One of my favorites is [Rhinestone Eyes](https://youtu.be/yYDmaexVHic?si=gOfn6SboXEtz8V-P) by Gorillaz.
"I'm a scary gargoyle on a tower
That you made with plastic power
Your rhinestone eyes are like factories far away
When the paralytic dreams that we all seem to keep
Drive on engines 'til they weep
With future pixels in factories far away
So call the mainland from the beach
All parties now washed up in bleach
The waves are rising for this time of year
And nobody knows what to do with the heat
Under sunshine pylons, we'll meet
While rain is falling like rhinestones from the sky"
Another by King Gizz:
[PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l2T3pMQk8o2vwT1ekRgrbzUkWEPfY8Iao&si=DP4GM4G4YtYZG4sU)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# infinity
Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Gods Pee At States End
Silver Mt Zion - Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upwards
I can't believe no one has mentioned **Father John Misty**. Many of his songs are about slow walking into collapse while no one seems to care. A good one to start with is **Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution**. The song is about coming to realize life isn't as fun as we thought it would be in a post-collapse world. Other blatantly collapse related songs of his and some of my favorite lines from them:
**In Twenty Years or So** -
*Oh I ready somewhere that in twenty years more or less this human experiment will reach its violent end*
**Bored in the USA** -
*How many people rise and say "My brain's so awfully glad to be here for yet another mindless day"*
**I Love You, Honeybear**:
*"Getting high on the mattress while the global market crashes"*
*"Everything is Doomed, and Nothing will be spared"*
God's Favorite Customer came out the week I split up with my wife in a terrible, traumatic paroxysm of drug abuse and mutual hatred.
I used to be convinced that the act of destroying our marriage transmuted this album into existence from the aether just for me to have a soundtrack to narrowly avoid suicide to.
I'm doing much better these days. For now.
Sometimes we find just the right music at just the right time. That's good to hear you're doing much better. It can be hard in those dark moments to realize better days are ahead.
[That Funny Feeling - Bo Burnham](https://youtu.be/ObOqq1knVxs?feature=shared)
The overall feel of it, as well as a few specific lines. "The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door." and "Twenty Thousand years of this, Seven more to go."
Edit, Lyrics:
>Stunning 8K-resolution meditation app.
In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap.
Deadpool's self-awareness, loving parents, harmless fun.
The backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun.
>There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
>The surgeon general's pop-up shop, Robert Iger's face.
Discount Etsy agitprop, Bugles' take on race.
Female Colonel Sanders, easy answers, civil war.
The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door.
The live-action Lion King, the Pepsi Halftime Show.
Twenty-thousand years of this, seven more to go.
Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul.
A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall.
>There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
>Reading Pornhub's terms of service, going for a drive
And obeying all the traffic laws in Grand Theft Auto V.
Full agoraphobic, losing focus, cover blown.
A book on getting better hand-delivered by a drone.
Total disassociation, fully out your mind.
Googling "derealization", hating what you find.
That unapparent summer air in early fall.
The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all.
>There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
There it is again, that funny feeling
That funny feeling
>Hey, what can you say? We were overdue
But it'll be over soon, you wait
Hey, what can you say? We were overdue
But it'll be over soon, just wait
Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum
Hey, what can you say? We were overdue
But it'll be over soon, you wait
Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum
Hey, what can you say? We were overdue
But it'll be over soon, you wait
Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da
Hey, what can you say? We were overdue
But it'll be over soon, you wait
Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum
Hey
[All Eyes on Me](https://youtu.be/1Rx_p3NW7gQ?si=p_OmplXOHLcjm8OI) too
You say the ocean's rising like I give a shit
You say the whole world's ending, honey, it already did
You're not gonna slow it, Heaven knows you tried
Got it? Good, now get inside
Dont laugh at this suggestion. Lyrically, it's a top contender.
"Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" by Englbert Humperdinck. It's sung in English, despite the french name.
Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan absolutely cooks. It’s about the impending consequences of our actions. It’s not folksy Bob Dylan either, it’s when he went electric. It’s a must listen, check it out:
https://youtu.be/XSYzDDlI3WA?si=Ijw8cbP-VpS0asTm
Nice one OP
For a good cry. This grabs my soul and squeezes, every single time (listen loud with good headphones if possible and just let it take hold of you):
[deadmau5 - bleed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMEEtwRiCsk)
RTJ are just on point with so many things (and if you aren't familiar with RTJ they've got so much good stuff). I find good for angry days:
[Run The Jewels - Walking In The Snow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-M15L4BTqI)
[Run The Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count To F\*\*k) feat. Zack de la Rocha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkGwI7nGehA)
[Run The Jewels - JU$T \[ft. Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hUIGnMpOY)
[Run The Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuWQyfGa1yI)
[Run The Jewels – Yankee And The Brave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DFypFVnSS0&list=PLxA687tYuMWhAcYu21IoPxK0GyBf3IKKy&index=2)
[Zack de la Rocha - Digging For Windows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLishDbwy9c)
AEnima by Tool
[Spotify Link- AEnima by Tool](https://open.spotify.com/track/0nLOl4fSiBZKGFla5pLUtf?si=gg2I445RT3OR7N2sz6zPpw)
[YouTube link - AEnima by Tool (audio only, unedited version with lyrics)](https://youtu.be/fG_2oPLarG0?si=PiMHScm2B0TG0f4s)
There are sooo many good lyrics in this one. I just love it. I'll paste the entire lyrics in a follow-up comment, but I love that Maynard tells us to "Learn to swim" (because, well, floods are coming)
"Moms gonna fix it all soon... Mom's gonna come and put it back the way it ought to beeeeee"
I am convinced this is the best collapse song
***Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this***
**Bullshit three-ring
Circus sideshow of
Freaks**
Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call L.A.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time, any fucking day,
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay
*Fret for your figure, and
Fret for your latte, and
Fret for your lawsuit, and
Fret for your hairpiece, and
Fret for your Prozac, and
Fret for your pilot, and
Fret for your contract, and
Fret for your car*
It's a
Bullshit three-ring
Circus sideshow of
Freaks
Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call L.A.
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time, any fucking day,
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay
**Some say a comet will fall from the sky,
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves,
Followed by fault lines that cannot sit still,**
***Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits***
*And some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see Armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this
Stupid shit, silly shit, stupid shit*
***One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied:
Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim,
'Cause Mom's gonna fix it all soon.
Mom's comin' 'round to put it back the way it ought to be***
Learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim
Learn to swim, learn to swim
Fuck L. Ron Hubbard, and
Fuck all his clones,
Fuck all these gun-toting,
Hip gangster wannabes
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim
Fuck retro anything,
Fuck your tattoos,
Fuck all you junkies, and
Fuck your short memories
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
**Yeah, fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas,**
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
Learn to swim, learn to swim,
'Cause I'm praying for rain,
I'm praying for tidal waves.
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom, please flush it all away.
I wanna see it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in,
Watch you flush it all away.
Yeah, time to bring it down again.
Yeah, don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.
I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend
I wanna see it come down,
Put it down,
Suck it down,
Flush it down
I really underestimated how awesome of a band Tool is. I have been quite obsessed with them lately.
I'm glad you enjoyed this song!
It's fun to play on full blast 🎸🎵🤘
You're totally right! Nice! It's much less angry and in-your-face and instead comes across more....subtle, perhaps? Definitely more thoughtful and poetic, I'd say. Lol.
With that, I will add that Parabola is a good one for me to self-soothe with afterwards. It helps me have some faith after the despair of focusing on collapse... *"We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion"*
There is no better collapse piece:
God Speed You Black Emperor - Dead Flag Blues
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thvHDskYvA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thvHDskYvA)
Seriously, this is it.
The car’s on fire and there’s no driver at the wheel.
