Death and Taxes

It's funny how much we care about death. So many artists write songs about death, or in a depressed state, and yet they continue to earn money, not that money is the key to happiness; it's not. Artists who die unexpectedly develop somewhat of a cult following, whether or not they had it before. And yet, a surprising amount of artists have died way before they were supposed to: Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Lynyrd Skynyrd, I figured I'd spend some time to write about some of my favourite songs, which, for some reason or another all manage to deal with death in some way. Obviously, some of us may have heard of these songs before, but listen to them before you die, ok?

There is so much of an aura surrounding death, it's quite uncanny. People are afraid of it, dearly, and yet some people are ready for it to come. Some people are so depressed they commit suicide. Others die tragically, when they least expect to. Many musicians spend songs, albums, and entire careers to the mystery of the subject, so let's start looking at a couple of these songs...

"Funeral Music", which is also the title of Seely's most recent and only solo album, is probably the most upbeat song on the album, and it's also the best one. Seely's career is one of disappointment: signed to Capitol Records with his band the Actual Tigers, they released one album in 2001, Gravelled & Green. Although the album is quite incredible, it was marketed poorly, and when the Tigers didn't make any money, the contract ended . Seely retreated to Mississippi (although he hails from Seattle), and spent months with producer Dennis Herring (who also produced Modest Mouse), and eventually emerged with Funeral Music. (Do you notice any resemblance to Sam Beam and/or Zach Galafinakis?)

[myspace]Funeral Music - Tim Seely (stream the entire album here)

Eels, (which is, essentially, Mark Oliver Everett) came up with quite an outstanding album, Electro-Shock Blues, despite all that he was experiencing. Many of his friends died, his sister committed suicide, and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. All of this trauma that he was dealing with lead to the major themes on this entire album, suicide, death, and cancer. Give it a listen and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Last Stop: This Town - Eels




I think we all know Elliott's story. It's one of my favourite songs, (but I love all of them), and it's ironic how poignant it is being one of the first songs he played at his live performances, yet, released on an album after his death. I know, despite the sadness, I can smile while listening to it, knowing that I'm just listening to Elliott.

The Last Hour - Elliott Smith (video from YouTube)


Duke Special really really is special. He's a crazy from Ireland, but that doesn't mean his music isn't any good. This song starts out with some orchestra arrangements a la The Beatles and then moves to an upbeat piano figure, a la The Four Tops and "I Can't Help Myself" (what a wonderful song!). On the other hand, the Irish flavour is definitely still apparent. He sings in a distinct Belfast accent, which is quite rare actually - often singing transcends accents, but this doesn't seem to be the case here. For those who like they what they hear, Duke Special has set up a website where you can sign up for their mailing list, and in exchange get five rare tracks/B Sides, and they're all really good ("Feet in the Sky" is especially recommended).

[mp3]"Last Night I Nearly Died" - Duke Special (via SXSW website)

Can I tell you how excited I am about The Shepard's Dog? Well, Sam Beam has been making great music for years, and although it's, for the most part, happy (though indie low-fi folk, "stuff"), one of my favourite songs by Iron & Wine is all about death. "Sodom, South Georgia". Here's a live version I found of Iron & Wine (Sam Beam) performing at Messiah College (which I've never heard of actually) in Pennsylvania.


For a first post, this wasn't half terrible. I guarantee most posts will be much shorter than this, but should contain many lovely songs, and a lot of lovely information, and I'm definitely looking excited to share.