Here’s a few from my CD collection you might be interested in:
–“Sweet Thing” by Van Morrison
–“Astral Weeks” by Van Morrison
–“Misguided Angel” by The Cowboy Junkies
:smack: Please ignore that last entry. It belonged in the “Prettiest Songs” Thread.
Another one is Long Black Veil. It’s been recorded by lots of people; I’m most familiar with The Band’s version:
Dickie Lee of “Patches” fame also recorded a song called “Laurie,” where Laurie is already dead when he meets her. Weird guy, but my older sister the lesbian loved him.
Included in those death songs is ‘Mack the Knife’
Copa Cobana - Classic death song - with mental illness included just to cheer things up!
Slaughter on 10th Avenue.
Knocking on heavens door.
Bright eyes.
Big Bad John.
Miss Otis regrets (that she’s unable to lunch today)
http://www.lyrics007.com/Cab%20Calloway%20Lyrics/Miss%20Otis%20Regrets%20(She’s%20Unable%20to%20Lunch%20Today)%20Lyrics.html
There have been deathy songs for centuries try Matty Groves,
http://arthsoc.drruss.net/matty.html
Which is a traditional folk song
I remember this song as an answer to all that
http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/l/let_s_think_about_living_bob_luman.html
A death song well worth mentioning is “Billy and Sue” by BJ Thomas. (Please do not ever confuse this with “Billy Don’t Be A Hero”).
“Billy and Sue” (released in 1966) is a rather good song and it doesn’t go overboard in the sentimental nor the morbid ‘departments’.
In a nutshell, Billy and Sue were sweethearts since they were kids. Billy gets drafted and sent to Vietnam. Eventually, Billy gets a ‘Dear John’ letter and almost immediately gets killed.
This song rarely heard nowadays is definitely one of the better “death” songs of all time.