"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

band

Super Furry Animals Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciar ...

. It was the last

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 ...

to be released from the '' Rings Around the World'' album and reached number 30 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on its release in January 2002. Singer

Gruff Rhys Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed ...

has variously described the track as being about the extinction of mankind and as "a romantic song about growing old". Critical reaction to the track was generally mixed with some reviewers claiming the track compares unfavourably with the band's previous work while others were enthusiastic in their praise. A computer generated promotional

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was produced to accompany "It's Not the End of the World?"'s release as a single. Directed by Numero 6 the video won the special jury prize at the 2002

Imagina IMAGINA (originally known as International Forum of New Images) was the name of an annual festival on computer graphics (CG) and communications technology (CT) that took place from 1986 to 2000 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. It was created by the Institu ...

Festival. An alternative video, directed by Dylan Jones, was included on the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release of ''Rings Around the World'' featuring archive footage of

nuclear explosions A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, tho ...

Themes and recording

"It's Not the End of the World?" is "a romantic song about growing old" according to singer

. In an interview with British newspaper ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' Rhys discussed the song in the context of parent record '' Rings Around the World''. The band abandoned the idea of making a "save the world" concept album as they reasoned that "when people talk about saving the world they're really talking about saving humans. The reality is that humans are the problem". "It's Not the End of the World?" expands on this idea with Rhys stating that the song is about

human extinction Human extinction, also known as omnicide, is the hypothetical end of the human species due to either natural causes such as population decline from sub-replacement fertility, an asteroid impact, or large-scale volcanism, or to anthropogenic ...

: "maybe we'll all die but the world'll still be here, even if it's a dark, singed piece of rock flying around the sun". The track was recorded in 2000 at Bearsville Studios,

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

and was produced by the Super Furry Animals and Chris Shaw.

Musical structure

"It's Not the End of the World?" is 3 minutes 25 seconds long and is in the key of C major. The track begins with just a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, featuring an

echo effect The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of th ...

, playing the descending notes C, B, A, G, F, E, D and G before the band join on 13 seconds with the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

during which

sings the word "why" several times in a falsetto voice, accompanied by

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arranged by Sonia Slay and the group. The first verse follows on 38 seconds with Rhys accompanied by a basic 4/4 beat provided by drummer

Dafydd Ieuan Dafydd Ieuan (born 1 March 1969) is a Welsh musician and producer, best known as the drummer with the band Super Furry Animals, The Peth and The Earth (band). Ieuan played with Gruff Rhys in their early band Ffa Coffi Pawb. He was a drummer f ...

, sparse

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 ...

and a melody line played by

Huw Bunford Huw "Bunf" Bunford (born Huw Cennydd Bunford; 15 September 1967 in Cardiff, Wales) is a musician best known as the guitarist in Super Furry Animals. Biography Bunford studied at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University) and worked as a te ...

on guitar. The first chorus enters at 1 minute 4 seconds with Rhys singing the words "as our hair turns white, all the stars still shine so bright above, at least it's not the end of the world" while Bunford plays a guitar

counter-melody In music, a counter-melody (often countermelody) is a sequence of notes, perceived as a melody, written to be played simultaneously with a more prominent lead melody. In other words, it is a secondary melody played in counterpoint with the prima ...

. Another bridge and verse follow before the second chorus appears at 2 minutes 2 seconds with Rhys this time singing "as our hair turns grey everything is far from A-A-

A-ok ''A-okay'' or ''A-OK'' () is a more intensive word form of the English term '' OK''. The phrase can be accompanied by, or substituted with, the OK sign. History The phrase "" had been in use at least as far back as 1952, when it appeared in an ...

". The outro begins at 2 minute 23 seconds, with the chorus repeating before the bridge plays through several times, ending on a C chord.

Alternative version

A Force Unknown remix of "It's Not the End of the World?" is included on the DVD version of '' Rings Around The World''. The track is 3 minutes 52 seconds in length and begins with just cymbals then drums before the

. The remix follows the arrangement of the original with

's vocals and all instruments heavily effected by

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

. Instrumentation is sparse with only occasional

Critical response

Critical reaction to "It's Not the End of the World?" was generally mixed. Website Drowned in Sound described the song as "sweet and charming" but stated that, although it is a good album track it isn't strong enough to stand up on its own as a single and is rather "bland" compared to some of the band's other songs such as " Demons" and " Fire in My Heart". The ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' called the song "a bit rubbish" by the Super Furries' "usual high standards" and went as far as to claim that "

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

was shot for less". The ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' claimed the track is "guaranteed to induce the same type of melancholic, goose-bumpy splendor that tunes like

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' '

Waterloo Sunset "Waterloo Sunset" is a song by British rock band the Kinks. It was released as a single in 1967, and featured on their album '' Something Else by the Kinks''. Composed and produced by Kinks frontman Ray Davies, "Waterloo Sunset" is one of the ...

