A variety of sources and actual songs about death:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_ballad
* "On the Banks of the Ohio" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C3r9PnoNTw
* Not a murder ballad, but a famous song about death, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bRJLkNqNXI
Feel free to post others here, of whatever musical genre.
Here are a few:
ReplyDeleteLie In Our Graves- Dave Matthews Band and Tim Reynolds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M5fDlJd9Ys
Blackbird- The Beatles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5CUHHGlQg0
What Sarah Said- Death Cab for Cutie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I483tB12SyE
Some songs on the inevitability of death.
ReplyDelete"In Time" - Mark Collie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Los0g9Et7Ow
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" - Blue Öyster Cult
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ycOp67eLoM
I had people and nature with proffessor Stanforth and she exposed us to alot of these ballads, though I can't quite remember their names.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that though death is a "dark" and "depressing" subject, alot of these songs are to me both haunting and beautiful and I actually enjoy them alot. (What Sarah Said is one of my favorite songs).
Another song about death that I love is "Naked As We Came" by Iron and Wine. The video is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd-A-iiPoLg
Lyrics:
ReplyDeleteShe says "wake up, it's no use pretending"
I'll keep stealing, breathing her.
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open, naked as we came
One will spread our ashes 'round the yard
She says "If I leave before you, darling
Don't you waste me in the ground"
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open, naked as we came
One will spread our ashes round the yard
Great lyrics.
ReplyDeleteThat Death Cab for Cutie song reminds me of another Death Cab for Cutie song, Transatlantic, which is on the Six Feet Under soundtrack. Six Feet Under is an HBO (maybe Showtime?) series about a family of undertakers (disclaimer: it is very racy, adult, edgy). The series finale was AMAZING and very much fits in with the content of our class (but I can't show it because it would ruin the series for you AND see above comments about racy/adult/edgy content).
Anyone who has ever seen Dave Matthews Band live knows that Grave Digger is a song that the crowd goes nuts for. He sums up the lives of three or four people all from different backgrounds (probably all Americans). One is a woman who loses her sons in a war, the other is in the circus, and one is a 7 year old boy. The chorus is a request from Dave Matthews asking the grave digger to make his grave shallow so that he can still feel the rain. This song embodies the reality and solemness of death. I think the song is a hit because our culture is death-averse and Dave makes it a sad but realistic song...
ReplyDeleteHere are some songs that I thought of that dealt with death.
ReplyDelete“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum in 1969 is a song that I like it’s approach to the subject.
This site has a section on songs in the Civil War dealing with death.
http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar.html
This site has two songs “General Lion’s Funeral March”, and “John Brown’s Body” which are not found on the previous site. You have to scrolled half way down to find them.
http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar2.html
-Joel Wright
The song that stands out the most to me as being directly related to death is the ballad of Tom Dooley. T he song recounts how a man named Tom Dooley murdered a woman. It is an old North Carolina Appalachian song that references a murder that took place in 1866. It was famously remade by the Kingston Trio. The Kingston Trio changed the song from its fast paced original, to a melancholic slow folk song. Their version is fantastic and I would encourage you all to listen.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoBLGE2cCdU
I think one of my all time favorite songs about death is "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones. It's about a guy who just died, so he is now able to stop loving the women who left him.
ReplyDeleteA song about not dying that I really like is "Rooster" by Alice in Chains about a man struggling to make it through the Vietam war.
+I love the song What Sarah Said. "Love is watching someone die...so who's gonna watch you die..?" Very powerful statement.
ReplyDelete+A few other songs about death that I really like/that really move me are Ocean Breathes Salty by Modest Mouse,
Why Do I Keep Counting-the Killers (""If I only knew the answer. If I change my way of living, and if I pave my streets with good times, will the mountain keep on giving? And if all of our days are numbered, then why do I keep counting?"),
And finally "Dead!" by My Chemical Romance.
Also i'd like to say that i LOOOOOVE the song gravedigger by Dave Matthews Band.
Wow I would have to agree with Robert on the George Jones Song. All of these are interesting songs, and majority of the ones listed are the ones I have heard of. I think the song by Frank Sinatra I did it my way, is one that makes me think of death. A song that illustrates to me that we need make sure when we die we did things the way they were supposed be done. No regrets, no remorse, a fear of not pleasing society, we just need to live life the way we want to our our own way.
ReplyDeleteA main song that I listened to a lot after a particular death of someone young was
ReplyDeleteAlan Jackson- Sissy's Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCvgXw-Bh04
Another song that I lean towards is not considered a song about death but fits right along with it is:
Bruno Mars- Long Distance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU0ihOCfxu8
AND as much as this sounds childish Miley Cyrus has a good song that she sung on a Hannah Montana episode:
Hannah Montana- Wherever I go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWTfUBqJBMw
These are just a few that I like to listen to when I am down :- )
When I Look to the Sky-Train
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KipSEcE6gGM
Typically, I like music more for the beat and energy it gives me than the lyrics but this is a song I have come to listen to and truly appreciate the lyrics for.
Hello Class,
ReplyDeleteWell, for me music is my life line. I normally don't know who sings it or the title. The only song I have heard to be about someone dying is "Stairway to Heaven".
Outside of that, I believe songs are away of my God talking to me. I never leave it on just one station most of the time and I usually never control it. Unless it's for my son then I know all the kids music.
I plan to take a day to go to all these links and listen to all the music you have all listed for me to open my perspective on "Death as subject in Music".
Irene