Me, I think it’s far too artless and literal to invoke. More [...]]]> The next twenty-four hours is bound to contain numerous mentions and references to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It,” and people are bound to be playing it loudly in their cars, houses, and apartments while  laughing to themselves.

Me, I think it’s far too artless and literal to invoke. More importantly, the soundtrack to the end of the world isn’t R.E.M. It’s Patsy Cline.

Her voice, ethereal, is like a distant cry from a far-off place that might be the after-life. She experienced sorrow and heartache throughout her tragically short life, and much of that pain is transferred through her earnest and heartbreaking delivery. Listening to her, I feel every note to the point that I don’t even hear the words. Willie Nelson wrote “Crazy?” Great. Who cares? Patsy made it hers. There’s a genuine, innate sadness in her songs, delivered with a sigh of relief that the worst is over.

To me, her voice has always been the sound of the world ending.

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What’s your soundtrack to the Apocalypse?