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Charlie Harding: If its not a literal Armageddon story, what is If the World Was Ending about?
We wrote it in July of 2019.
Its two people who are together in their imaginations, in their longing nostalgic loneliness.
We started getting a lot of messages on Twitter accusing us of insider information.
CH: Like conspiracy-theory, you-knew-what-was-happening-at-the-time kind of stuff?
JP:Yeah, that Julia and I had some sort of insider scoop.
That was the first sign that the song was going to exist in a different light.
CH: How do you want people to listen to your work?
So I guess thats the way I want people to listen.
Ive also really tried to be adamant that this song is not in support of texting exes!
[But] I take a little responsibility for all the exes texted in quarantine.
CH: The lyric If the world was ending, youd come over, right?
at some points feels like a statement and at other moments like a big open-ended question.
If I waited to figure them out before I wrote them, theyd be really boring, preachy songs.
What was the intention there?
JP:Well, [I think] going to minor chord means uncertainty.
It means lack of resolution, all of which are very much present in this song.
We dont know if the coming over happened or not.
Singing that final question like that felt like the right feeling to end on.
CH: A lot of your songs end that way, without any sort of nice little conclusion.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
