Few would describe 2016 as “fine.†And yet, Stephen Colbert wants you to at least consider that notion, for your own mental health. That’s why he and erstwhile R.E.M. frontperson Michael Stipe took to the microphone stands on last night’s Late Show in order to sing a modified version of the band’s 1987 cult hit “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)†with lyrics about our nearly ended annus horribilis. Poor Michael could only barely muster the good cheer to play along. James Franco made a brief appearance alongside them, as well, and though YouTube’s auto-generated closed captioning is somewhat horrible, Colbert is remarkably good at enunciating, so you won’t miss him replace “Leonard Bernstein†with “Leonard Cohen died.â€