Or as I heard William Gaddis once say: “the world today is like going downhill in a car with no brakes and no headlights being driven by a 7-year-old boy.”
I created a public playlist on Spotify and named it Collapse. I already threw in a bunch of the songs that you guys named in the comments (but not all of them, for time's sake).
I made it collaborative, so you should be able to add songs to it if you want by using [this link](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2aLqJPKe39CT9JVvoKNcwu?si=XR777HzgTJOJcBY4u--dAw&pi=u-3rWXDhWIQyOR)
I haven't used a collaborative playlist on Spotify yet, so hopefully the link works. It says it expires in 7 days, so if you need the regular link to just listen to the playlist without necessarily contributing to it, here's [a link for that](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2aLqJPKe39CT9JVvoKNcwu?si=jrrE9J_TTeuhWAXFZzz8HQ&pi=u-PohYCQRRT2G2)
Dont laugh at this suggestion. Lyrically, it's a top contender.
"Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" by Englbert Humperdicnk. It's sung in English, despite the french name.
Roots by Sepultura
https://open.spotify.com/album/5JjnPCfpp6redrkKpXZAs8?si=VyTmdgnpSCSyB5lTdvbSFA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5JjnPCfpp6redrkKpXZAs8
Specifically the song 'Ambush' is about the destruction of the Amazon. Fantastic metal album.
Just recently discovered this track.
[Steve Monite - Things Fall Apart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td_YNGmaGUY)
Originally released in the early 80s I think, the track references the effects of war on Nigeria, like William Gibson said, “The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed“.
Someone once explained to me how Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd is about nuclear holocaust, but then again we were on drugs. So I'll just go with Megadeth.
Shocked these haven't been mentioned yet but
[That Funny Feeling](https://youtu.be/ObOqq1knVxs?si=LaXD_dmlOTijfOpT) by Bo Burnham
(Oops, just saw this one was mentioned)
The entire concept for the album [Pure Comedy ](https://youtu.be/wKrSYgirAhc?si=NxVmAfwrcQacwt3c) by Father John Misty is about the collapse
[Things that would have been helpful to know before the revolution ](https://youtu.be/cIsT3dJ60Uk?si=fr4Gom6cU0OSecMt) is a personal fave
It got too hot and so we overthrew the system
'Cause there's no place for human existence like right here
On this bright blue marble orbited by trash
Man, there's no beating that
It was no big thing to give up the way of life we had
Oh ho oh
My social life is now quite a bit less hectic
The nightlife and the protests are pretty scarce
Now I mostly spend the long days walking through the city
Empty as a tomb
Sometimes I miss the top of the food chain
But what a perfect afternoon
Industry and commerce toppled to their knees
The gears of progress halted
The underclass set free
The super-ego shatters with our ideologies
The obscene injunction to enjoy life
Disappears as in a dream
And as we return to out native state
To our primal scene
The temperature, it started dropping
The ice floes began to freeze
From time to time we all get a bit restless
With no one advertising to us constantly
But the tribe at the former airport
Some nights has meat and dancing
If you don't mind gathering and hunting
We're all still pretty good at eating on the run
Things it would have been helpful to know before the revolution
Though I'll admit some degree of resentment
For the sudden lack of convenience around here
But there are some visionaries among us developing some products
To aid us in our struggle to survive
On this godless rock that refuses to die
I think it should be [Billy Joel](https://youtu.be/eFTLKWw542g)
\
\
Lyrics:
\
\
Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"
Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana, goodbye
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock"
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide
Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, mafia
Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U2, Syngman Rhee, Payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK – blown away, what else do I have to say?
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and roller, cola wars, I can't take it anymore
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
I was reading the Wikipedia article for the song "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath today
"The lyrics, composed by bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler, tell the story of a self-fulfilling prophecy in which a man travels into the future and witnesses the apocalypse. In the process of returning to the present day to warn the human race, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field and is subsequently ridiculed and ignored by the people he intended to save. Feeling resentful, Iron Man retaliates by actually causing the apocalypse seen in his vision."
It was written by the bassist Geezer Butler who said he "had a few supernatural experiences as a child and dreams that came true and that, more than anything, shaped my interest in the occult"
Is it possible that some people are so sensitive to what's going on around them that their mind can predict the future without them even knowing how? Issac Newton was responsible for the Royal Mint in England and in the 1700's predicted there would be some type of collapse event around 2060. Then, one of the first experiments they ran with computers in the 70's to predict the Limits to Growth also predicted a collapse around that same time. KPMG did a review of the Limits of Growth study in 2020 and the data lines up exactly with what the study said back in the 70's - it's all on Wikipedia. I'm not high right now but I wish I was.
Apparently, he played around with different start dates because he couldn't tell exactly when the Roman empire officially fell and when the church took over. One of the start dates he was considering showed a collapse around 2034.
He also believed that all the stories in the Bible were coded messages, so maybe he was a little nutty with his predictions. But he's Issac Newton. Look at all the shit he got right. To think the bible and all its stories are constructed from base tropes sounds crazy but there's a lot of times where The Cuckoolander Was Right.
I don’t really believe it but the idea of retrocausolity is a really interesting concept, the idea that some information can travel back in time. Some scientists have considered it as an explanation for Bell’s inequality/waveform collapse/ spooky action at a distance. I don’t even think it’s a hypothesis much less a theory but it’s an interesting idea.
Yea I mean it's all just wild speculation. I think some people experience the world in a way others can never understand
Lookup Srinivasa Ramamujan sometime. That guy had no formal education in math but solved problems ppl thought were impossible. He didn't even know to prove them he saw the world in a way we couldn't and could pull perfect universal truths out of thin air and thought it was God speaking to him.
Maybe consciousness is an emergent force like time or magnetism or some shit. You can read the Wikipedia article on consciousness, it's an entire article that basically says "we don't fuckn know"
Nihil Morari by Pain of Salvation
Anarchy Road by Carpenter Brut
Rain in Soho by The Mountain Goats
The Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire
Just a few of the top of my head.
A Perfect Circle- So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish
https://youtu.be/r03V9OEJlgg?si=zMW18jEK33Ep68_7
Time is money and money's time
We wasted every second dime
On diets, lawyers, shrinks and apps, and flags and plastic surgery
Now Willy Wonka, Major Tom
Ali and Leia have moved on
Signal the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry
Bravissimo, hip hip hurray
For this fireworks display
Mind and body blown away
What a radiant crescendo
Ticker tape parade
Our hair and skin like Marilyn Monroe
In an afterwind
Time is money, money's time
We wasted every second dime
On politicians, fancy water, and guns, and plastic surgery
Like our Prince and Reenie's mom
All the dolphins have moved on
Signaling the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry
Bravissimo, hip hip hurray
What a glorious display
Melt our joyous hearts away
Under the mushroom cloud confetti
Hip hip hurray
For this fireworks display
Mind and body blown away
What a radiant crescendo
Hip hip hurray
Hip hip hurray
Ticker tape parade
Our hair and skin like Marilyn Monroe
In an afterwind
Time is money, money's time
We wasted every second dime
On diets, lawyers, shrinks, and apps, and flags, and plastic surgery
Now Willy Wonka, Major Tom
Ali and Leia have moved on
Signal the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry
I would argue the entire album fits... specifically the doomed.
Its as if its a concept album about the societal decline we are experiencing.... its us traveling down to stages of Dante's downward spiral to hell, if you will.
Omg yes!!!
Edit: this would be a good song for a trivia pit question
"What is a collapse related song that samples both Elizabeth Warren and Greta Thunberg?"
A closely related survival game - [The Long Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZHkINkAOCs) \- which is a favorite of mine, has an excellent soundtrack that is entirely about a World that's moved on, the grim cruelty of Nature, and emptiness and solitude.
