# Songs where narrator dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2019, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748 "2019-05-30T01:51:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/41 "2019-05-30T13:12:19Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > The “Oh God, I’m dead” verse toward the end of _Godspell_ (sung by Jesus). _Jesus Christ Superstar_ has Judas’s Death and The Crucifixion. _Evita_ starts out with her funeral and Che singing O What A Circus _CATS_ has Grizabella going to the Heavenside Layer after she dies ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/42 "2019-05-30T13:15:22Z")
I thought of another one. _[A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBxZGQ1dJk)_ The song is full of humorous references to the Cubs, and the long-suffering futility (at the time) of being a Cubs fan. The video is of Steve Goodman singing on one of the rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field. Goodman died of leukemia at 36, and some of his ashes were scattered at Wrigley. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/43 "2019-05-30T13:16:10Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I don’t think any of those count. In each of them the narrator is going to be executed soon, but isn’t actually dead at the end of the song. Yes, I guess I should have been more clear; I’m interested in the narrator describing his death as something that has already occurred. That is, taken literally, he’s singing this song after he’s dead. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/44 "2019-05-30T13:26:32Z")
Does [Wuthering Heights](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=wuthering+heights+lyric) count? The narrator is dead and remembers being told she was dying. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/45 "2019-05-30T13:34:32Z")
_[D.O.A.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WQptxygSM8)_ by Bloodrock. Then I looked straight at the attendant His face is pale as it can be He bends and whispers something softly He says there’s no chance for me One of the bleakest top 40 singles ever. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/46 "2019-05-30T13:57:29Z")
Johnny Cash’s [“Sam Hall”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lYZxnFQPWY) is on the gallows, although not yet swinging when the song ends. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/47 "2019-05-30T14:01:43Z")
In the spirit of the OP: In _Jesus Christ Superstar_ Judas comes back after his death to sing “Superstar.” However, Jesus does not come back. The radical religious had a field day with that idea. ---
**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:** [May 30, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/48 "2019-05-30T14:03:36Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _[D.O.A.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WQptxygSM8)_ by Bloodrock. > > Then I looked straight at the attendant > His face is pale as it can be > He bends and whispers something softly > He says there’s no chance for me > > One of the bleakest top 40 singles ever. I love that song! Unfortunately **ioioio** skunked us in post #11. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/49 "2019-05-30T14:10:06Z")
Not only dies but is dead before the end of the song [Two Hangmen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC3yZdG_2Bc) by Mason Profit Metaphorically dead - [Assassin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP4cpVzw_Lc) by John Mayer ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/50 "2019-05-30T14:10:19Z")
Not quite the same thing, but the last verse of the Tommy Makem song “Butcher Boy” is a suicide note, written in first person, and read after the writer is dead: > [@](#): > > Oh make my grave large, wide and deep > Put a marble stone at my head and feet > And in the middle, a turtledove > That the world may know, that I died for love ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/51 "2019-05-30T14:16:28Z")
There was an old song by the Marshall Tucker Band, I _think_ it was “Fire On The Mountain”, where the singer says something in one of the later verses about his widow standing by his grave. Sorry, it’s been years since I heard it, I don’t remember the exact lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/52 "2019-05-30T14:38:03Z")
_[I Melt With You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6OQELwia7E)_ ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/53 "2019-05-30T14:39:11Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > There was an old song by the Marshall Tucker Band, I _think_ it was “Fire On The Mountain”, where the singer says something in one of the later verses about his widow standing by his grave. Sorry, it’s been years since I heard it, I don’t remember the exact lyrics. Good one! > [@](#): > > Now my widow, she weeps by my grave > Tears flow free for her man she couldn’t save > Shot down in cold blood by a gun that carried fame > All for a useless and no good worthless claim > **[The Marshall Tucker Band - Fire On The Mountain Lyrics | AZLyrics.com](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/marshalltuckerband/fireonthemountain.html)** > > The Marshall Tucker Band "Fire On The Mountain": Took my fam'ly away from my Carolina home Had dreams about the West and started to roam Six long m... ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/54 "2019-05-30T14:44:20Z")
Dickie Lee’s Patches ends: I hear a neighbor telling my father He says a girl name of Patches was found Floating face down in that dirty old river That flows by the coal yards in Old Shanty Town Patches, oh what can I do I swear I’ll always love you It may not be right But I’ll join you tonight Patches I’m coming to you ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/55 "2019-05-30T15:04:40Z")
Thank you so much for starting this thread, and reminding me of the wonderful [Who Done It](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_YgQEGWT70) by Harry Nilsson, where the narrator’s story finishes with the lines: “And then he looked me in the eye And said have mercy on his soul And I was hanged By the neck Until dead” So I think that qualifies. Haven’t heard it in years. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/56 "2019-05-30T15:31:05Z")
_Long Black Veil_ damn, somebody already got that one. _Detroit Rock City_…rats. Alright then. _[Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhk-DiPqhr8)_, Barenaked Ladies > [@](#): > > I guess it’s over now > Because I’ve never seen so much, > Never seen so much, never seen > So much bloooooood Oh, and _[I Love The Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognBcHjlcJo)_, Blue Oyster Cult > [@](#): > > No mortal was meant to know such wonder > One look in the mirror told me so ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/57 "2019-05-30T15:58:30Z")
Weird Al’s “Everything You Know is Wrong:” I was just about to mail a letter to my evil twin When I got a nasty papercut And, well, to make a long story short It got infected and I died ---
**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:** [May 30, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/58 "2019-05-30T16:02:46Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Oh, and _[I Love The Night](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ognBcHjlcJo)_, Blue Oyster Cult That feller is _undead_, sorry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/59 "2019-05-30T16:04:08Z")
Well…not at first. ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748/60 "2019-05-30T16:05:16Z")
Zager and Evans highly anticipated follow up to the massive “In the Year 2525” was “Mr. Turnkey”, a charming ditty about a rapist who is narrating his tale to the jailer, only to find out before doing so he has nailed his arm to the wall and is bleeding to death! Someone actually thought this was a good idea, for an A-side of a single, in 1969! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-narrator-dies/834748.md?page=4)