R.E.M.’s ‘End Of The World As We Know It’ Has Re-Enters Charts Amid COVID-19

in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, R.E.M.’s apocalyptic hit “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” has re-entered the charts.

Originally released in 1987, the track appeared on the group’s debut album Document, and initially peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 16 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Yesterday the song was sitting at No. 64 on the iTunes singles charts.

Sung in a stream-of-consciousness style, the song sees R.E.M. frontman, Michael Stipe, ruminating on everything from the fallout of the Cold War and the rise of the religious right to over-consumption, capitalist attitudes, and environmental destruction, among other things.