"End of Time" is a song by American singer Beyoncé from her fourth studio album, 4 (2011). It was written by Beyoncé, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Shea Taylor and David "Switch" Taylor while its production was handled by Beyoncé, Nash and Taylor. The song was initially promoted to be a follow-up to the lead single, "Run the World (Girls)" (2011). However, "Best Thing I Never Had" was ultimately chosen as the second single. "End of Time" was released as a single exclusively in the UK of April 23, 2012.
An uptempo song, "End of Time" exhibits the influence of Nigerian musician Fela Kuti; its bass line was inspired by the multi-instrumentalist's work. Also displaying elements of Afrobeat, the song's instrumentation includes marching band drums, percussion and horns. The high energy level provided by its instrumentation has similarities to several songs by Michael Jackson from the Off the Wall era (1979–80).
Following the release of 4, "End of Time" charted at number 62 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 20 on its R&B Chart, based solely on downloads. It also opened at number 26 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart. The song peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The song was part of Beyoncé's set list for her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé, Revel Presents: Beyoncé Live and The Mrs. Carter World Tour revues.
The song was included in the Super Bowl XLVII halftime show set list.
Development and recording
From June 16 to 27, 2011, the songs from 4 were available to listen to in full each day on Beyoncé's official website, paired with its accompanying photo spread from the album packaging and a quote. On June 26, 2011, "End of Time" was the tenth song to be chosen. Beyoncé was motivated to record a song in the vein of "End of Time" after listening closely to the material of several rock musicians she saw at music festivals around the world; she analysed their lyrics and melodies, and the way they mixed different instruments at the same time. Beyoncé noted, "The instrumentation was just so beautiful. I felt I needed some classics like that." The bass line used in "End of Time" was inspired by the work late Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti, whom she appreciated for "the feel for the soul and heart of his music; it's so sexy, and has a great groove you get lost in. I loved his drums, all the horns, how everything was on the one. What I learned most from Fela was artistic freedom: he just felt the spirit." The song also uses a sample from "BTSTU" by Jai Paul.
"End of Time" was conceived at the MSR Studios in New York City, where Beyoncé and her team spent a few days with the band from Fela! - a Broadway musical based on Kuti's life. As stated Jordan "DJ Swivel Young, this period is accountable for the "Fela [Kuti] influence" in the song; this influence is further illustrated in its instrumentation that includes horns and percussion instruments. At the beginning, the production team played music with the band as they experimented with horns, percussion, drums, guitars and keys. DJ Swivel explained: "We'd be taking loops, like a section of percussion — congas for example — and then using them on a completely different record; and that record might be a completely different tempo or in a different key, so we'd literally be pitching it as we went. I used Elastic Audio [in Pro Tools] to fit and stretch it. Having fun is the best way I can put it; there were no rules."
Beyoncé, Terius Nash, Shea Taylor and Dave Taylor wrote the lyrics of the song while its production was handled by Beyoncé, The-Dream, Switch and Diplo. The-Dream and Switch incorporated elements of electronic music, modified some vocals, and created a synth intro sound, which is actually a vocal by the former producer. DJ Swivel noted, "The bass line is very musical, it's not just a plain [Roland TR-808] bass: It's got a vibe to it." The duo then arranged the music and Beyoncé worked on the vocal arrangements. Alex Asher, Johnny Butler, Jack Daley, Cole Kamen-Green, Drew Sayers, Nick Videen and Josiah Woodson played the instruments, and Pat Thrall recorded the music; Jordan Young recorded Beyoncé's vocals. Serban Ghenea then audio mixed the track before mix engineer did the final mixing with assistance from Phil Seaford, and audio engineers Chris Soper and Pete Wolford. Release and remix competition At a private listening party for Beyoncé's fourth studio album was held on May 12, 2011; she offered a select group of fans previews of the music video for the lead single "Run the World (Girls)" and five other songs including, "End of Time". Several websites, including MTV News reported that there was speculation that it was a potential follow-up to "Run the World (Girls)". However a promotional single "1+1" was subsequently released on May 25, 2011. Columbia Records soon reported that "1+1" would not be sent for airplay as "Best Thing I Never Had" was favored to be the second single from 4. The song was released in the UK on April 22, 2012. It was reported by Digital Spy in early August 2011 that Beyoncé was filming new music videos for several songs from 4, including "End of Time" which had already been shot as of August 3, 2011.
On February 8, 2012, it was announced through Beyoncé's website and a press release issued by Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records that "End of Time" would be released as the fifth single from 4. It was added to the playlist of British national radio station BBC Radio 1 on March 28, 2012, and officially impacted UK contemporary hit radio on April 23, 2012. Preceding its release, Beyoncé called for a remix competition for the song in association with audio sharing site SoundCloud, which enabled votes on the submission of remixes by participants, who had to be at least 18 years of age. The contest, which was opened to entrants in 25 countries, lasted from February 8, 2012, to March 9, 2012; according to Beyoncé's website, the remix winner would win a cash prize of $4,000 and the remix would be included on her unspecified upcoming release.
