The End of the World (Skeeter Davis song)

Background

"The End of the World" is a sad song about the aftermath of a romantic breakup. Dee, the lyricist, said she drew on her sorrow from her father's death to set the mood for the song.

Davis recorded her version with sound engineer Bill Porter on June 8, 1962, at the RCA Studios in Nashville, produced by Chet Atkins, and featuring Floyd Cramer. Released by RCA Records in December 1962, "The End of the World" peaked in March 1963 at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (behind "Our Day Will Come" by Ruby & the Romantics), No. 2 on Billboards Hot Country Singles chart, No. 1 on Billboards Easy Listening chart, and No. 4 on Billboards Hot R&B Singles chart. It is the first, and, to date, only time that a song cracked the Top 10 (and Top 5) on all four Billboard charts. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 2 song of 1963.

In the Davis version, after she sings the whole song through in the key of B-flat-major, the song modulates up by a half step to the key of B, where Davis speaks the first two lines of the final stanza, before singing the rest of the stanza, ending the song.

"The End of the World" was played at Atkins' funeral in an instrumental by Marty Stuart. The song was also played at Davis's own funeral at the Ryman Auditorium. Her version has been featured in several films, TV shows, and video games.

Chart performance

Sonia version

| B-side = Can't Help the Way That I Feel

• 3:29 (video version)

In 1990, English singer Sonia covered "End of the World". The fifth and final single from her debut album, Everybody Knows, it reached number 18 in the UK, the same chart position as the original, and number 18 too in Ireland. The single's B-side "Can't Help the Way That I Feel" also appeared on Sonia's debut album. This was her final single with Stock Aitken Waterman.

Critical reception

David Giles of Music Week praised this version as being a "polished" cover and "a bid for sophistication from the SAW prodigy [Sonia]", and deemed it would top the UK chart.

Charts

Other notable versions

The song was recorded by Julie London in 1963 for her album The End of the World. It was covered by the Carpenters on their album Now & Then, released in 1973.

During the summer of 1966, Swedish pop group recorded the song. Released as a single in August of that year, it was backed by the song "Whitsand Bay" written by Wallace, based on the tourist destination he'd often visited. It became a hit on Tio i Topp, entering the chart on August 6, 1966, at a position of number five. It topped the chart on August 27, staying on the top for a week. It exited the chart on October 29, at a position of number 14, having spent 13 weeks on the chart. On sales chart Kvällstoppen, it entered on August 16, 1966, at a position of 18. It would reach its peak of number two on September 6, being kept off the top by the Beatles "Yellow Submarine". It exited on November 8, at a position of 18, having spent 13 weeks on the chart.

To capitalize on the Caretakers version, Anna-Lena Löfgren recorded the song in Swedish, as "Allt är förbi", scoring a Svensktoppen hit for seven weeks between 9 October–19 November 1966.

Brilliant recorded a cover version in 1986, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, the same group that produced Sonia’s later cover.

In 1995, American freestyle girl group Exposé included a cover of the song on their "Greatest Hits" compilation.

A version by Allison Paige peaked at number 72 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in May 2000.

The Dot Wiggin Band released a cover of "End of the World" as the last song on their album Ready! Get! Go! (2013), which Shintaro Sakamoto opined "actually sounds like the end of the world."

Joe Hisaishi incorporated the song into the final movement of his cantata for soprano, chorus and orchestra, also called The End of the World, featured on his 2025 album Joe Hisaishi Conducts.

Appearances in media

• The song is featured in the 1960s period drama film Girl, Interrupted (1999).
• The song appears as a radio track in the video game Fallout 4.
• The song appears at the end of episode 12 ("The Grown-Ups") of the third season of Mad Men.
• The song is used as the opening and closing theme for the 2012 political thriller radio drama Pandemic, produced by BBC Radio 4.
• In June 1965, the English pop group Herman's Hermits released their cover of the song as a B-side on their international hit "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" with a slower tempo. This version was heard during the closing scene of the third episode of The Queen’s Gambit.
• It was featured in the penultimate episode of the 2015 Fox TV series Wayward Pines.
• Patti Smith's cover is played during the end credits of the 2017 film Mother!
• The song is used in the 2017 short film Black Eyed Susan, which stars Denise Welch and her son, Louis Healy.
• A cover version by Sharon Van Etten is used in the 2019 film In the Shadow of the Moon.
• The song appears in the 2021 Marvel Studios film Eternals and was also featured in its first trailer.

References

References

1. Molanphy, Chris. (March 15, 2025). "Singing Nuns and Green Tambourines Edition". [[Slate (magazine).
2. "Show 10 – Tennessee Firebird: American country music before and after Elvis. [Part 2]".
3. Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition". Record Research.
4. Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004". Record Research.
5. ""The End of the World" – Skeeter Davis: 1963".
6. (13 July 1963). "Billboard Magazine, July 13, 1963".
7. (11 May 1963). "Billboard Magazine, May 11, 1963".
8. (6 July 1963). "Billboard Magazine, July 6, 1963".
9. "SKEETER DAVIS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company".
10. Whitburn, Joel. (2002). "Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001". Record Research.
11. Giles, David. (18 August 1990). "Singles".
12. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2014-06-17". Imgur.com.
13. (22 September 1990). "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles".
14. "Radio Luxembourg Singles". umdmusic.com.
15. "The Caretakers - The End Of The World".
16. Stål, Jonas. (2013). "Stora Popboxen (Svensk Pop 1964-1969 Volume 1) – liner notes". Premium.
17. (1998). "Eric Hallberg, Ulf Henningsson presenterar Tio i topp med de utslagna på försök: 1961 - 74". Premium Publishing.
18. Hallberg, Eric. (1993). "Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975". Drift Musik.
19. (1966). "Låt oss tro". Swedish Mediadatabase.
20. (1966). "Svensktoppen". Sveriges radio.
21. Bronson, Fred. (May 13, 2000). "Country Is Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood". [[Billboard (magazine).
22. Sakamoto, Shintaro. (December 2014). "Shintaro Sakamoto".
23. "Joe Hisaishi Announces New Album".
24. Phares, Heather. "Girl, Interrupted OriginaL Soundtrack". [[AllMusic]].
25. Webster, Andrew. (2015-11-09). "The best part of Fallout 4 is the music".
26. Levinson, Paul. (November 2, 2009). "Mad Men 3.12: The End of the World". InfiniteRegress.tv.
27. (2013-10-11). "BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Drama, Pandemic".
28. "The Queen's Gambit Soundtrack Is Gloriously '60s".
29. (July 20, 2016). "Wayward Pines Recap: Mommy and Me".
30. Pearis, Bill. (September 14, 2017). "Patti Smith played the 'Mother!' premiere @ Radio City, plays SummerStage tonight (win tix!)".
31. Percival, Ash. (22 November 2017). "Denise Welch Exclusively Premieres Her Mental Health Short Film, 'Black Eyed Susan'".
32. "In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) - Soundtracks - IMDb".
33. Tyler, Adrienne. (2021-05-24). "What Song Is In The Eternals Trailer (& Angelina Jolie Connection Explained)".
34. Gleason, Jake. (2021-11-08). "Every Song In Eternals".