3 Classic Rock Songs About the End of Time

Why does it feel like death is so much a part of classic rock? Well, perhaps because it simply is. Not only have so many of our classic rock heroes passed on way too early—from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain—but ideas of life and death have permeated so many of the classic rock songs we hold dear in our hearts today.

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There is no escaping it. Classic rock—much of it, anyway—is about the end of life. Whether that be with an individual or the end of the world, itself. Here below, we wanted to examine three songs that do just that. A trio of tracks about the end. Indeed, these are three classic rock songs about the end of time.

[RELATED: One Classic Rock Song for Every Color of the Rainbow]

“The End” by The Doors from The Doors (1967)

This song sounds like madness. The kind spurred on by war, drugs, confusion, disillusionment, and everything else than ran rampant in the 1960s. If you were alive then, it was easy to think the world could be ending. Not only was society shifting in major ways but death was everywhere thanks to the Vietnam War. It’s no wonder The Doors and lead vocalist Jim Morrison were able to put that mood to melody and sing about the end, offering,

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes again

“Bad Moon Rising” by Creedence Clearwater Revival from Green River (1969)

Impending doom. Peril on the horizon. Run for cover. These could all be titles for this song from swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival. Sure, lead vocalist John Fogerty used the metaphor for a bad moon rising—we can all picture what that might look like—but the sentiment is the same. Something bad is about to happen. And everything you know may be in jeopardy. The world may end tonight. Indeed, on the track, Fogerty belts,

I see the bad moon rising
I see trouble’s on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin’
I see bad times today

Ah, don’t go ’round tonight
Well, it’s bound to take your life
There’s a bad moon on the rise

“2 Minutes to Midnight” by Iron Maiden from Powerslave (1984)

The clock is ticking. The great countdown is upon us. The heavy rockers Iron Maiden make that clear in this track, which has the band and its listeners seemingly tick down the time until the world ends. On this forlorn track, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson offers some pretty desperate and grotesque end-of-days imagery, singing,

Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we don’t need a reason
The golden goose is on the loose
And never out of season
Blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Here’s my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death

The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed
The glamour, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain
Don’t you pray for my soul anymore

2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom

2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb

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