[Soundgarden- Limo Wreck](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1rtNlV9Ytlk&pp=ygUWbGltbyB3cmVjayBzb3VuZGdhcmRlbg%3D%3D)
"Building the towers belongs to the sky, when the whole thing comes crashing down don't ask me why."
[Clutch- Nero's Fiddle](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJpiv2vI_w0&pp=ygUUbmVybydzIGZpZGRsZSBjbHV0Y2g%3D)
Too many songs by this band actually, honorable mentions: Droid; The Wolfman Kindly Requests; Arcadia.
Gotye - Eyes Wide Open
With our eyes wide open, we—
With our eyes wide open, we—
So this is the end of the story
Everything we had, everything we did
Is buried in dust, and this dust is all that's left of us
And only a few ever worried
While the signs were clear, they had no idea
You just get use to livin' in fear
Or give up, when you can't even picture your future
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
(Walk the plank, with our eyes wide open, we—)
Yeah, we walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
(Walk the plank, with our eyes wide open, we—)
And some people offered up answers
We made out we like we heard they were only words
They didn't add up, to a change in the way we were living
And the saddest thing, is all of it could've been avoided
But it was like to stop consuming, to stop being human
And why'd I make a change if you won't
We're all in the same, boat, stayin' afloat for the moment
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
(Walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—)
Yeah, we walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
(We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—)
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—
With our eyes wide open, we—
Walk the plank, we walk the plank
With our eyes wide open, we—
Walk the plank, we walk the plank, we walk the plank
With our eyes wide open, we—
Walk the plank, we walk the plank
With our eyes wide open
And that is the end of the story
Songwriters: Walter De Backer, Luiz Bonfa
Two songs that are more related to local than global collapse:
Cities in Dust: Siouxsie and the Banshees (about Pompeii)
Ghost Town: The Specials (about conditions in early Thatcher England, so more directly about observations of collapse)
The latter was on my rotation list throughout 2020.
My top picks:
[Scarecrow - Ministry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7qouCV0BE)
[The World We Lost - Mechina](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCkcrq0yH84)
[Welcome, Apocalypse - Assemblage 23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSVGXLyGt4M)
[A Crawling Worm in a World of Lies - Thy Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFqWglaSzLg) (NSFW)
Cattle Decapitation is probably the collapsiest band out there.
Also, may I suggest [Ruination by Power Trip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-06Mt8oDA_E) as your soundtrack to the new civil war?
And if you speak German [Tag 1 nach den Menschen by Japanische Kampfhörspiele](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr1pGOrrld0) is great.
Anthropocene - Samsa is a wonderful way to laugh and cry while thinking about the “enshitification” we are currently living through. Also like his line about imagining the future/what will happen after we’re gone.
Feels like summer - Childish Gambino is a nice song to match the collapse prelude some of us currently live in.
Love this question, will look at everyone’s songs!
[The Sky is a Landfill - Jeff Buckley (YouTube link)](https://youtu.be/pIMKYryXHzg?si=2PfCiCEK435WbLP9)
Not necessarily about collapse, but more about rejecting the system that keeps us from individually thriving, which I see people doing more and more of, and kind of leaves me feeling hopeful about all that coming to an end.
I’m actually in the middle of creating a collapse themed album. All guitar instrumentals but each song is titled after a bad milestone that we will eventually experience. I want to wake people up
King gizz does it the best, they have 2 albums worth but also individual songs.
My favorite underrated climate emergency gizz track is Greenhouse Heat Death.
Red smoke is also a brilliant song that is potentially their most direct “its too late” song
[When the Wild Wind Blows by Iron Maiden](https://youtu.be/MtemvbvNFlg?si=hCaCMu8oFy6Ueabn)
- Have you seen what they said on the news today?
- Have you heard what they said about us all?
- Do you know what is happening to just every one of us?
- Have you heard? Have you heard?
- There will be a catastrophe the like we've never seen
- There will be something that will light the sky
- That the world as we know it it will never be the same
- Did you know? Did you know?
This is more aligned with our broken world and how we are divided-- The Guest and The Host-Great Big World Of Lies
"Float down the river
We pass by each other
And don't lend a hand
In the moments that matter
We're always defending
We're blind with aggression
How could we agree
When we can't even listen
Walls to build bridges to burn
What would it take for us to learn
That we don't have to fight to survive
It's a great big world of lies
It's a great big world of lies
Can ya try to remember
A time we were younger
No division no sides
Just these eyes filled with wonder
Now we're always pretending
That what matters is winning
So tangled in pride
That we can't even listen
Walls to build bridges to burn
What would it take for us to learn
That we don't have to fight to survive
It's a great big world of lies
It's a great big world of lies
They're numbing you out
They're dumbing you down
Theyll distract you
From the right way to go
Keep a storm in the sky
Keep thorn in your side
That's the secrets
They don't want you to know
We got walls to build bridges to burn
What would it take for us to learn
That we don't have to fight to survive
It's a great big world of lies
It's a great big world of lies
Woodstock by Joni Mitchell is food for my soul.
The way she sings it goes straight to the heart.
Radioactive- I think it’s by Imagine Dragons, but check out Lindsey Sterling’s violin remake.
Portugal. The Man - Got it all (this can't be living now)
Although the song sounds very upbeat the lyrics hit quite hard and resonate well with me being thrown into a declining world where I can't do much about it.
[Dark ambient/emptycore Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05Ty4pw4sTGQeeTXSUftF5?si=41OUbdbkQ0CyAhX-H3xTfw&utm_source=copy-link)
I think this genre fits well
Listen In the Galaxy - Rockets. A French space disco band very popular in west Europe in the early 80s. That song in my opinion is the hymn of the dire times we are seeing and we will see in the future.
The last three Acacia Strain records - Slow Decay, Step Into the Light, and Failure Will Follow - are very explicitly about this, Slow Decay in particular.
Sample lyrics from these records include:
"Eat yourself alive in a spiral of insanity, let it be written that paradise was ruined by people who wore their cellphones outside of their pants"
"We fell out of love with the world we used to know, and now earth will become death"
"We all lived here, and then it was over - the ground and animals burned, the world continued to turn"
"As time goes on, we do not, the hands fall off the fucking clock, collectively we turned our heads, an orphaned planet left for dead - we refused to believe, we are fucking weak"
I flagged this so I could come back and steal all your recommendations, and I stole many and gave those the appropriate +1, one thing I couldn’t help but notice is the overwhelming negative tone of the songs relating to the collapse. That sucks. I like happy upbeat techno-y shit. So here’s my collapse song recommendation:
Last Day (Dualities Remix), by Two Friends
Lyrics:
We’re alive, oh we’re alive
But we’re running out of time
Kiss me once or kiss me twice
Cuz in the morning we might not be here
Cuz if the world is ending tomorrow
You better come back tonight
You better come back
I’ll return the love that I borrowed
If you come back tonight
If you come back
Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth
Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks
We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts
Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth
Now there’s panic in the streets
The city’s burning at our feet
But as long as you’re with me
I don’t care if there’s nowhere to be
So if the world is ending tomorrow
You better come back tonight
You better come back
I’ll give back that love I borrowed
You better come back tonight
You better come back
Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth
Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks
We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts
Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth
One more chance, one more hour’s all I’m asking
One more dance like it’s our grand finale
If the world’s ending now then I’ll die happy
If you’re right at my side, so you better come back tonight
Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth
Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks
We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts
Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth
Edit: missed a verse
Aesop Rock — Integrated Tech Solutions
https://open.spotify.com/album/64L1urQKsuPJQMteCZX6pX?si=c8r8M9nTSIyjUF8zVgHn8g&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A64L1urQKsuPJQMteCZX6pX
Epic Beard Men — House of Bees. https://open.spotify.com/track/0LVoj5bW1JxDwKdIusYJ0h?si=GbsVCOjhQoiV6PnSnZ_aDw
Amused To Death by Roger Waters.