Over two thousand entries have been uploaded to SoundCloud as of March 4, 2012, and the following day, another press release was issued, announcing the members of the international judging panel to choose the winner of the competition; the panel consists of Beyoncé, British musician Isabella Summers of Florence and the Machine, Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack, the duo DJ and Polish producing team, WAWA, New York premier DJ Jus-Ske and Oscar-winning producer and composer Giorgio Moroder. After that the SoundCloud community have voted on entries, the top 50 ranked eligible remixes were reviewed by the announced panel of judges; the originality, creativity and musicality of these 50 remixes were taken into consideration while giving them corresponding scores that enabled the judges to choose the grand prizewinner. On April 17, the winner Radzimir "Jimek" Dębski, was announced through a press release. It was also announced that his remix will appear on Beyoncé's remix extended play (EP), 4: The Remix.
Composition and lyrical interpretation "End of Time" is an uptempo Afrobeat and Latin jazz song. The song consists of a bristling brass arrangement, and carries a heavy and ascending militaristic beat that is provided by marching band-style snare drums; other instrumentation includes a bass guitar, honking trumpets, staccato horns, a trombone, a tenor saxophone, a baritone saxophone and an alto saxophone. Thanks to the percussion instruments and the stomping beat that altogether provide a "towering sound", a high energy level is maintained throughout the song. Beyoncé adopts a "powerhouse voice" on "End of Time"; her vocals lines are supported by effects-laced backing vocals. She adopts a rapping-singing vocalization that bears resemblance to her vocals on the American R&B group Destiny's Child's 2000 song "Say My Name", a view shared by James Dihn of MTV News, who wrote that "End of Time" is reminiscent of "an older Destiny's Child cut".
Charley Rogulewski of AOL Music commented that "End of Time" channels American musician Quincy Jones and singer Michael Jackson's 1980 song "Off the Wall" with horns played midway through the song. Likewise, Brad Wete of Entertainment Weekly added that "End of Time" has some vibes of Jackson's 1983 song "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", the rhythm arrangement of which is a complex interweaving of drum machine patterns and horns. Adam Markovitz of the same publication noted that the horns used in "End of Time" are similar to those used during Jackson's Off the Wall (1979–80), before adding that it consists of a "bionic" beat, which recalls the work of American rhythm and blues vocalist Bo Diddley. Michael Cragg of The Observer also noted that the song channel the Off the Wall era. Priya Elan of NME noted that the chorus and the brass section of "End of Time" recall British musician Steve Winwood's 1982 song "Valerie". Matthew Horton of BBC Online said that the song was a "startling vision of Animal Collective covering Lionel Richie's All Night Long".
Lyrically, "End of Time" is a declaration of co-dependence; Beyoncé professes her everlasting love to her romantic interest. As stated by Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic, "At the start, she's stricken by her own emotional vulnerability; by the end, she's empowered by it." The song opens with "spitfire drums" while Beyoncé sings in an almost distorted fashion, with her vocals layered underneath until a "dramatic explosion". As her vocals continue to build up, Beyoncé airily chants: "Come take my hand / I won’t let you go / I’ll be your friend / I will love you so deeply / I will be the one to kiss you at night / I will love you till the end of time." She continues her appeal as she sings to her love interest, "Take you away from here / There's nothing between us but space and time". On the bridge, Beyoncé belts her vocal lines over a shooting horn sequence; with her multiple-layered vocals, she commands, "Boy come to me", and towards the end, she repeatedly sings, "Say you’ll never let me go". Beyoncé "finds the strength in two" as she affirms to her romantic interest, "I just wanna be with you / I just wanna live for you / I'd never let you go!".
Critical reception "End of Time" was lauded by music critics, who appreciated its production, especially the beat; many of them noted it to be the outstanding track on the record. Noting that the song has "Fela Kuti vibes", Entertainment Weeklys Brad Wete commented that "End of Time" "sounds more like the new sound [Beyoncé] described" than "Run the World (Girls)". Likewise, Adam Markovitz of the same publication commended the song's "off-balance harmonies", before noting that "[it is] exactly the kind of genre-busting risk that few other current pop stars would even attempt, let alone pull off flawlessly with a no-big-thing shrug." Similarly, Charley Rogulewski of AOL Music wrote that "End of Time" reuses the "post-apocalyptic vibe" of "Run the World (Girls)", however with "more originality and a two-faced delivery". She also praised the way the "brash, marching militia-inspired beat is coupled to sweet lyrics". Priya Elan of NME commented that "End of Time" is "much more instantaneous" than "Run the World (Girls)", and added that its sneaky bassline, which is reminiscent of Lauryn Hill's work, "is the perfect counter-balance to those pesky military drums". He concluded that the song reminds listeners that Beyoncé is "a pretty stunning singer". Hamish MacBain of the same publication noted the Fela Kuti influence on the song and called it "the best thing" on the album.