Hold onto your cars, clothes, and beloved family pets, because the Four Horsemen didn’t seem to get the whole “late September rapture” memo. In case you’re not chronically online, a South African pastor predicted the rapture—i.e., when Jesus comes back and defeats all evil, and all the true, good believers float up to join him in that Waffle House in the sky—and parts of the internet went all in on it. BookTok, MomTok, CleanTok, step aside. RaptureTok is here.
There was a fairly viral buzz surrounding the upcoming end of the world, with reported instances of people selling their cars, asking queer influencers to take their dogs and countless “Rapture tips” videos popping up, which featured fantastic advice for floating away like “don’t hang onto anything” and “don’t look down.” We here at Radio UTD got to thinking about what songs we would have been jiving too during our trip to the clouds and/or the end of the world. Luckily, a new date for the rapture has been set, so if you’re looking to add to your “i’m so hot and surviving the apocalypse” playlist, we’ve got you covered (in no particular order).
Love, “Everybody’s Gotta Live”
Olivia Foster – Editor-in-Chief
While this track definitely isn’t a “beginning of the rapture” song, “Everybody’s Gotta Live” by Love definitely has solid, mournful apocalyptic vibe to it. It’s depressing in a down-to-earth kind of way, complete with a simple acoustic line and Arthur Lee’s soulful, wisened vocals. The lines “Everybody’s gotta live / And everybody’s gonna die” really speak to what the apocalypse (or the rapture of September 2025, RIP) is all about: everybody living, and everybody maybe definitely dying. It gives “walking across a desolate land after a disaster” energy—perfect for those who have survived the beginning of the end of the world.
Frank Ocean, “Bad Religion”
Yeram Park – Blog Writer
Imagine this: Jesus Christ is riding a horse towards you in slow-mo, haloed by flames rapidly swallowing up Earth (possibly global warming induced). You’ve got your earphones in listening to Frank Ocean because you saw this last minute blog post, and out of nowhere church-like organs hit both of your eardrums like catharsis. And your good friend Frank starts serenading you with a mild sense of debilitating yearning. You’re like: holy shit my time has come.
I think this would send the average person into premature biblical psychosis. Why not jump the gun, you know?
Cheekface, “You Always Want to Bomb the Middle East”
Mickey Dolphin – AMP, Managing Editor
I feel obligated to throw a Cheekface song in here since they’re kinda the prime apocalypse band; Greg Katz’s cheeky (no pun intended) talk-singing makes perfect background noise for experiencing existential horrors beyond your comprehension. “You Always Want to Bomb the Middle East” creates a jaunty tune out of America’s obsession with feeding the war machine, and why wouldn’t you want to get raptured on a high note? The end is nigh, whether it be through divine intervention or nuclear winter, and I’m planning on jamming to peppy indie-rock til my final breath.
The Wombats, “Let’s Dance to Joy Division”
Maria Shaikh – Blog Writer & DJ
The Wombats are who you listen to when your life is going so blindingly, extravagantly wrong that you have to take a second to be grateful for the clothes on your back, the heartbeat in your chest and the sky over your head—for lack of having a single damn thing else. When the Rapture arrives and the world tears in two like a lamb under a butcher’s knife, I’ll be hanging upside-down in a tree somewhere, watching the fire eating the horizon and, with this song bumping on my nuclear winter-proof MP3 player, the happiest I’ve ever been.
LCD Soundsystem, “Tribulations”
Idoreyin Eyobio – Blog Writer
You know, for a good majority of 2000s–2010s animated kids’ movies, their stories would conclude with a bombastic dance party scene with some song from a one-hit wonder that you need to snap your fingers to remember the name of when you see it in gossip forums, and in the scenes where even the antagonist would join in from their prison cell. I feel like “Tribulations” by LCD Soundsystem conveys the same meaning to me. But instead of joyous celebration, the instrumental of “Tribulations” is more frantic and techno-heavy. By the end of the song, James Murphy is practically yelling the lyrics, making it feel like you’re dancing through the Rapture and your credits on Earth, but still moving “for all your trials and tribulations.”
Queen, “Made In Heaven”
Summer Kulcsar – DJ
This song would be such a perfect rapture song because it just feels otherworldly. Freddie Mercury’s voice is powerful but also warm, almost like it’s carrying you upward. The mix of soft piano parts and big, epic swells makes it sound both personal and massive, like it’s speaking to your soul while also filling the sky. The lyrics are all about peace, love, and transcendence, which fits the vibe of leaving earth behind in a heavenly way. It’s dramatic, emotional, and uplifting, which is exactly the kind of song you’d want playing as you ascend.
