# Songs sung by the dead or dying **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362 "2013-01-07T17:17:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/21 "2013-01-07T18:06:33Z")
Iron Maiden - The Trooper - a soldier in the Crimean War and is based on the Poem “The Charge of The light Brigade” ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/22 "2013-01-07T18:23:48Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Knockin On Heavens Door” - Warren Zevon > > Which applies in several ways. “Keep Me In Your Heart” - Warren Zevon ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/23 "2013-01-07T18:29:57Z")
The singer in Florence and the Machine’s “What the Water Gave Me” doesn’t sound like she’s going to last too long. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/24 "2013-01-07T18:32:19Z")
Tell Laura I Love Her, by Ray Peters > [@](#): > > No one knows what happened that day > Or how his car overturned in flames > But as they pulled him from the twisted wreck > With his dying breath, they heard him say > > Tell Laura I love her > Tell Laura I need her > Tell Laura not to cry > My love for her will never die According to Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs, he gets through the chorus too many times before the paramedics turn off his oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![pythonzzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pythonzzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pythonzzz)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/25 "2013-01-07T18:33:51Z")
“2x4” - Pat MacDonald (timbuck 3) About watching the gallows being built before his execution “God Told Me To” - Paul Kelly A murderer justifies his murder spree at his execution(see: [Paul Kelly - God Told Me To - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptzrY7JuG_4) ) ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/26 "2013-01-07T18:36:47Z")
“My Way” – Written by Paul Anka, (most famously) Sung by Frank Sinatra ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/27 "2013-01-07T18:37:52Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Would “I Gotta Get A Message To You” by the Bee Gees count? It’s about a murderer who is about to be executed in a short time. > > “The preacher came to me and he smiled. He said ‘Come walk with me. Walk with me one more mile.’” Note that I specifically ruled this song out in the OP. In general, I’m not looking for songs sung by people waiting to be executed… I guess the criterion would be that it should be physically impossible for the singer to be singing the song because they’re either dead or mortally wounded. I’d say “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “Powderfinger” qualify. (I just thought of another one… “Polly on the Shore” by Fairport Convention … “And here am I a-bleedin’ on the deck and for her sweet sake must die”). ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/28 "2013-01-07T18:39:48Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Tell Laura I Love Her, by Ray Peters. I wouldn’t count this one because the singer is relating someone else’s last words. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/29 "2013-01-07T18:41:02Z")
“Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel” – Barenaked Ladies ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/30 "2013-01-07T18:44:19Z")
One of my favorite songs: Stan by Eminem. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/31 "2013-01-07T19:05:35Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > “Keep Me In Your Heart” - Warren Zevon This is the one that immediately sprang to mind (along with his recording of _Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door_)…are these the only ones here that were \*literally \*sung by a dying man? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/32 "2013-01-07T19:22:27Z")
_Kate_ by Johnny Cash - at the last update the singer is thirteen steps from the chair (or the gallows), and he sings a bit more after that. similarly, _Green Green Grass of Home_ by Tom Jones, though it’s not yet daybreak on the morning of his hanging and I can’t believe no-one’s said _Bat out of Hell_ - Meat Loaf… the singer’s just seen his heart burst out of his body and fly away, so he’s doing well to manage the last chorus :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/33 "2013-01-07T19:27:23Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > _Green Green Grass of Home_ by Tom Jones, though it’s not yet daybreak on the morning of his hanging. He’s not being hung, he’s a KIA serviceman who was shipped home for burial. \*Then I awake and look around me, at the four grey walls that surround me, and I realize, yes, I was only dreaming. For there’s a guard and there’s a sad old padre— arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak, again I’ll touch the green, green grass of home. Yes, they’ll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree, as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home. \* ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/34 "2013-01-07T19:31:32Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > He’s not being hung, he’s a KIA serviceman who was shipped home for burial. “And I awake and look around me At four grey walls that surround me And I realize I was only dreaming For there’s a guard, and there’s a sad old padre: Arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak, Again I’ll touch the green green grass of home”. I think you’re ‘avin’ a laff, boyo. Strange we interpret the lyrics so [differently](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green,_Green_Grass_of_Home). ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/35 "2013-01-07T19:37:46Z")
I think pretty much the entire Richard Buckner album _The Hill_. [http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store\_detail.php?catalog\_id=603](http://www.mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=603) ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/36 "2013-01-07T19:49:17Z")
This may be too far removed from the actual demise for the OP, but the narrator of [My Shit’s Fucked Up](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHDdqubE7zQ) is in the physical process of dying, albeit slowly. Man, that’s a good song. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/37 "2013-01-07T19:52:10Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > “And I awake and look around me > At four grey walls that surround me > And I realize I was only dreaming > For there’s a guard, and there’s a sad old padre: > Arm in arm we’ll walk at daybreak, > Again I’ll touch the green green grass of home”. > > I think you’re ‘avin’ a laff, boyo. Strange we interpret the lyrics so [differently](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green,_Green_Grass_of_Home). Nope. The “four grey walls” are the inside of a coffin. _Yes, they’ll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly._ Mama, papa, and Mary are going to greet him at the train if he’s being hung? How many convicts are shipped home _before_ they’re hung? He’s being given a military funeral. So of course there’s a guard and a padre; the guard is probably going to play “Taps” as the coffin’s lowered into the grave. There’s a reason this song was so popular during the Vietnam War. I don’t know, but I’m willing to guess you weren’t of age in the late '60s or early '70s. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/38 "2013-01-07T19:53:27Z")
[Arlington](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/adkins-trace/arlington-15317.html), by Trace Adkins. From the POV of a serviceman buried in Arlington National Cemetery. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/39 "2013-01-07T20:00:58Z")
“Pardon Me, I’ve Got Someone to Kill” by Johnny Paycheck. About a man on his way to a Murder/suicide. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362/40 "2013-01-07T20:08:54Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Nope. The “four grey walls” are the inside of a coffin. > > _Yes, they’ll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly._ Mama, papa, and Mary are going to greet him at the train if he’s being hung? > > How many convicts are shipped home _before_ they’re hung? You realise he was only dreaming, right? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-sung-by-the-dead-or-dying/646362.md?page=3)