This song is defensive, defeatist and cynical. I hope it’s also a little funny. You can be the judge.
I suspect you’re at least somewhat familiar with the sentiment here. The world is going to hell in a handbasket, video games are corrupting the hapless youth and Y2K panic is giving way to 2012 panic. There’s always something to panic about because it’s patently obvious that we’re all doomed, doomed, doomed and look, the sun’s coming up on another day of … maybe we should just go back to bed and wait for that inevitable end, huh?
When I first encountered the apocalyptic flavor of this mindset, it threw me for a loop. That was back in ‘91 while I was living in Orlando. I had a job bleaching the mold off of motel walls (Bush Sr. recession, remember), and one of my cheery coworkers informed me that he absolutely believed that the world was currently breathing its last and … well, there was no “and”. That was it. No more us.
It took me a while to try and work out a way to react to this statement. Eventually, the best I came up with was to flatly ignore it! Even if it were true, agonizing over it does nothing but petrify us and stop us from doing anything that might be worthwhile because, you know, we’re all gonna die anyway. That’s a miserable existence as far as I’m concerned, even if it does end up to be short.
So that little bit of history is deeply embedded in this cheery little song. Try not to worry too much about my mental health after you read the words … I once had a concerned fan come up to me during a coffeehouse gig to reassure me that Jesus did, in fact, love me. I thanked him, said I knew that, and that that wasn’t the point.
The point is that it’s just plain fun squeezing words like “entropy” into pop songs.
Oh, and if anyone reading this isn’t sure who the heck Donald Fagen is, he’s half of the classic jazz-rock band Steely Dan. They have a song called “Deacon Blue” which includes the immortal couplet “I cried when I wrote this song/Sue me if I play too long.” At least when I stole it, I dropped the name of the rightful owner.
lyrics
I hereby declare the beginning of the end
The end of the show
If I were you, I’d cut my losses
Grab my stuff and go
For mistakes will be made
Your attention will fade
And I’ll probably play too long
Maybe I should just end with this song
But I hereby declare the beginning of the end
The end of the day
Even though the sun hasn’t really risen yet
There’s nothing new to say
And why get out of bed
When everything’s been said?
Yes, why go to bed at all
At the end of the day
The end of the show
The beginning of the end?
“Oh what can be worth doin’
In this age of ugly ruin?”
Someone is bound to complain
“And what can be worth thinking
When the atmosphere is shrinking
And stupid songs keep running through my brain?”
So I hereby declare the beginning of the end
The end of the world
Everything’s falling apart for me tonight
So why bother with a rhyme that’s just too difficult to think of?
I’ve seen it in the signs
It’s the end of the line
Even though the line has barely begun
It’s the end of the world
The end of the show
The beginning of the end
“Oh what can be worth writing
When it isn’t that exciting?”
Someone is bound to complain
“And what can be worth trying
When I’m far too busy dying
And stupid songs keep running through my brain?”
So I hereby declare the beginning of the end
The end of this song
I cried like Donald Fagen when I wrote this
So go ahead and sue me if I play too long
But my back is to the wall
And I’m tired of the fight
Let’s let apathy win tonight
If this is the beginning
It’s only the beginning of the end
Beginning of the end
Yes, my face is on the floor again
I’m dizzy from the height
Let’s let entropy win tonight
If this is the beginning
It’s only the beginning
Of the end
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