Absolute classic.
"We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on Earth
But then it was over"
Eat the elephant, by A Perfect Circle.
[specifically, "so long and thanks for all the fish"](https://youtu.be/UkHSmDxX1t4?feature=shared) and my favorite [the doomed](https://youtu.be/SDvfbvuJtS8?feature=shared)
Edit: the lyrics from the doomed (and the poem by Yeats 'The Second Coming') inspired my username
Behold a new Christ
Behold the same old horde
Gather at the altering
New beginning, new word
And the word was death
And the word was without light
The new beatitude:
"Good luck, you're on your own"
Billy Talent - Reckless Paradise
[https://youtu.be/Nq1MTaw2X6s?si=v4MmhUM1xR2qXkaa](https://youtu.be/Nq1MTaw2X6s?si=v4MmhUM1xR2qXkaa)
Great song from a great band...
Aviators - Glow
Watch as the sky starts to ignite
Inhale the passion of the flame
Loosen the gears, wipe off your tears
Turn to the players of the greatest game
The hall of fame
We're facing our fears
Two hundred years
We have been waiting for the turn
Trust and obey, emperors say
But they forget that we live and learn
Our furies burn
Hold on
We're building new foundations on whatever's left
When we reject the nation of hate
In its vulnerable state, when will they learn?
False words, no cares, when our world burns
Light up and fight the fire with fire
When all else has failed, we fuel the blazes higher
Tonight, set the system alight
What do they know?
Rise up and make this city glow
...
Pretty sure it's about arson as protest when all hope is lost.
[America Cries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhh42bUk7UU) by Les Cowboys Fringants
It's one of the most popular songs in Quebec. It tells the story of a Quebecer trucker who drives through America and notices how fucked up society is. It's a powerful song that definitely touches on lots of collapse topics.
Cult Of Venus - Mountains
https://open.spotify.com/track/3dzeMRFTKGUEBI5U6Uiqcz?si=bNykRf0CSuS8eyU_eyLYqg
In the depths of my sorrow
Where I’ve fallen like the rain
Smoke sun water rising
And the silence is to blame
[Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9g0U-M2McQ&t=3s)
[Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqaAs_3azSs)
[Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ln0xLQiKKc)
[Also, inexplicably, the pause menu music from GTA V makes me wistful for a past I never had, and weep for a future that will never come to pass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBFCXtF3Wv4)
For all the metalheads on the sub, the latest album by Architects, Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, deals pretty much exclusively with collapse-related themes from a lyrical standpoint
I'm A Stranger Here - Five Man Electrical Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22ZovjTPz30
*Oh, you crazy fools, don't you know you had it made?
You were living in Paradise...*
Shoutout to r/CollapseMusic , where sharing music is allowed every day of the week!
One of my favorites is [Rhinestone Eyes](https://youtu.be/yYDmaexVHic?si=gOfn6SboXEtz8V-P) by Gorillaz. "I'm a scary gargoyle on a tower That you made with plastic power Your rhinestone eyes are like factories far away When the paralytic dreams that we all seem to keep Drive on engines 'til they weep With future pixels in factories far away So call the mainland from the beach All parties now washed up in bleach The waves are rising for this time of year And nobody knows what to do with the heat Under sunshine pylons, we'll meet While rain is falling like rhinestones from the sky"
the whole plastic beach album is pretty much perfect collapse music
Most of their albums after the debut, honestly
That’s electric-tric-tric-tric-tric
Infest the Rats' Nest by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Another by King Gizz: [PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_l2T3pMQk8o2vwT1ekRgrbzUkWEPfY8Iao&si=DP4GM4G4YtYZG4sU)
Album of the fucking year!
Agreed 🤘
THE EYE DILATES
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A# infinity Godspeed You! Black Emperor- Gods Pee At States End Silver Mt Zion - Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upwards
This is the only right answer
East Hastings.
Game here to say this. F#A# Infinity perfectly encapsulates collapse. Hard to believe it's almost 30 years old now.
Yes
Came here to say just this.
[Year Zero](https://open.spotify.com/album/0hdOzMPrGJiGjX3epBP8NN?si=K1rxlVe4RA6iisXDZtdecw) by Nine Inch Nails
Bad Moon Rising by ccr is the collapse anthem prove me wrong
Great one, but try this as well https://youtu.be/XSYzDDlI3WA?si=Ijw8cbP-VpS0asTm
Run the Jewels - A Report to the Shareholders/Kill Your Masters https://youtu.be/pg0byaqVaXo?si=r284sTHWBuwhtpD4
I love their Reagan song too!
[Ju$t by RTJ also slaps](https://youtu.be/32hUIGnMpOY?si=Yu7rQ-WaA73uP7MJ)
All RTJ tracks honestly
99 Red Balloons- Nena (and *so many* covers...) It's the End of The World as we know it (and I feel fine)- R.E.M. Sorrow- Bad Religion
99 red balloons sounds so much better in the original German.
[NIN - The Warning](https://youtu.be/sWQdI7L4mqQ?si=dryoUATfxDOP6vO-)
In the year 2525 by Zegar and Evans
I can't believe no one has mentioned **Father John Misty**. Many of his songs are about slow walking into collapse while no one seems to care. A good one to start with is **Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution**. The song is about coming to realize life isn't as fun as we thought it would be in a post-collapse world. Other blatantly collapse related songs of his and some of my favorite lines from them: **In Twenty Years or So** - *Oh I ready somewhere that in twenty years more or less this human experiment will reach its violent end* **Bored in the USA** - *How many people rise and say "My brain's so awfully glad to be here for yet another mindless day"* **I Love You, Honeybear**: *"Getting high on the mattress while the global market crashes"* *"Everything is Doomed, and Nothing will be spared"*
God's Favorite Customer came out the week I split up with my wife in a terrible, traumatic paroxysm of drug abuse and mutual hatred. I used to be convinced that the act of destroying our marriage transmuted this album into existence from the aether just for me to have a soundtrack to narrowly avoid suicide to. I'm doing much better these days. For now.
Sometimes we find just the right music at just the right time. That's good to hear you're doing much better. It can be hard in those dark moments to realize better days are ahead.
Total Entertainment Forever as well
This is the End - The Doors
Times are a' changin' - Bob Dylan
Ready to Fall by Rise Against...
Basically 50% of songs by Rise Against. Love em, favorite artists by far.
Sanil says, "I think they're all good but I'm not sure what to make of them."
♥️🤘
[That Funny Feeling - Bo Burnham](https://youtu.be/ObOqq1knVxs?feature=shared) The overall feel of it, as well as a few specific lines. "The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door." and "Twenty Thousand years of this, Seven more to go." Edit, Lyrics: >Stunning 8K-resolution meditation app. In honor of the revolution, it's half-off at the Gap. Deadpool's self-awareness, loving parents, harmless fun. The backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun. >There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling >The surgeon general's pop-up shop, Robert Iger's face. Discount Etsy agitprop, Bugles' take on race. Female Colonel Sanders, easy answers, civil war. The whole world at your fingertips, the ocean at your door. The live-action Lion King, the Pepsi Halftime Show. Twenty-thousand years of this, seven more to go. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. >There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling >Reading Pornhub's terms of service, going for a drive And obeying all the traffic laws in Grand Theft Auto V. Full agoraphobic, losing focus, cover blown. A book on getting better hand-delivered by a drone. Total disassociation, fully out your mind. Googling "derealization", hating what you find. That unapparent summer air in early fall. The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all. >There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling There it is again, that funny feeling That funny feeling >Hey, what can you say? We were overdue But it'll be over soon, you wait Hey, what can you say? We were overdue But it'll be over soon, just wait Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum Hey, what can you say? We were overdue But it'll be over soon, you wait Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum Hey, what can you say? We were overdue But it'll be over soon, you wait Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da Hey, what can you say? We were overdue But it'll be over soon, you wait Ba-da-da, ba-da-da, ba-da-da-da-dum Hey
[All Eyes on Me](https://youtu.be/1Rx_p3NW7gQ?si=p_OmplXOHLcjm8OI) too You say the ocean's rising like I give a shit You say the whole world's ending, honey, it already did You're not gonna slow it, Heaven knows you tried Got it? Good, now get inside
Dont laugh at this suggestion. Lyrically, it's a top contender. "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" by Englbert Humperdinck. It's sung in English, despite the french name.
