Best albums about death and mortality? - Music

bobbyb5

Gender: Male
Location: New York

I would pick any album by Type O Negative. Never before has there been so many song titles with the words dead or death in the title. Of course, this is all dealt with in a humorous type way. Which of course is the only sensible way to do it. Or at least the only interesting way. I guess I pick the album Life is Killing Me, but all of their albums have the same type vibe.
Then there's a shitload of goth-y albums, they really love the topic of death too. But they're just not as fun as Type O Negative.

bobbyb5

Gender: Male
Location: New York

The all-time best song about dying is Tapestry. Although it took me a long time to figure out what it was about. But the metaphor of a tapestry is one of the best ones I've ever heard. The tapestry is the metaphor for life itself, and when her tapestry is unraveling, it's a really good symbolism for dying. If life is a tapestry, and now it's unraveling, then you're dying. And of course the strange drifter she keeps running into throughout the song is really death itself. I don't know why this wasn't obvious to me right away. Lol.

bobbyb5

Gender: Male
Location: New York

I'm also a sucker for the zillions of songs that use dead flowers or dying flowers as a symbol of death. I know it's a really overworked cliche, but I really like it for some reason.

stangetzaway

Gender: Male
Age: 53
Location: Melbourne

A few come to mind. An interesting topic.

Songs for Drella - Lou Reed and John Cale
The John Lennon Plastic Ono Band
Neil Young - Tonight's the Night
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

theblueboy

SquishypuffDave wrote:

The best:

Alopecia by Why?

Also the best:

Ghosts Of The Great Highway by Sun Kil Moon

Benji is more explicitly death-related, but I didn't dig that quite as much. Surprised not to see it here yet.

Thanks- ive not heard of the first one before. I know Benji really well. Surprised i didn't think of it.

theblueboy

travelful wrote:

DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar

Donuts by J Dilla
This is an instrumental hip-hop album so the vocals aren't very lyrical, but Dilla made this beautiful album in the hospital and released it just three days before his death. It's hard not to think about that while listening.

Benji by Sun Kil Moon

Yeah there must be a few albums by musicians who knew the end was near. I'm trying to see which other ones I can remember. I will try to check out the J Dilla album as I've not heard it.

theblueboy

Komorebi-D wrote:

(Sorry my tags aren’t working)

Notorious B.I.G. - Ready To Die & Life After Death
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
Joy Division - Closer
Panda Bear - Young Prayer
David Bowie - Blackstar
Bonnie “Prince” Billy - I See a Darkness
Björk - Homogenic
The Antlers - Hospice

Yeah I thought Blackstar but then forgot to write it down! I'm going to listen to that album again today. Skeleton Tree I only heard once but thought it was really powerful. I was just thinking about Closer as well.

I don't know the other ones (though I must have heard most of Homogenic). Thanks for pointing them out.

theblueboy

Luigii wrote:

To me one album that tackles death is George Michael's Older. Wonderful record.

Sadly not heard it. I'd like to check it out sometime.

theblueboy

bobbyb5 wrote:

I would pick any album by Type O Negative. Never before has there been so many song titles with the words dead or death in the title. Of course, this is all dealt with in a humorous type way. Which of course is the only sensible way to do it. Or at least the only interesting way. I guess I pick the album Life is Killing Me, but all of their albums have the same type vibe.
Then there's a shitload of goth-y albums, they really love the topic of death too. But they're just not as fun as Type O Negative.

Oh I heard this about them before and you just reminded me. Yeah dealing with death in a humourous way totally makes sense to me. I guess a lot of people's favourite song on this topic would be "always look on the bright side of life" by Eric Idle. Which is a good choice for me.

theblueboy

bobbyb5 wrote:

The all-time best song about dying is Tapestry. Although it took me a long time to figure out what it was about. But the metaphor of a tapestry is one of the best ones I've ever heard. The tapestry is the metaphor for life itself, and when her tapestry is unraveling, it's a really good symbolism for dying. If life is a tapestry, and now it's unraveling, then you're dying. And of course the strange drifter she keeps running into throughout the song is really death itself. I don't know why this wasn't obvious to me right away. Lol.

I never realised that is what this song was about! I thought it was a bit self-indulgent about how great her life is or something! I need to listen much more carefully.