Dumpster on fire is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot lately as the closest approximation to a good answer to the question “what is really going on in the world?”. I have great appreciation for it. It is the right amount of funny, relevant, and somehow almost scientifically accurate without being boring. It is quick and easy - perfect to get out of a small talk conversation you do not want to have, yet still make a memorable enough impression to not be considered rude for rushing out of it. Who has time for small talk when the world is, indeed, a dumpster on fire?

Not to start your week only with doom and gloom, there are some positives to the situation, really. Consider the fact that after big forest fires, the soil becomes so fertile that an entirely new ecosystem could sprout back up. I like to think this is a moment of creating a clean slate. It will definitely be messy, horrifying, and traumatic, but it will have a point, a purpose, if you will. It simply must have it.

There is always something that can get us through these trying times, and I firmly stand behind music as the right companion. Somewhat inspired by the five stages of grief framework, I have devised a three-stages-of-the-apocalypse approach to the soundtrack suggested below. Hopefully it will make some sense out of the chaos that is both the world today and my musical taste.

Using “ragers” as a description of these first entries to the soundtrack of the apocalypse is totally a double entendre I thought of. I imagine the beginning of the end as a very high-energy moment, think of the Big Bang and the start of the universe as we (sort of) know it. “Death Kink” by Fontaines D.C. and “Zero” by The Smashing Pumpkins carry that energy without being too explicitly about endings, beginnings, and other reasons for anger.

But if we had to go with the explicitly enraged musicians, Siouxie and the Banshees and IDLES are excellent examples of such, who add an element of social commentary. “Icon” by Siouxie and the Banshees would be on top of my list among their many incredible songs. As for IDLES, their whole discography is just about righteous anger, but if we had to zero in on an original tune of theirs, I recommend “Damaged Goods”, and for a cover – “The God That Failed”, originally by Metallica (also worth including in your apocalyptic playlist).

“99 Luftballons” by Nena is the most obvious choice because the song’s lyrics are about the absurdity of war and the hope of a brighter future. The original German lyrics almost suggest that such a future is also inevitable.

Balkan people know a bit (or a lot) about apocalypses because we are all fatalists at heart. But you would not know that if you ever went to a birth, wedding, or even a funeral, because the music would never suggest we have such tendencies. I can think of no better example than the cinematic masterpiece Underground (1995), co-written and directed by Emir Kusturitsa. The satirical dark comedy is set in two realities: an underground commune of former anti-Fascists, who believe they are still fighting the Nazi invasion of the Balkan states, and the overground Socialist reality. The soundtrack is as nonsensical as the premise of the film, especially “Underground Cocek” by Goran Bregovic: a reimagining of a mix of Balkan and Romani music, which is grotesquely fun when played as background music to the chaos developing on the screen. However, it somehow serves as that glimmer of hope because of its absurdity.

If the 80s and 90s Euro music is not for you, worry not, there are plenty of musicians inspired by the more modern chaos. Take “inferno” by yeule and “NORMAL” by emily jeffri, who express a new sort of radical hope, slightly more cautious and snarky, but hope nonetheless. There is also something about the sound of the early 2000s that represents optimism in a dark time. From that catalogue, at the end of a long day, “Pursuit of Happiness” by Kid Cudi seems oddly fitting.

I know this is not the proper meme spelling of the phrase, but this is a professional publication and I am and have always been very professional about writing. But I am also quoting something slightly different, not the meme, per se. I like the interpretation of it from the not-so-well-received film TENET, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. One of the most memorable moments culminates with a definition of the phrase, expressed then as “What's happened, happened.” The character of Neil understands it as a deep belief in the mechanics of the world, not so much a resignation and defeat. I would like to think that these next few songs represent that kind of feeling of understanding and acceptance.

“A Quick One Before the Eternal Worm Devours Connecticut” by Have a Nice Life is an obvious choice, not only because of its title (and the band name too), but its sound is also so soothing and ephemeral that it feels like a good ending, even if not the desired one… When I think of apocalypses as new beginnings, I remember the TV series Loki and the perfect use of The Velvet Underground’s “Oh Sweet Nuthin’ ” in a key scene in the second season. Without spoiling too much, it is a perfect representation of that moment of being suspended between two realities: a shattered and a new possible one.

To conclude this rollercoaster of a playlist, I offer another calm and quiet tune: “The End” by The Doors.

*Yana Peeva is Editor-in-Chief. Email them at feedback@thegazelle.org