Spring is here, the sun is shining, and summer is approaching, prompting thoughts of celebration. Yet, have you ever pondered how you would spend your final day on Earth? While considering your last meal is common, have you thought about the last song you would listen to?
Billionaire CNN founder Ted Turner apparently has this scenario covered, as he disclosed that the news channel has a doomsday plan. This plan ensures coverage “until the world ends” and includes a video featuring a particular song.
If you’re a fan of James Cameron’s Titanic or enjoy solemn hymns, you’re in for an unexpected surprise, as the world faces its demise.
Fortunately, the video in question has been leaked, so there’s no need to wait for the end times to see what might occur:
Jalopnik reported that Turner spoke about a potential doomsday event, stating, “We’ll be on, and we will cover the end of the world, live, and that will be our last event. We’ll play the National Anthem only one time, on the first of June [the day of CNN’s launch], and when the end of the world comes, we’ll play ‘Nearer My God To Thee’ before we sign off.”
The hymn is historically associated with tragedy. In the film Titanic, as the ship sank into the North Atlantic, the band’s musicians continued to play. It is reported that one of their final pieces was the hymn ‘Nearer My God To Thee’.
The video, filmed outside Turner’s mansion during the 1980s, shows a band performing the hymn before fading to black. This Turner Doomsday Video was leaked by a CNN employee and shared with Jalopnik. Writer Michael Ballaban mentioned seeing it as a CNN intern in 2009.
He wrote, “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, not with a whimper, but with one melancholy little band, and a quick fade to black.”
The video initially gained widespread attention in 2015 after being posted on YouTube, and it has resurfaced as a topic of interest on TikTok.
Despite recent attention, the video has reportedly existed since the 1980s and was purportedly created in preparation for a nuclear war scenario.
Ballaban noted that while CNN staff were generally aware of the video during his internship, it required deliberate searching to view it.
He told the Guardian, “It’s one of those things you only look for if you’re a really bored intern or have a lot of time on your hands.”