When the earthquake hit the East Cost on Tuesday, I made a joke in reference to the lyrics to “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” Now that a hurricane is bearing down on the East Coast, I’m beginning to think that Michael Stipe’s word play is more than a coincidence.

He nailed the earthquake and hurricane. He’s railing about the influence of right-wing politicians and activists. He’s even foreseen recent decisions by some colleges to crack down on fraternities and drinking.* I went to a birthday party last week where there was cheesecake. So I’m going to hunker down, light a candle (maybe a votive), get some jelly beans and keep my eye peeled for four guys whose initials are all L.B. If I dream of knives, I know the end is coming. You know what? I’ll be fine if Michael is the prophet we’ve been waiting for.

* – I discovered recently that part of the second verse is usually transcribed as “Watch your heel crush, crushed, uh-oh, this means no fear cavalier.” but in reality is “Watch O’Neil crush rush, uh-oh, this means no beer, Cavalier” in reference to former University of Virginia (the Cavaliers) President Robert O’Neil instituting a ban of alcohol on campus (including fraternity rush). Sadly, I have listened carefully to a bunch of live versions and am pretty certain that’s the correct lyric. R.E.M. played at UVA in the midst of this situation, a year before they recorded “Document.”