Flyleaf, “All Around Me”
Nicolly Moreno – DJ Trainee
I’ve never really connected with traditional worship music. Flyleaf, though? Absolutely the exception. While they are labeled a Christian rock band, their sound is so versatile I can tie it to almost anything I’m living through. Their songs hit so hard I could honestly headbang my way up to heaven while my sins are getting washed clean. This track, especially, captures that craving to be closer to God and fully savor His presence. If heaven’s got a mosh pit, you already know I’ll be there.
Donovan, “Hurdy Gurdy Man “
Robert Tantiado – Blog Writer
Most prominent in the 2007 David Fincher flick Zodiac, “Hurdy Gurdy Man” carries an ethereal vibe unlike any other. Scottish singer Donovan’s repetitive and entrancing vocals and the psychedelic guitar influenced by transcendental meditation make for the perfect component to the soundtrack of the chosen being raptured into the heavens and the beginning of the end times.
Shreea Kaul, “We Have Time”
Charishma Chelluboina – Blog Writer & DJ
While the world is ending, I would want to listen to “We Have Time” because the end of “We Have Time” sounds like my crash outs as of lately. The whole song is about Kaul trying to chase her dreams as time goes on, and toward the end, she’s telling herself she still has time. Right as the world is ending, I think I would listen to a song and contemplate whether I did everything I wanted to in this lifetime. The way “We Have Time” goes from a slow R&B sound to a fast-paced beat, and the lyrics perfectly match the sound. This song kinda encapsulates the feeling of the world ending because although the lyrics say “I’m not running out of time,” the beat makes you feel like you are, which fits perfectly with the world ending.
Shreea Kaul, “Burn It to the Ground”
Charishma Chelluboina – Blog Writer & DJ
“Burn It to the Ground” is another song I’d love to hear while going out; this song makes me feel like I’m floating. I think it would help me disassociate as a way to try and cope with the world ending; I don’t know what it is about this song, but every time I hear it, I feel like I’m ascending to heaven because it’s just so good. This song makes me feel something I can’t put into words outside of ethereal or euphoric, and that’s what I want to feel like while I’m going out.
Dystopia, “Illusion of Love”
Landon Hart – DJ Trainee
If I’m staying during the rapture (which my childhood fear tells me I will be) “Illusion of Love” is the song I’m playing. It’s hate-filled and has all the earthly anger that would be left when the puritans have been swallowed up into the heavens. The chorus is perfect to sing along to when you’re confident you’re already going to Hell, but singing along to it might be the reason you weren’t chosen to begin with. The amount this song absolutely kills would get my mind off of eternal torment.
Talking Heads, “Crosseyed and Painless”
Carys Farrar – DJ Trainee
“Isn’t it weird?” The chaotic performance of Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless” is the perfect companion for a rock-lover’s last day on Earth. As hellfire rains down and discord rules, David Byrne’s musings that “facts are useless in emergencies” ring true as the realities we’ve known for eons come to lose all meaning in the end times. This embodiment of a panic attack mirrors the rational struggle the listener will go through as the manifestations of the rapture become inescapable and they are left “still waiting” for the world to end.
Volcano Choir, “Still”
Mihika Yamijala – DJ
While it’s a bit of a bummer, “Still” by Volcanic Choir is a song I can never forget hearing for the first time. I was having my own personal rapture at the time, and it sounded like exactly what imagined the best of the worst would sound like. I’ve played it on air before, and I’ve garnered that it brings that energy for everyone else too. This is melancholy at it’s most tortured, somber, and maybe even romanticized? I hope it resonates!
With Confidence, “Big Cat Judgement Day”
Rainier Pederson – AMP Writer
Given my personal religious belief that God is really just a handful of cats that appear to humans occasionally as one of their own, this song is exactly what I anticipate the rapture will be like. If we suddenly expired, would we get some peace and quiet? Would streets just fill with tigers like some big cat judgement day?
Fleet Foxes, “Blue Ridge Mountains”
Alejandro Aguilar – DJ
“Blue Ridge Mountains” is an indie folk song that makes me feel at peace with just existing. Personally, I feel like I would’ve stayed if the rapture had happened so I yearn for a dystopian world where I survive by scavenging the world around me. (Kinda like a zombie apocalypse but without the zombies.) I am not particularly religious but if the occasion were to arise, I would rather listen to something that reminds of life and how nostalgic it can feel to just simply exist among others on this rock we call earth.
Asha Puthli, “The Devil Is Loose”
Kristina Vazquez – PSA Manager and Remote DJ Coordinator
When the rapture comes, and you meet the devil, will you try and run? Will you beg? “The Devil Is Loose,” in our context, is all about meeting the devil and deciding to set your sights on them instead of heaven. The title track to Asha Puthli’s sophomore album is all about giving in to temptation no matter what, and this is best seen in her seductive chorus and hair raising calls throughout the track. If I get raptured, I want to go with no regrets, listening to this song and hoping it never ends.
Interested in hearing more? You can our official playlist here:
