, and as far as I am concerned, just about the greatest piece of music ever, Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" was written in a situation that must have seemed to the composer to be the end of just about everything, a German prisoner-of-war camp. Again, I have already written an article about it (here).

You can watch and listen to the complete quartet in two videos here and here.

The End or a Beginning

I need more bourbon. I do not need it; I just want it. My parrot is signalling that he needs to get off my shoulder. I hope that we all make it through this day, and that I have time to find and share more great music in days to come.

Sources are linked to throughout the article.