Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:47 PM

Thanks jeri, but, alas, I did mix it up. Tis not the thread I was thinking of. I am going to get on my lazy ass and search. Be back when I have something to contribute.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:43 PM

This thread (click), gnu?? If not, then how about this one (click)?
I used the Advanced Forum Search in QuickLinks.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Jeri
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:36 PM

Gnu & Joe, here's the thread and post from Big Mick.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: GUEST,Desdemona
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:34 PM

I wish I could hum it for you the way I learnt it (well, I CAN, obviously, but you can't hear it!), and I don't know how to do all that groovy MIDI stuff, alas.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:32 PM

Perky ?! You don't sing it like I do.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:30 PM

I just went back in my posts to try to find that thread and it was before I joined the bloody fray. The only way I could find it is if I could search my real name, as posted under "guest". But, I don't know how to do that.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PARTING GLASS
From: GUEST,Desdemona
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:28 PM

Here are the lyrics I have for "THE PARTING GLASS"; it's also got a nice, perky tune, so important when you're singing about Death!

Of all the money that e'er I spent
I've spent it in good company
And all the harm that ever I did
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

If I had money enough to spend
And leisure to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in the town
That sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips
I own she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 25-Jan-03.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:15 PM

Joe... nope. If I was more adept at searches, or, perhaps, not so lazy, I would find the one particular one I am thinking of. I recall that Mick posted to that thread about singing TPG to a dying friend... then again, I could be mixing it up because my steel trap memory is rusted open. Wait... it's coming... something like, "what do end your gig with ?"

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: GUEST,Desdemona
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:07 PM

I think the whole fascination with Death (the great leveller, doncha know) amongst the currently living is akin to what they say about catharsis in the theatre: you get to identify with characters, experience their wins & losses & loves & lives & deaths, and yet live to see another play (or sing another song, in this case!). By sort of "experimenting" with it, we can face one of the most basic things we all have in common, and that all of us, on some level, fear. As my beloved Will Shakespeare put it: if it is not now, then it is to come, etc.---and we just can't get away from it

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: vindelis
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:05 PM

How about 'Please don't bury me in the cold hard ground'?

I found it on a Rig the Jig CD. I'm not sure if this is the correct title, but it is the first line of the chorus.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Burke
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:05 PM

I sing Sacred Harp, an Appalachian hymn singing tradition that is loaded with songs about death.

I didn't really like the death heavy songs (And am I born to die?) but after my mother died they developed real meaning for me. For me they look death & God in the face & ask for understanding. There's not always resolution but the very act of asking helps a lot. I find them more honest in feeling than later gospel songs. See the Gospel Sing 9/11 thread for some responsed.

This is not performance so I can't really address balancing a set. At a singing people have their own reasons for selecting a tune so we could end up with several heavy death oriented songs just because they have good tunes.

Hard to come up with favorites. I love Funeral Anthem and want it at my funeral. Evening Shade, Calvary, Granville, Sing to me of Heaven. Morning Sun has a perky tune & is a favorite of a friend who's laughing at her wrinkles.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 06:01 PM

I think that traditional folk songs are generally quite matter-of-fact about death, and often approach it with a sense of humor. I view if as just another part of life, and don't take it too seriously myself. That's gotten me into trouble in some circles, because some people can view my choice of songs as irreverent or disrespectful.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:49 PM

welcome leigha...

Songs about death eh... Well, it IS folk music right, so it can't be TOO cheerful... we're the people, the singer-songwriters, who love to see disaster headlines, because it means more material to write about!

Personally, I have a very cavalier attitude towards death... for me, it's not really anything to get strung out about... We're all of us terminally infected with this thing called life, and none of us are getting out of it alive... There are a couple of songs that I've had in my show for a while now that reflect that...

Sept, 11th? Well, I've chatted with a few other folkies about this subject, and the concensious among my heroes seem to be that no one is even mentioning it more than in passing in their shows... I know I'm not letting the actions of a few zealots dictate to me what songs I can play and when...

For instance... at a benefit a few days after, I played WHO DIES and COLD MISSOURI WATER both and the firefighter-folks there loved it!! Ended the show with Mary Ellen Carter to sorta 'take the sting off' as it were, and was nearly carried around on their shoulders afterwards!!!

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:48 PM

Favourites, besides the above... Isn't It Grand Boys ? ... High Wars of Germany... I'm Gonna Leave Her If It Takes Dyin'... They're Moving Father's Grave to Build a Sewer.

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: gnu
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:42 PM

Check out "The Parting Glass". I believe it wins, hands down, according to past threads. Someone more knowledgible about searching the threads will probably assist you in performing an appropriate search.

---

I'm not sure which "Parting Glass" thread gnu refers to - maybe this one (click)?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Leigha
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:29 PM

Somehow my email was erased. It is: [e-mail]. Thanks! Leigh

Subject: Singing about Death, How and Why?
From: Leigha
Date: 17 Dec 01 - 05:23 PM

Hi All, I'm a student studying Appalachian music who has found great amusement, assistance, and comfort while reading all of your postings, though I've never posted before. I now have a question for all of you singers out there: Do you personally sing traditional songs about death? If so, which ones are your favorites? Does singing songs (or do certain lyrics) about death make you feel a certain way? Do you make an effort to balance out your performing repertoire so it's not too "death-heavy"? Are there certain occasions on which you avoid singing songs about death? Finally, did the events of September 11th change any of these things?

If you prefer not to post, feel free to send me a personal email at .

Thanks so much! I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Leigh Johnson