Death - oh, baby - You Know that Dying Is Fine

Evan & Courtney are running around in Cambodia this week. Apparently, this leaves me with thoughts of death and dying? Whatever. I like those subjects. Here's a playlist built around them.

The Weakerthans - Elegy for Gump Worsley
"He swore he was never afraid of the puck / We believe him / If anyone asks, my inscription should read / My face was my mask"

From Wikipedia: He was also vehemently opposed to wearing a mask. He was in fact the second-to-last goaltender to play without a mask, wearing one only in the last six games of his career. Asked about why he chose to go without he told reporters; "My face is my mask." Not wearing a mask also presented unique problems for television viewers. Often, when opposing teams scored on him, the ensuing close-ups of the maskless Worsley captured him mouthing expletives.
Things to love: Death + Hockey + The Weakerthans. This song is all three. How perfect?

M83 – Graveyard Girl

“Death is her boyfriend / She spits on summers and smiles to the night / She collects crowns made of black roses / But her heart is made of bubblegum”

It would make me proud as a peach if someone ever used these lyrics to describe me. I have a weird fascination with death and cemeteries. My favorite place in Boston is Mt. Auburn Cemetery on the perfect fall day. I don’t remember when I became so inspired by morbid things, but they intrigue me like nothing else ever has. It might have something to do with my love of Halloween and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington = perfect man? M83 has become a master of the morbidly beautiful pop song, and to prove my point, I’m going to break Evan’s cardinal rule of the mix: No multiple songs by the same artist. The video for this song? Fucking brilliant.

Ra Ra Riot - Dying Is Fine
"Death, oh baby / You know that dying is fine / But maybe I wouldn't like death / If death were good / Not even if death was good"

When Ra Ra Riot released the self-titled EP, this song was hard to ignore. And then, tragedy struck the band.
From Wikipedia: After a show in Providence, the band's original drummer, John Ryan Pike, of Hamilton, Massachusetts, went missing in the early morning of June 2, 2007 at Wilbur's Point in Fairhaven. His body was discovered the following day in nearby Buzzards Bay; Pike was believed to have drowned. Ra Ra Riot issued a statement a few weeks after Pike's funeral that they would continue as a band.
When The Rhumb Line was released, I was really surprised to see a reworked version of Dying Is Fine on it. I'm glad it made it to the album, because it's such a great song.

Strung Out - Exhumation of Virginia Madison
"Now I've got my Sunday vest / And I'm headed out the door / Dig my fingers deep in soil just to get to her / All dressed in black and she's so pale / She's waiting there for me / A blanket of soil covers us / To fall asleep in eternity / And now I close my eyes"

Does this need an explanation? Love and loss. Simple.

Saves the Day - At Your Funeral
"And you can bet / When we mourn the death of you that night / That they'll lay me on the dinner table / And I will be the pig with the apple in my mouth / The food that celebrates your end"

Again - explanation needed? I can't imagine how hard it must be to watch a friend fuck up and fuck up and fuck up over and over until the end. Especially if there's absolutely nothing you can do to make it stop.

Superdrag - The Warmth of the Tomb
"While in the warmth of a tomb / I was thinking to presume / You had the gall / Something kept me waiting / For the fall to assume / There was nothing left in bloom"

Amy Millan - Bury Me
"Bury me..."

Meet my kindred spirit. Her album titles are Honey from the Tombs and Masters of the Burial. This song is called “Bury Me.” Clearly, we have a gal just as fascinated with death and dying as I am. Add to that her involvement in bands like Stars and Broken Social Scene… AND she’s got the Canadian thing going for her. I wish I was Amy Millan.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Think I Wanna Die
"Think I wanna die / If you don't stay / Drop dead in place / You can forget it / Carry a torch for days / I'm gonna let it burn"

A cheeky little song about death. Charming, even. I love the part where "I wanna die" is repeated over and over. The video is pretty awesome too.

Travis Morrison - People Die
"Someday we'll be old and we'll read obituary pages like the sports / And we'll see an old friend's name / And will it hurt? / Well, yeah - of course / Then we'll sigh / And we'll pick up the crosswords 'cos people die"

"People Die" is pretty much in line with my view of death. No one significantly close to me has dies, and those that have (grandparents - all four of them) were likely going to go around whenever they went. It's a fact of life. Of course, it's shocking when someone dies young, but if I make it to 85 or 90, I won't be surprised to hear that people are dying. I'd be a fool if I were.

The Smiths - There is a Light that Never Goes Out
"And if a double-decker bus crashes into us / To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die / And if a ten-ton truck kills the both of us / To die by your side / Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine"

Hands down, my favorite lyric about death and dying. Sung beautifully. I would fall in love with any boy who stood up in crowded karaoke bar and dedicated this song to me.

M83 - Car Chase Terror

[I'd like to officially welcome you to the creepier side of things.]

Let me tell you about the first time I heard "Car Chase Terror." One night, after receiving Before The Dawn Heals Us from a friend, I decided to put it on as I got ready for bed. I enjoyed the intro tracks, so as I got into bed and turned out the lights, I just left the album playing, thinking it would lull me to sleep. I'm drifiting off and then I hear screaming and fear and dread and I'm like, WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?! (I'm very easily confused upon waking...) Anyhow, this track may not necessarily be about dying, but it can scare you to death if listened to at the wrong place/wrong time.

Genesis - Dreaming While You Sleep
"All of my life / I'll be haunted by / All of my life / Just one moment in time / All of my life / Until the day I die / And it will live inside of me / Oh, I will never be free / All my life / Trapped in her memory / All my life / Till the day that you open your eyes"

Another mood-brightener. Way to go, Phil. I'm gonna have to listen to "Invisible Touch" for the rest of night to shake these nightmares I'm about to have.

New Order - ICB
"Line of force from heaven / A tear in a stranger's eye / When it goes forever / Where all things never die"

It'd be impossible for me to make a list of songs about death and dying without acknowledging Ian Curtis. So here is my nod.

M83 - Don't Save Us From the Flames
"Out of the flames / A piece of brain in my hair / The wheels are melting / A ghost is screaming your name"

Evan, if he were in a grave, would be rolling over in it with this - my third M83 track on the mix. Deal with it. A song about a car crash. We presume the girl, Tina, is young and gone forever. This is probably my favorite M83 song.

Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun
"Goodbye, Michelle / It's hard to die / When all the birds are singing in the sky / Now that the spring is in the air / With flowers everywhere / I wish that we could both be there"

The wisest $6 I've ever spent was on a book called I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard. The writing is pretty poor; some of the choices are pretty lackluster. But I love the way the songs are sectioned off. "Seasons in the Sun" is found in the Perfect Storms section, which is the best way to describe this track.

Sigur Ros - Vidrar vel til Loftarasa
[7:55 - album version]

I'm constantly concious of the fact that I will not live forever; I think about death often. Never in a suicidal way, but in a "how will I go" kind of way. Will I live to be 94 and die of old age? Will I live to 28 and die in a car accident? It's the big unknown. The only thing I can control about my death is what happens after. I've been very specific about two things: I do not want anything to happen at a church and this is I want played at my funeral: Sigur Ros' Vidrar vel til Loftarasa.