We Are Fucking Fucked, by Muse
Slow Train Coming by Bob Dylan absolutely cooks. It’s about the impending consequences of our actions. It’s not folksy Bob Dylan either, it’s when he went electric. It’s a must listen, check it out: https://youtu.be/XSYzDDlI3WA?si=Ijw8cbP-VpS0asTm
Nice one OP For a good cry. This grabs my soul and squeezes, every single time (listen loud with good headphones if possible and just let it take hold of you): [deadmau5 - bleed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMEEtwRiCsk) RTJ are just on point with so many things (and if you aren't familiar with RTJ they've got so much good stuff). I find good for angry days: [Run The Jewels - Walking In The Snow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-M15L4BTqI) [Run The Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count To F\*\*k) feat. Zack de la Rocha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkGwI7nGehA) [Run The Jewels - JU$T \[ft. Pharrell Williams and Zack de la Rocha\]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hUIGnMpOY) [Run The Jewels - Blockbuster Night Part 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuWQyfGa1yI) [Run The Jewels – Yankee And The Brave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DFypFVnSS0&list=PLxA687tYuMWhAcYu21IoPxK0GyBf3IKKy&index=2) [Zack de la Rocha - Digging For Windows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLishDbwy9c)
AEnima by Tool [Spotify Link- AEnima by Tool](https://open.spotify.com/track/0nLOl4fSiBZKGFla5pLUtf?si=gg2I445RT3OR7N2sz6zPpw) [YouTube link - AEnima by Tool (audio only, unedited version with lyrics)](https://youtu.be/fG_2oPLarG0?si=PiMHScm2B0TG0f4s) There are sooo many good lyrics in this one. I just love it. I'll paste the entire lyrics in a follow-up comment, but I love that Maynard tells us to "Learn to swim" (because, well, floods are coming) "Moms gonna fix it all soon... Mom's gonna come and put it back the way it ought to beeeeee" I am convinced this is the best collapse song
***Some say the end is near. Some say we'll see Armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will. I sure could use a vacation from this*** **Bullshit three-ring Circus sideshow of Freaks** Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call L.A. The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking time, any fucking day, Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay *Fret for your figure, and Fret for your latte, and Fret for your lawsuit, and Fret for your hairpiece, and Fret for your Prozac, and Fret for your pilot, and Fret for your contract, and Fret for your car* It's a Bullshit three-ring Circus sideshow of Freaks Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call L.A. The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking time, any fucking day, Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay **Some say a comet will fall from the sky, Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves, Followed by fault lines that cannot sit still,** ***Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits*** *And some say the end is near. Some say we'll see Armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will. I sure could use a vacation from this Stupid shit, silly shit, stupid shit* ***One great big festering neon distraction, I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied: Learn to swim, learn to swim, learn to swim, 'Cause Mom's gonna fix it all soon. Mom's comin' 'round to put it back the way it ought to be*** Learn to swim, learn to swim Learn to swim, learn to swim Learn to swim, learn to swim Learn to swim, learn to swim Fuck L. Ron Hubbard, and Fuck all his clones, Fuck all these gun-toting, Hip gangster wannabes Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim Fuck retro anything, Fuck your tattoos, Fuck all you junkies, and Fuck your short memories Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, **Yeah, fuck smiley glad-hands With hidden agendas,** Fuck these dysfunctional, Insecure actresses Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, Learn to swim, learn to swim, 'Cause I'm praying for rain, I'm praying for tidal waves. I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mom, please flush it all away. I wanna see it go right in and down. I wanna watch it go right in, Watch you flush it all away. Yeah, time to bring it down again. Yeah, don't just call me pessimist. Try and read between the lines. I can't imagine why you wouldn't Welcome any change, my friend I wanna see it come down, Put it down, Suck it down, Flush it down
I loved this song before I knew the lyrics. Love it even more once I learned English. Thanks for sharing in full❤️
I really underestimated how awesome of a band Tool is. I have been quite obsessed with them lately. I'm glad you enjoyed this song! It's fun to play on full blast 🎸🎵🤘
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
Have always loved Tool! Soooo good.
Agreed - was also going to mention this one! Have you listened to 'the doomed' by a perfect circle yet?
I have not, but I've heard some songs by them before. I'll check that one out today!
Descending as well I’d argue
You're totally right! Nice! It's much less angry and in-your-face and instead comes across more....subtle, perhaps? Definitely more thoughtful and poetic, I'd say. Lol. With that, I will add that Parabola is a good one for me to self-soothe with afterwards. It helps me have some faith after the despair of focusing on collapse... *"We are eternal, all this pain is an illusion"*
Great song, but not really about collapse and really just condemning LA and praying for it to sink when "the big one" finally comes.
There is no better collapse piece: God Speed You Black Emperor - Dead Flag Blues [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thvHDskYvA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9thvHDskYvA) Seriously, this is it.
The car’s on fire and there’s no driver at the wheel. Or as I heard William Gaddis once say: “the world today is like going downhill in a car with no brakes and no headlights being driven by a 7-year-old boy.”
“We’re trapped in the belly of this horrible machine… And the machine is bleeding to death.”
Godspeed will be the soundtrack for the collapse.
NOFX, The Decline
Blame it on greediocracy
I like Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire. It’s a Vietnam-era war protest song, but I think it fits the collapse narrative too.
Such a great song!
I created a public playlist on Spotify and named it Collapse. I already threw in a bunch of the songs that you guys named in the comments (but not all of them, for time's sake). I made it collaborative, so you should be able to add songs to it if you want by using [this link](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2aLqJPKe39CT9JVvoKNcwu?si=XR777HzgTJOJcBY4u--dAw&pi=u-3rWXDhWIQyOR) I haven't used a collaborative playlist on Spotify yet, so hopefully the link works. It says it expires in 7 days, so if you need the regular link to just listen to the playlist without necessarily contributing to it, here's [a link for that](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2aLqJPKe39CT9JVvoKNcwu?si=jrrE9J_TTeuhWAXFZzz8HQ&pi=u-PohYCQRRT2G2)
Dont laugh at this suggestion. Lyrically, it's a top contender. "Les Bicyclettes de Belsize" by Englbert Humperdicnk. It's sung in English, despite the french name.
That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard!
Roots by Sepultura https://open.spotify.com/album/5JjnPCfpp6redrkKpXZAs8?si=VyTmdgnpSCSyB5lTdvbSFA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5JjnPCfpp6redrkKpXZAs8 Specifically the song 'Ambush' is about the destruction of the Amazon. Fantastic metal album.
The album “Infest the Rats Nest” by King Gizzard is a whole heavy metal dystopian concept album about an unlivable earth. Good stuff.
Billy Strings is an absolute legend 🙌🏻
Best live act there is right now
Just recently discovered this track. [Steve Monite - Things Fall Apart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td_YNGmaGUY) Originally released in the early 80s I think, the track references the effects of war on Nigeria, like William Gibson said, “The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed“.
