Soundtrack for the Apocalypse: The Ultimate Survival Playlist

The best thing about REM’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)” is that you never have to sing along to it just to feel the groove. And you probably don’t remember all the words, anyway. You know the song will be on the list, so we might as well start the discussion with it. Everything easily feels more intense with a back sound. If the scene is heart-breaking, a sad-sounding tune makes your heart break into smaller pieces; in an action-heavy gunfight scene, an adrenaline-pumping drum beats improve the atmosphere a great deal. The same thing applies to an apocalypse because going down with a bang just sounds much more exciting than silently dissolving away. To prepare for the day when the apocalypse finally gets here, load the following survival playlist to your military-grade DAP and keep it safe along with your trusty earbuds. Don’t forget to recharge the battery now and then, too.

Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden

Many people think the music video for Black Hole Sun is just too creepy to love. It’s not exactly horror, but spooky enough to scare children away from the TV screen for a few minutes. It’s a somber tune with an impeccably written lyric. Some say Black Hole Sun is iridescent; depending on your mood and perspective, the song can soothe, uplift, unsettle, and even depress someone. It might even be all of those at the same time. Good music has its period of tensions and releases, but Black Hole Sun is almost entirely tension that drags you along with it, as if you’re on a psychedelic journey.

It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by REM

The title says it all. The tunes come straight at your face, and the lyric goes like a bombardment of political and pop culture references. Unless you’re a rapper, it’s probably the fastest song you’ll ever try to sing. It really doesn’t help that the lyric has no easily recognizable rhyme. Trying to memorize every word is a real struggle, but you wouldn’t feel underappreciated once you get to the remarkably catchy refrain. Some of the pop culture references sound a bit dated today, and everybody couldn’t care less about it.

Boom! by System of a Down

If you listen really hard, just about every song by System of a Down sounds like either an apocalypse is happening or you’re already in the gloomy post-apocalyptic time. “Boom!” certainly falls under the former category and pokes at the harsh reality that our world is under constant bombing. Part of the lyric says something to the effect that thousands of children are suffering from starvation, and yet billions are spent on weapons to bring about more deaths. The song came out at the height of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and so you can expect SOAD’s usual characteristics of angry poetry, weird delivery of statistics, and of course, shouting chorus. Some parts of the lyric are vague, but enjoyable.

No World For Tomorrow by Coheed and Cambria

This one takes you in a slightly different direction. “No World for Tomorrow” hasn’t seen the apocalypse yet, but it’s coming, and the song calls on everyone to take part in the battle to prevent the doomsday. With a blend of fast-paced pieces, calls for action, and convoluted sci-fi narrative, you’d easily fall for the idea because the end-of-the-world is coming sooner than later. The song gives a genuine sense of urgency, as if the world will no longer be here by the time the song is over. Such a rush also feels honest, because realistically the apocalypse is not yet here. But we’re expecting its arrival, anxiously but with excitement at the same time.

Planet B by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Quite a mouthful name indeed. Like all the other tracks in the “Infest the Rats’ Nest” album, Planet B talks about the environment and how human civilization mistreats nature so badly to where the planet is damaged beyond repair. There is also a super bug so dangerous that people plan to escape Earth to survive. We, too, wonder about just how lethal the super bug actually is that you have to abandon a planet to stay away from a bug. It turns out the song is titled “Planet B” as a stark warning that there’s no Planet B, which makes sense? This is your standard (but not typical, because the distinction matters) thrash metal track with shredding guitars, gruff vocals, thundering drums, and chugging riffs; these sound like an apocalypse already.

We think it’s absolutely fine to take your shot of post-apocalyptic dose from music instead of films, TV shows, novels, or comics. Just about every other form of entertainment has its own way to depict the world in the aftermath of a doomsday, so there’s no reason music can’t do the same thing, too. The depiction might not be as explicit and descriptive as you’ll get from visual and text formats, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You have the freedom to interpret the tunes and lyrics as you see fit, and that’s what makes it even better.

Other Things You Might Want to Know

Some post-apocalyptic music videos to get the mood going:

Tom Petty – You Got Lucky
2PAC – California Love
Foster the People – Helena Beat
Mushroomhead – The Heresy
Five Finger Death Punch – House of the Rising Sun
Lionface – No Hope State
Lindsey Sterling – The Arena
AHTCK – Antagonist
Unleash the Archers – Tonight We Ride
Undercode – Driven
Rick Springfield – Bop Till You Drop
V2A – Toxic
Duran Duran – The Wild Boys
Within Temptation – Paradise (What About Us?)
Gary Numan – My Name is Ruin
Britney Spears – Till the World Ends
Scandal – The Warrior
Billy Idol – Dancing with Myself
Pearl Jam – Do the Evolution
My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na
Linkin Park – The Catalyst
Heart – What About Love?
Don Henley – All She Wants to do is Dance
Public Enemy – GRID

Keep in mind that the music videos might be post-apocalyptic in nature, but the songs can have different themes.

What music genres are associated with post-apocalyptic aesthetics?

According to Aesthetics Wiki Fandom (yes, the internet is weird), there are at least five music genres typically associated with post-apocalyptic stuff, including Metal, Crust Punk, Aggrotech, Industrial, and Acoustic.

What are the worst post-apocalyptic movies?

It really is quite difficult to determine the worst of the worst, because you also have to take viewers’ subjectivity into account. For example, some people actually enjoy The Asylum films, regardless of how cheesy the acting and visual effects are. Instead of giving our own opinion about the matter, we figure it’s only best to give you a list based on Rotten Tomatoes’s scores.

The 5th Wave (2016)
The Swarm (1978)
The Postman (1997)
Space Truckers (1997)
Babylon A.D. (2008)
Left Behind (2014)
Future World (2018)
Solarbabies (1986)
Mars Needs Women (1966)
Megaforce (1982)

Keep in mind that Rotten Tomatoes has been wrong many times before, so you’re free to take their scoring system with the biggest grain of salt you have.

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