“Oh yeah, it starts with an outbreak/Zika and Harambe…” Stephen Colbert croons, as a collage of relevant images play behind him. On the Late Show last night, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe—refined, complete with Rip van Winkle beard and septum piercing—joined Colbert in a refashioned version of the band’s 1987 hit “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” covering the major bulletpoints of 2016 in terms of culture, trends and world politics.
Pepe rears his ghastly head, Ken Bone and Minions grin, Brangelina and Bowie are mourned, and so on; Stipe, who refuses to sing for most of the song, shakes his head before Colbert gets to the “I feel fine” part. James Franco comes out in the last few seconds, for no reason.
Watch the clip below.