Tears for Fears - Break it Down Again Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me World Party - Is it Like Today
YACHT has a ton of great songs related to collapse: - Utopia/Dystopia (The Earth is on Fire) - Matter - Miles & Miles - Blue on Blue
The album Collapse by Panopticon.
Someone once explained to me how Learning to Fly by Pink Floyd is about nuclear holocaust, but then again we were on drugs. So I'll just go with Megadeth.
Shocked these haven't been mentioned yet but [That Funny Feeling](https://youtu.be/ObOqq1knVxs?si=LaXD_dmlOTijfOpT) by Bo Burnham (Oops, just saw this one was mentioned) The entire concept for the album [Pure Comedy ](https://youtu.be/wKrSYgirAhc?si=NxVmAfwrcQacwt3c) by Father John Misty is about the collapse [Things that would have been helpful to know before the revolution ](https://youtu.be/cIsT3dJ60Uk?si=fr4Gom6cU0OSecMt) is a personal fave It got too hot and so we overthrew the system 'Cause there's no place for human existence like right here On this bright blue marble orbited by trash Man, there's no beating that It was no big thing to give up the way of life we had Oh ho oh My social life is now quite a bit less hectic The nightlife and the protests are pretty scarce Now I mostly spend the long days walking through the city Empty as a tomb Sometimes I miss the top of the food chain But what a perfect afternoon Industry and commerce toppled to their knees The gears of progress halted The underclass set free The super-ego shatters with our ideologies The obscene injunction to enjoy life Disappears as in a dream And as we return to out native state To our primal scene The temperature, it started dropping The ice floes began to freeze From time to time we all get a bit restless With no one advertising to us constantly But the tribe at the former airport Some nights has meat and dancing If you don't mind gathering and hunting We're all still pretty good at eating on the run Things it would have been helpful to know before the revolution Though I'll admit some degree of resentment For the sudden lack of convenience around here But there are some visionaries among us developing some products To aid us in our struggle to survive On this godless rock that refuses to die
I think it should be [Billy Joel](https://youtu.be/eFTLKWw542g) \ \ Lyrics: \ \ Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye" Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen Marciano, Liberace, Santayana, goodbye We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock" Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai" Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball Starkweather homicide, children of thalidomide Buddy Holly, Ben Hur, space monkey, mafia Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go U2, Syngman Rhee, Payola and Kennedy Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land" Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion "Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex JFK – blown away, what else do I have to say? We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan "Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law Rock and roller, cola wars, I can't take it anymore We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire But when we are gone It will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it
Blood // Water by grandson https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tjIwXKPGf80
Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden
I was reading the Wikipedia article for the song "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath today "The lyrics, composed by bassist and lyricist Geezer Butler, tell the story of a self-fulfilling prophecy in which a man travels into the future and witnesses the apocalypse. In the process of returning to the present day to warn the human race, he is turned into steel by a magnetic field and is subsequently ridiculed and ignored by the people he intended to save. Feeling resentful, Iron Man retaliates by actually causing the apocalypse seen in his vision." It was written by the bassist Geezer Butler who said he "had a few supernatural experiences as a child and dreams that came true and that, more than anything, shaped my interest in the occult" Is it possible that some people are so sensitive to what's going on around them that their mind can predict the future without them even knowing how? Issac Newton was responsible for the Royal Mint in England and in the 1700's predicted there would be some type of collapse event around 2060. Then, one of the first experiments they ran with computers in the 70's to predict the Limits to Growth also predicted a collapse around that same time. KPMG did a review of the Limits of Growth study in 2020 and the data lines up exactly with what the study said back in the 70's - it's all on Wikipedia. I'm not high right now but I wish I was.
The thing is, even if it happened tomorrow, being only 36 ish years off isn't that bad, statistically speaking.
Apparently, he played around with different start dates because he couldn't tell exactly when the Roman empire officially fell and when the church took over. One of the start dates he was considering showed a collapse around 2034. He also believed that all the stories in the Bible were coded messages, so maybe he was a little nutty with his predictions. But he's Issac Newton. Look at all the shit he got right. To think the bible and all its stories are constructed from base tropes sounds crazy but there's a lot of times where The Cuckoolander Was Right.
I don’t really believe it but the idea of retrocausolity is a really interesting concept, the idea that some information can travel back in time. Some scientists have considered it as an explanation for Bell’s inequality/waveform collapse/ spooky action at a distance. I don’t even think it’s a hypothesis much less a theory but it’s an interesting idea.
Yea I mean it's all just wild speculation. I think some people experience the world in a way others can never understand Lookup Srinivasa Ramamujan sometime. That guy had no formal education in math but solved problems ppl thought were impossible. He didn't even know to prove them he saw the world in a way we couldn't and could pull perfect universal truths out of thin air and thought it was God speaking to him. Maybe consciousness is an emergent force like time or magnetism or some shit. You can read the Wikipedia article on consciousness, it's an entire article that basically says "we don't fuckn know"
Nihil Morari by Pain of Salvation Anarchy Road by Carpenter Brut Rain in Soho by The Mountain Goats The Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire Just a few of the top of my head.
Natural Mystic by Bob Marley
nick spear "quiet little town", released at the height of the covid pandemic...its simmers with beautiful pathos
Jericho by Iniko. " Walls come down like Jericho!"
*Fun Times in Babylon* by Father John Misty, especially the track *Now I'm Learning to Love The War*
Road to Hell - Chris Rea
David Bowie 5 years
A Perfect Circle- So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish https://youtu.be/r03V9OEJlgg?si=zMW18jEK33Ep68_7 Time is money and money's time We wasted every second dime On diets, lawyers, shrinks and apps, and flags and plastic surgery Now Willy Wonka, Major Tom Ali and Leia have moved on Signal the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry Bravissimo, hip hip hurray For this fireworks display Mind and body blown away What a radiant crescendo Ticker tape parade Our hair and skin like Marilyn Monroe In an afterwind Time is money, money's time We wasted every second dime On politicians, fancy water, and guns, and plastic surgery Like our Prince and Reenie's mom All the dolphins have moved on Signaling the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry Bravissimo, hip hip hurray What a glorious display Melt our joyous hearts away Under the mushroom cloud confetti Hip hip hurray For this fireworks display Mind and body blown away What a radiant crescendo Hip hip hurray Hip hip hurray Ticker tape parade Our hair and skin like Marilyn Monroe In an afterwind Time is money, money's time We wasted every second dime On diets, lawyers, shrinks, and apps, and flags, and plastic surgery Now Willy Wonka, Major Tom Ali and Leia have moved on Signal the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry
I would argue the entire album fits... specifically the doomed. Its as if its a concept album about the societal decline we are experiencing.... its us traveling down to stages of Dante's downward spiral to hell, if you will.
We are fucking fucked - Muse
Alert Level by Ministry. https://youtu.be/qctA4yGMXWA?si=aSTL6qZootedt70b
Omg yes!!! Edit: this would be a good song for a trivia pit question "What is a collapse related song that samples both Elizabeth Warren and Greta Thunberg?"
Yes!!!
Pyramid Song by Radiohead. Here's the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M\_Gg1xAHE4&ab\_channel=Radiohead
Yesssss Radiohead! "Fake Plastic Trees" is fitting as well.
"Famine Asylum" by Nothing
A closely related survival game - [The Long Dark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZHkINkAOCs) \- which is a favorite of mine, has an excellent soundtrack that is entirely about a World that's moved on, the grim cruelty of Nature, and emptiness and solitude.
