Not the End of the World (song)

It features a group of blue-skinned aliens who worship Perry and want to kidnap her but mistakenly abduct American actress Zooey Deschanel due to her resemblance to the singer.

[11][12] A few days ahead of the great conjunction of 2020, Perry surprise-released her fifth compilation extended play Cosmic Energy on December 18, with "Not the End of the World" serving as its opening track.

[15][16][17][18] "Not the End of the World" was written by Perry, Michael Pollack, Madison Love, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Andrew Goldstein.

[23][24][25] Compared to Perry's previous efforts Prism (2013) and Witness,[26] especially to the former's third single "Dark Horse",[27] it is a minor-key techno-pop and trap-pop song.

[6][30] Perry begins the track proclaiming "It's not the end of the world",[23] and "pseudo-rap[s]" about positivity, detachment from criticism, staying strong, and not losing hope in the verses.

[30] Following the release of the Cosmic Energy EP, "Not the End of the World" was called one of her "most enlightening" songs in an article published by Pinkvilla, alongside "E.T."

"[11] Writing for PopMatters, Nick Malone described the lyrics as "too saccharine to hold any pathos", when he called whole "Not the End of the World" an "overly ambitious sister" of "Dark Horse".

[6] Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times called the single a "try-hard anthem",[22] with The Guardian's Emily Mackay opining that it "feels forgettable and anonymous".

[29] Writing for Vulture, Craig Jenkins commented that "Not the End of the World" is one of many songs from Smile which "sell motivational boilerplate, waving away passing clouds but never describing what the storm felt like".

[38] Leah Greenblatt from Entertainment Weekly paired the song with its preceding album track "Resilient", saying that they "offer turn-that-frown-upside-down bromides for the mildly depressed".

[39] The Independent's Helen Brown called "Not the End of the World" one of "low points" of an album,[27] while USA Today's Patrick Ryan labelled it as its "filler" which is full of "empowerment clichés".

[4] Hannah Mylrea from NME criticized the song for being a "radio fodder, adopting trendy production techniques to gloss over a lack of substance".

[17] The clip begins with a scene in which Deschanel reads a newspaper while Perry passes by with baby pram in an Unsub Records cap.

[15][51] "Not the End of the World" was performed for the first time by Perry during the Chinese online shopping festival T Mall Double 11 Gala in November 2020, alongside "Never Really Over" and "Roar".

[44] Wass praised the gig, saying she "serv[ed] vocals and elaborate green-screen effects", adding that the singer is not receiving "enough" recognition for her "cutting-edge quarantine performances".

[57] Coinciding with the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony on August 30, Perry shared a mirror selfie with her posing in a breast pumping bra and disposable postpartum underwear with "Not the End of the World" playing in the background.