"It's Not the End of the World, But I Can See It from Here" is the twelfth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by Welsh

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer and lyricist Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The band was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruited Mike ...

, and the first from their fourth studio album '' The Betrayed''. It was released on 11 October 2009 in the UK, the first time they had released anything since April 2007. The release also features the song "AC Ricochet". Drummer

Ilan Rubin Ilan Rubin (born July 7, 1988) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is known primarily for playing drums with bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Paramore, and Angels & Airwaves. In 2008 he formed The New Regime, in which he sings and ...

wrote the song when he was 16.

Reception

BBC Music made comparisons with the music of

My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist Mi ...

and stated that the song consisted of "double-speed punk backbeat, the apocalyptic end-of-all-things lyrics, the massive terrace chant chorus, the strange effect on the vocals and the general air of churning turmoil". It was also described as being dramatic and raised expectations for the corresponding album. In a separate review BBC Wales Music said "it stands up with the likes of " Burn Burn" as one of their more abrasive hit singles". Click Music called the single "typical Lostprophets - big riffs and an even bigger chorus" and praised the guitar motifs, but mentioned that it lacked "lyrical credibility". Rock Louder was very favourable stating that it was a "Godzilla-sized" track that is "one of the catchiest songs to be released this year". Q magazine described it as "an end-of-days anthem tailor-made for the closing credits of Roland Emmerich's next apocalyptic blockbuster". It was included in

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off ...

's Playlist for the week starting 30 September 2009 who described it as a "stadium-sized singalong". Rock Sound magazine described the song as a "typical Prophets anthemic sing-alongs that’ll please the aficionados". Whilst in the Rock Sound Readers Poll 2009 it reached #5 in the Best Single category. However, not all reviews were positive. Gigwise thought the song was "one of the weaker tracks on the album" and noted that "despite two guitarists duelling each other admirably never truly feels as big as it should be".

Radio

The first airing of the single was on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

show on 19 August 2009, and on the same day was announced as Zane Lowe's Hottest Record of the day, with the DJ saying "''very few of the UK hard rockers have the catalogue of hits and here's another''" and also calling it a "''stomper''". It was then given a place on the A List playlist on BBC Radio 1, as well as being extensively played on Kerrang Radio and Total Rock Radio. Ian Watkins was on BBC Radio 1's Review Show with Nihal on 29 September 2009 to promote the single.

Live performances

The track was played when the band headlined the NME/Radio 1 Stage at Leeds Festival in 2010, appearing fifth in the setlist. And it was played first as part of an eight track setlist when the band appeared on the Main Stage of Radio 1's Big Weekend 2010 in Bangor, North Wales. It also featured in every single show of

The Betrayed Tour The Betrayed Tour was a concert tour by alternative rock band Lostprophets, taking place in 2010, in support of their fourth studio album '' The Betrayed''. The tour began on 18 January 2010, with three special dates in London, Cardiff and Bir ...

, nearly always being the second track in the setlist.

Music video

In the video the band is playing in a car park in a metropolis. Gradually all of the surrounding buildings crumble and the fragments float into the sky, eventually blocking out the sun. This is the first video to feature Luke Johnson on drums. Speaking behind the scenes of their next video " Where We Belong", Ian Watkins said that the video for the song had been directed by one of the band's closest friends, David Allen. Some scenes from the "Where We Belong" video were also filmed on the same day. The video was posted to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Visible Noise Visible Noise is a British independent record label that focuses solely on British bands. History Founded in 1998 by ex-Cacophonous Records manager Julie Weir, the label was created with the goal of fostering and breaking new UK rock music into ...

on 18 September 2009. It has since been viewed nearly two million times making it one of the band's most popular videos. It was nominated at the 2010 Kerrang Awards for Best Video, but lost out to

Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, composed of Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), James Johnston (bass, vocals), and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals). Currently signed to 14th Floor Records, they have r ...

's "The Captain". The video also ranked #20 on Kerrang TV's Rock 100 list for 2010.Kerrang TV's 2010 Rock 100
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Popular culture

* It was played on English TV soap

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

in the background in the

Queen Vic The Queen Victoria (more often referred to as The Queen Vic or The Vic) is the Victorian public house in the BBC soap opera, '' EastEnders''. It has the fictional address of 46 Albert Square, Walford, London E20. Appearance and developmen ...

pub on Thursday 3 June 2010.

Personnel

* Ian Watkins –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Lee Gaze Lee James Gaze (born 21 May 1975 in Pontypridd, Wales) is a Welsh musician. He is the lead guitarist, and also one of the founding members, of the Welsh/American alternative rock band No Devotion and previously a member of the Welsh rock band L ...

–

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Mike Lewis –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

Stuart Richardson Stuart Richardson (born 15 August 1973) is a Welsh musician. He is the bassist for the rock band No Devotion, formed by former members of Lostprophets and Geoff Rickly of Thursday. He is also the touring bassist for Thursday. Career Richardson ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Jamie Oliver James Trevor Oliver MBE OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and open many restaurants. Oliver reache ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, samples,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* Luke Johnson – drums, percussion

Chart positions

References

{{authority control Lostprophets songs 2009 singles 2008 songs