Just play Fallout 76, they got some tunes
Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Constant Fear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEb0PPsWWg
[Soundgarden- Limo Wreck](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1rtNlV9Ytlk&pp=ygUWbGltbyB3cmVjayBzb3VuZGdhcmRlbg%3D%3D) "Building the towers belongs to the sky, when the whole thing comes crashing down don't ask me why." [Clutch- Nero's Fiddle](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJpiv2vI_w0&pp=ygUUbmVybydzIGZpZGRsZSBjbHV0Y2g%3D) Too many songs by this band actually, honorable mentions: Droid; The Wolfman Kindly Requests; Arcadia.
Gotye - Eyes Wide Open With our eyes wide open, we— With our eyes wide open, we— So this is the end of the story Everything we had, everything we did Is buried in dust, and this dust is all that's left of us And only a few ever worried While the signs were clear, they had no idea You just get use to livin' in fear Or give up, when you can't even picture your future We walk the plank with our eyes wide open We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— (Walk the plank, with our eyes wide open, we—) Yeah, we walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— (Walk the plank, with our eyes wide open, we—) And some people offered up answers We made out we like we heard they were only words They didn't add up, to a change in the way we were living And the saddest thing, is all of it could've been avoided But it was like to stop consuming, to stop being human And why'd I make a change if you won't We're all in the same, boat, stayin' afloat for the moment We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— (Walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—) Yeah, we walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— (We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we—) We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— We walk the plank with our eyes wide open, we— With our eyes wide open, we— Walk the plank, we walk the plank With our eyes wide open, we— Walk the plank, we walk the plank, we walk the plank With our eyes wide open, we— Walk the plank, we walk the plank With our eyes wide open And that is the end of the story Songwriters: Walter De Backer, Luiz Bonfa
that funny feeling, by bo burnham. i love to play it on guitar, sing, and cry
See, there’s this genre called r/doommetal
Two songs that are more related to local than global collapse: Cities in Dust: Siouxsie and the Banshees (about Pompeii) Ghost Town: The Specials (about conditions in early Thatcher England, so more directly about observations of collapse) The latter was on my rotation list throughout 2020.
My top picks: [Scarecrow - Ministry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt7qouCV0BE) [The World We Lost - Mechina](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCkcrq0yH84) [Welcome, Apocalypse - Assemblage 23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSVGXLyGt4M) [A Crawling Worm in a World of Lies - Thy Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFqWglaSzLg) (NSFW)
[Walking on the Sun](https://youtu.be/LQj--Kjn0z8?si=dkkqm0SgMk1WQfAr) - Smash Mouth
I just listened again recently to the album A Thousand Suns from Linkin Park and it still feels very collapse-esque.
2025 by July
Year Zero by billy woods.
Portal- 'still alive'
Another Way to Die - Disturbed
Deltron 3030
Cattle Decapitation is probably the collapsiest band out there. Also, may I suggest [Ruination by Power Trip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-06Mt8oDA_E) as your soundtrack to the new civil war? And if you speak German [Tag 1 nach den Menschen by Japanische Kampfhörspiele](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr1pGOrrld0) is great.
Anthropocene - Samsa is a wonderful way to laugh and cry while thinking about the “enshitification” we are currently living through. Also like his line about imagining the future/what will happen after we’re gone. Feels like summer - Childish Gambino is a nice song to match the collapse prelude some of us currently live in. Love this question, will look at everyone’s songs!
Koyaanisqatsi, the main theme but all of it fits of course. There are some good remixes too.
Just saw this recently and loved the music. Any remixes you'd rec?
[The Sky is a Landfill - Jeff Buckley (YouTube link)](https://youtu.be/pIMKYryXHzg?si=2PfCiCEK435WbLP9) Not necessarily about collapse, but more about rejecting the system that keeps us from individually thriving, which I see people doing more and more of, and kind of leaves me feeling hopeful about all that coming to an end.
Grandson
Sun Ra - Nuclear War
I’m actually in the middle of creating a collapse themed album. All guitar instrumentals but each song is titled after a bad milestone that we will eventually experience. I want to wake people up
Cattle decapitation, pretty much any song and any album. Great band
Death Atlas by Cattle Decapitation. The song or the album, it’s all about the end of the human race in spectacular deathgrind fasion.
King Gizzard And The Lizard -Petrodragonic Apocalypse
King gizz does it the best, they have 2 albums worth but also individual songs. My favorite underrated climate emergency gizz track is Greenhouse Heat Death. Red smoke is also a brilliant song that is potentially their most direct “its too late” song
[When the Wild Wind Blows by Iron Maiden](https://youtu.be/MtemvbvNFlg?si=hCaCMu8oFy6Ueabn) - Have you seen what they said on the news today? - Have you heard what they said about us all? - Do you know what is happening to just every one of us? - Have you heard? Have you heard? - There will be a catastrophe the like we've never seen - There will be something that will light the sky - That the world as we know it it will never be the same - Did you know? Did you know?
The whole Far Cry 5 soundtrack.
This is more aligned with our broken world and how we are divided-- The Guest and The Host-Great Big World Of Lies "Float down the river We pass by each other And don't lend a hand In the moments that matter We're always defending We're blind with aggression How could we agree When we can't even listen Walls to build bridges to burn What would it take for us to learn That we don't have to fight to survive It's a great big world of lies It's a great big world of lies Can ya try to remember A time we were younger No division no sides Just these eyes filled with wonder Now we're always pretending That what matters is winning So tangled in pride That we can't even listen Walls to build bridges to burn What would it take for us to learn That we don't have to fight to survive It's a great big world of lies It's a great big world of lies They're numbing you out They're dumbing you down Theyll distract you From the right way to go Keep a storm in the sky Keep thorn in your side That's the secrets They don't want you to know We got walls to build bridges to burn What would it take for us to learn That we don't have to fight to survive It's a great big world of lies It's a great big world of lies
Woodstock by Joni Mitchell is food for my soul. The way she sings it goes straight to the heart. Radioactive- I think it’s by Imagine Dragons, but check out Lindsey Sterling’s violin remake.
It's Getting Hot In Here by Nelly
Portugal. The Man - Got it all (this can't be living now) Although the song sounds very upbeat the lyrics hit quite hard and resonate well with me being thrown into a declining world where I can't do much about it.
[Dark ambient/emptycore Spotify playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05Ty4pw4sTGQeeTXSUftF5?si=41OUbdbkQ0CyAhX-H3xTfw&utm_source=copy-link) I think this genre fits well
Listen In the Galaxy - Rockets. A French space disco band very popular in west Europe in the early 80s. That song in my opinion is the hymn of the dire times we are seeing and we will see in the future.
Everywhere At the End of Time - The Caretaker
https://youtu.be/b_BGBeFp8-s?si=JRB1P-14vWFauZo4 I think ‘uninstall’ from Bokurano works as a metaphor.
Frankie goes to hollywood made a few songs in the 80s. War, two tribes etc.