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

's '

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

' and

Jack Bruce John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...

's '

Theme for an Imaginary Western "Theme for an Imaginary Western" is a song written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown. The song is sometimes referred to as "Theme from an Imaginary Western". It has been performed by many artists, including Mountain, Jack Bruce, Leslie West, Colosseum ...

' still do", ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' described it as one of the best songs on parent album '' Rings Around the World'', comparing it to the work of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

while ''

'' called it a "honey-dripping pop classic". Adrien Begrand of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' claimed the track "sounds like any of Blur's best ballads".

Music videos

Dylan Jones video

A Dylan Jones directed video was included on the

version of ''Rings Around the World'' on its release in July 2001. The video consists entirely of archive footage of

and nuclear technicians.

Keyboard player A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical ins ...

Cian Ciaran has stated that the band deliberately tried to avoid making videos that looked like just "another pop promo ... like MTV" for the DVD version of ''Rings Around the World'' and asked the directors to make the visuals as "extreme as possible". Ciaran claims the directors had to "work even harder at creating something interesting" due to the limited budget available.

Numero 6 video

A promotional

, directed by animator Numero 6 (also known as David Nicolas), was produced to accompany the release of "It's Not the End of the World?" as a single. According to

the band made separate videos for ''Rings Around the Worlds three singles as they saw the videos included on the DVD release of the album as "pure art" whereas they needed promotional music videos that were more like adverts for the songs. The video won the special jury prize at the 2002

Festival and took silver at the

D&AD Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

awards in the same year. The video begins with a shot of a computer generated man with a

and sunglasses walking down a set of spiral stairs singing along with "It's Not the End of the World?'s" chorus. A baby is then shown playing with a toy

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

before a man seen receiving his call up papers, having his head shaved by a barber then leaving on a

steam train A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

as people outside wave goodbye. The next shot features a battleship—the video then cuts to a small boy playing with a toy ship in the bath before joints of meat on hooks are seen moving from right to left through a tiled room spattered with blood. A shot of a military commander on horseback addressing his troops appears before the second chorus which again features a guitarist singing along as he walks down spiral stairs. After brief footage of a tank driving across a desert landscape a baby is shown playing with a paper aeroplane. A hat is placed on the baby's head and the head is then removed and fitted onto the body of a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

pilot. The next scene shows a fleet of bombers bombing a city while an anti-aircraft gunner fires at them and troops parachute down. A soldier is seen running across a bombed out city before two opposing troops are shown repeatably stabbing each other with bayonets on a battlefield landscape filled with human skulls. This scene is intercut with footage of two military leaders playing

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. The third chorus features similar footage to the first two—a singer walking down a set of stairs. The two military leaders are then seen appearing on a

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

, each pressing a buzzer which makes an image of a skull behind them light up. The video cuts to a shot of a baby sitting between two

nuclear missiles Nuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task. ''Strategic'' nuclear weapons are used primari ...

before a zoomed out model of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

shows multiple

mushroom cloud A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud of debris, smoke and usually condensed water vapor resulting from a large explosion. The effect is most commonly associated with a nuclear explosion, but any sufficiently ener ...

s as the planet explodes (this image was used as the front cover for

Digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case ...

CD version of the single). The final shot sees the two opposing commanders holding hands and kissing on a tiny piece of the earth as it floats through space while a red heart lights up behind them. The Numero 6 video appears on the DVD release of the band's greatest hits album '' Songbook: The Singles, Vol. 1'' and the DVD version of the "It's Not the End of the World?" single. David Nicolas also directed the Supermen Lovers' Starlight music video in 2001.

Track listing

All songs by Super Furry Animals. *

CD (6121752), 12" (6121756) #"It's Not the End of the World?" – 3:30 #"The Roman Road" – 5:18 #"Gypsy Space Muffin" – 3:32 *

(6721759) #"It's Not the End of the World? (Video)" – 3:30 #"The Roman Road" – 5:18 #"Gypsy Space Muffin" – 3:32

Personnel

– vocals, string arrangements *

–

, string arrangements *

Guto Pryce Guto Dafydd Pryce ( Welsh pronunciation: ; born 4 September 1972) is a Welsh musician best known as bass guitar player and songwriter in the band Super Furry Animals. With them he has recorded nine UK Albums Chart Top 25 studio albums, plus num ...

–

, string arrangements * Cian Ciaran –

keyboards 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 ...

, string arrangements *

– drums, string arrangements *Harriet Harris –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

*S. Herbert – violin *Jackie Norrie – violin *Sonia Slany – violin, string arrangements *Nick Barr –

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

*Clare Smith – viola *Nick Cooper –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

*Sophie Harris – cello

Chart positions

References

External links

*
The End Of The World with Josh Clark Spotify Playlist
to accompany the End Of The World with Josh Clark Podcast series. {{DEFAULTSORT:It's Not The End Of The World? Super Furry Animals songs 2002 singles Animated music videos