End of the World

Album

Something Beautiful

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Traditional Pop

Duration

10:00

Composer(s)

Alec O'Hanley;Gregory Aldae Hein;Jonathan Rado;Michael Pollack;Miley Cyrus;Molly Rankin;Shawn Everett

Entered Chart

Apr 19, 2025

Peak Date

Apr 19, 2025

Released

April 4, 2025

"End of the World" is an '80s confection of synth-rock and disco-pop, the kind of thing you might expect to hear at a roller rink just before the final siren. The premise is charmingly grim: the world might be ending, but why not throw one last party in the face of oblivion? Miley Cyrus directs this message to a partner - one who has a penchant for doomscrolling or at the very least, a sense of impending catastrophe. Rather than join them in existential despair, she proposes a novel alternative: "Let's pretend it's not the end of the world." Simple. Cheery. Possibly delusional. But also, rather liberating. As the song unfolds, Cyrus touches on her personal history with the California city of Malibu: Yeah, let's go down to Malibu and watch the sun fade out once more Show me how you'd hold me if tomorrow was coming for sure The lyric echoes Cyrus' 2017 track "Malibu," a song now tinged with deeper significance since the Woolsey Fire burned down her home there in 2018. The past, present, and possible future all seem to melt into one wistful, neon-lit sunset. "End of the World" shares similar apocalyptic themes with Prince's "1999." Both songs highlight the importance of living in the present, but while Cyrus leans into emotional intimacy and existential reflection, Prince opts for a more carefree celebration of life. Some fans believe the song is a love letter to Cyrus' musician boyfriend Maxx Morando; others think it might be about her mother, Trish Cyrus. Either way, the song's central message - love defiantly, dance while you can - is universal enough to outlive its inspiration, even if we don't. Cyrus wrote the song with Molly Rankin, Alec O'Hanley, Aldae, Michael Pollack, Shawn Everett, and Jonathan Rado. Molly Rankin is the vocalist and Alec O'Hanley the guitarist of the Canadian indie pop band Alvvays. New York songwriter Michael Pollack and LA-based songwriter Aldae both helped Cyrus write her 2023 hit "Flowers." Jonathan Rado and Shawn Everett who are known for their work with The Killers. Cyrus shares production credit with Pollack, Everett, Rado, Rankin, O'Hanley, and her musician boyfriend Maxx Morando. Cyrus debuted the song during an intimate, acoustic performance at the famous Chateau Marmont Hotel in Hollywood in early 2023. It was released on April 4, 2025, as the lead single from her album Something Beautiful - an ambitious, operatic project she described on Instagram as a "carefully structured journey." The music video shows Cyrus, clad in a shimmering Mugler minidress the color of radioactive limes, performing on a glowing orange stage. She directed it with Jacob Bixenman and Brendan Walter who both had a hand in earlier visual outings for "Prelude" and the album's title track, "Something Beautiful."

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh
Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh

Today you woke up and you told me that you wanted to cry
The sky was fallin' like a comet on the Fourth of July
Baby, you've been thinkin' 'bout the future like it's already yours
Show me how you'd hold me if tomorrow wasn't comin' for sure

Let's pretend it's not the end of the world (oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world (oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)

Let's spend the dollars you've been savin' on a Mercedes-Benz (ah)
And throw a party like McCartney with some help from my friends
Yeah, let's go down to Malibu and watch the sun fade out once more
Show me how you'd hold me if tomorrow was comin' for sure

Let's pretend it's not the end of the world (oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world (oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
The sky is fallin', fallin' like a comet now, oh
I can see it comin' down (oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
The sky is fallin', fallin' like a comet now, oh

Ooh, let's go to Paris, I don't care if we get lost in the scene
Paint the city like Picasso would've done in his dreams
Do the things that we were way too terrified of before
Oh, I wanna take you to Nirvana, we can't take it too far
Hit the bottom of the bottle and forget who we are
Hold me close, you know tomorrow isn't comin' for sure

Let's pretend it's not the end of the world
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world
(Let's pretend it's not the end of the world)
Let's pretend, it's not the end
(Let's pretend it's not the end of the world)
Let's pretend (the sky is fallin')
It's not the end (like the end of the world)
Let's pretend, it's not the end, end, end

(Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
The sky is fallin', fallin' like a comet now, oh
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world
(Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh)
The sky is fallin', fallin' like a comet now, oh
Let's pretend it's not the end of the world
The sky is fallin', fallin' like a comet now, oh
I can see it comin' down