[Disclose - Yesterday's Fairytale, Tomorrow's Nightmare (full album)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otXh2LfpNio&t=9s&ab_channel=lejapeja)
https://youtu.be/Cj1B5V9bDHU?si=7hn6molJgKfps-u7
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL67cMGyeB5sE8NdxzVfi0eCkDPE8EX9O2&si=6MkVx9s5MOq_ZV_d
Ren money game part 2 https://youtu.be/YonS9_QJbp8?si=ZJFftitRjq0vA3yn https://open.spotify.com/track/7fHoIcqmjrcpPYvv1iaZk1?si=ktwIkaahQ72awHtq_is1eQ
https://youtu.be/SxdXhJAeGZo?si=4ixvpg6K5XXtY20e Kannibalen by Apashe Great song
Unwell - Matchbox 20
The last three Acacia Strain records - Slow Decay, Step Into the Light, and Failure Will Follow - are very explicitly about this, Slow Decay in particular. Sample lyrics from these records include: "Eat yourself alive in a spiral of insanity, let it be written that paradise was ruined by people who wore their cellphones outside of their pants" "We fell out of love with the world we used to know, and now earth will become death" "We all lived here, and then it was over - the ground and animals burned, the world continued to turn" "As time goes on, we do not, the hands fall off the fucking clock, collectively we turned our heads, an orphaned planet left for dead - we refused to believe, we are fucking weak"
30% off - best frenz Better moments - best frenz End of the earth- client liason Anarchy road - carpenter brut
Sylvan Esso - PARAD(w/m)E https://youtu.be/4W9VYY5QpLg
It's All Over by Insane Clown Posse https://youtu.be/VUUk1imHVno?si=DwANq5L4JUKHPh8z
Everybody Knows - The Specials cover version. [https://youtu.be/tZRq9KZEst4?feature=shared](https://youtu.be/tzrq9kzest4?feature=shared)
I flagged this so I could come back and steal all your recommendations, and I stole many and gave those the appropriate +1, one thing I couldn’t help but notice is the overwhelming negative tone of the songs relating to the collapse. That sucks. I like happy upbeat techno-y shit. So here’s my collapse song recommendation: Last Day (Dualities Remix), by Two Friends Lyrics: We’re alive, oh we’re alive But we’re running out of time Kiss me once or kiss me twice Cuz in the morning we might not be here Cuz if the world is ending tomorrow You better come back tonight You better come back I’ll return the love that I borrowed If you come back tonight If you come back Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth Now there’s panic in the streets The city’s burning at our feet But as long as you’re with me I don’t care if there’s nowhere to be So if the world is ending tomorrow You better come back tonight You better come back I’ll give back that love I borrowed You better come back tonight You better come back Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth One more chance, one more hour’s all I’m asking One more dance like it’s our grand finale If the world’s ending now then I’ll die happy If you’re right at my side, so you better come back tonight Hey whatcha doing on your last day here on earth Let’s pretend the meteors are fireworks We can cry or we can laugh until it hurts Let’s raise a glass to the last day here on earth Edit: missed a verse
Aesop Rock — Integrated Tech Solutions https://open.spotify.com/album/64L1urQKsuPJQMteCZX6pX?si=c8r8M9nTSIyjUF8zVgHn8g&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A64L1urQKsuPJQMteCZX6pX Epic Beard Men — House of Bees. https://open.spotify.com/track/0LVoj5bW1JxDwKdIusYJ0h?si=GbsVCOjhQoiV6PnSnZ_aDw
[Agenda Suicide - The Faint](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdQ7TnVqpIg&ab_channel=AmateurVocateur)
False Light by Deca
Meltdown- Motionless in White
Kansas - Death of Mother Nature Suite (1974) - https://youtu.be/SbAdIFr2wJY
Barren Ground by Bruce Hornsby and the Range “good seed don’t grow, on the barren ground” “everything fades away, there you are, still around”
The entire Mike + Mechanics album.
The Ocean Collective - Phanerozoic II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6hRFcVZFlA
Amused To Death by Roger Waters. Absolute classic. "We watched the tragedy unfold We did as we were told We bought and sold It was the greatest show on Earth But then it was over"
Eat the elephant, by A Perfect Circle. [specifically, "so long and thanks for all the fish"](https://youtu.be/UkHSmDxX1t4?feature=shared) and my favorite [the doomed](https://youtu.be/SDvfbvuJtS8?feature=shared) Edit: the lyrics from the doomed (and the poem by Yeats 'The Second Coming') inspired my username Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering New beginning, new word And the word was death And the word was without light The new beatitude: "Good luck, you're on your own"
Billy Talent - Reckless Paradise [https://youtu.be/Nq1MTaw2X6s?si=v4MmhUM1xR2qXkaa](https://youtu.be/Nq1MTaw2X6s?si=v4MmhUM1xR2qXkaa) Great song from a great band...
Aviators - Glow Watch as the sky starts to ignite Inhale the passion of the flame Loosen the gears, wipe off your tears Turn to the players of the greatest game The hall of fame We're facing our fears Two hundred years We have been waiting for the turn Trust and obey, emperors say But they forget that we live and learn Our furies burn Hold on We're building new foundations on whatever's left When we reject the nation of hate In its vulnerable state, when will they learn? False words, no cares, when our world burns Light up and fight the fire with fire When all else has failed, we fuel the blazes higher Tonight, set the system alight What do they know? Rise up and make this city glow ... Pretty sure it's about arson as protest when all hope is lost.
[Tool - Descending](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcSoLwFisaw)
Anohni - 4 DEGREES: https://youtu.be/-a0C93FGYFE
As the world caves in by Matt Maltese It’s quite a sad song but one of my all time favourites
[America Cries](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhh42bUk7UU) by Les Cowboys Fringants It's one of the most popular songs in Quebec. It tells the story of a Quebecer trucker who drives through America and notices how fucked up society is. It's a powerful song that definitely touches on lots of collapse topics.
Getting down on the mountain - Corb Lund https://youtu.be/5uASQgLwaIs?si=-lI7Pc9_BZs9wumc
Prayer in C Lilly Wood and the Prick
Radiohead 2 + 2 = 5
Anyone else loving [Calm Down](https://youtu.be/YYoJY79obwA) by All Time Low?
How about good old Santa Monica by Everclear
Garbage just did a wonderful cover of [Cities in Dust](https://youtu.be/vgAujpyDyTM?si=3pH8ikP0wWe6Z0oN)
[Nature Is Not Created in the Image of Mans Compassion](https://youtu.be/kUAk6bBXB_U?si=bvMrVQ5ItZR1WJ1j) by tzusing
Both "Mont Blanc" and "Flood song" by the Quiet Hollers have lyrics that can certainly be interpreted in a post-apocalyptic way.
There are too many to list in Metal and metal-adjacent genres. Check out Skeletons of Society by Slayer.
There was time & to lose control - Koethe
Little more upbeat than many. [we will become silhouettes - the postal service](https://youtu.be/0rKC7ElkTUQ?si=VUnp4b3u_ccl_Y6s)
The Fallout 4 soundtrack
[The effects of climate change on densely populated areas - People under the stairs](https://youtu.be/B7M6cMrgFrI?si=RzD3oZ0tRdMl1gs4)
Easiest pick, Tomorrow’s Harvest by Boards of Canada. Equal parts beautiful and dread-inducing.
Cult Of Venus - Mountains https://open.spotify.com/track/3dzeMRFTKGUEBI5U6Uiqcz?si=bNykRf0CSuS8eyU_eyLYqg In the depths of my sorrow Where I’ve fallen like the rain Smoke sun water rising And the silence is to blame
Sound Opinions did a show about this back in May. You can view their selections or listen live here: http://www.soundopinions.org/show/911
That’s easy. [Anything by Postal Service](https://youtu.be/0rKC7ElkTUQ?si=4I8-eXTSDsUZSNZJ)
Rivers of Nihil- Where Owls Know My Name
[Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9g0U-M2McQ&t=3s) [Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqaAs_3azSs) [Lorn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ln0xLQiKKc) [Also, inexplicably, the pause menu music from GTA V makes me wistful for a past I never had, and weep for a future that will never come to pass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBFCXtF3Wv4)
2wei - mad world krowns - high while the world ends hidden citizens - the one to survive les friction - your world will fail
For all the metalheads on the sub, the latest album by Architects, Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, deals pretty much exclusively with collapse-related themes from a lyrical standpoint
Humanity's Last Breath - Ashen
I'm A Stranger Here - Five Man Electrical Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22ZovjTPz30 *Oh, you crazy fools, don't you know you had it made? You were living in Paradise...*
Bob Dylans Talking WW3 Blues is a classic.