To see the lyrics, click on the name of the version you are interested in (on the left).

It is quite regularly played, though it has not been played sine 2003. In 1998, it was rather played with the lyrics and the sample. But in 2002, The Divine Comedy favoured an instrumental version.

This emphatic song is about the end of the world, which according to Neil Hannon is supposed to take place very soon. It parodies the catastrophe films from Hollywood and contains maybe sample from some of them.

The most interesting part for us here is the text, read by Dexter Fletcher who is said to be a friend of Miggy Barradas's, The Divine Comedy's drummer from 1998 to 2001. The text is quite tongue in cheek and gives an accurate description of our society. It ends with a list of all evils we could die of. The San Andreas Fault, in California, frequently provokes earthquakes and it is said that one day, the whole region will be swallowed in the Big One. El Niño is a climate phenomenon which disturbs the weather and impact on global warming. You will appreciate the reference to Chemical war (remember the song was written in 1998, not 2003). AIDS actually stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.


The name of the song may also be a reference to a Peter Gabriel song in his 1977 album I, of which the cover art was also a reference for A Short Album About Love.