13 Songs That Explore Mortality… | Playlist 🎧

1. Lil Nas X, “Dead Right Now”

💿 Montero • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2021

🎵 “Dead Right Now” appears as the second track from 💿 Montero, the debut album by 🏆 Grammy-winning pop artist, 🎙 Lil Nas X.  On “Dead Right Now,” Nas X writes off fake folks.  According to him, these fake folks only acted like they cared about him after he attained fame. Shameful!

On the second verse, Nas X speaks about his issues prior to fame.  These issues include suicidal thoughts.

“If I didn’t blow, I would’ve died tryna be here
If I didn’t go, suicide, wouldn’t be here.”

On the chorus, he gives the middle fingers to the frauds: “I’ll treat you like you’re dead right now /…You wanna fuck with me so bad right now / Well, now you can’t right now.” Even though he mentions his own tussles with mortality, those that are “dead right now” are the folks who didn’t previously genuinely have respect or regard for him.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Right: 5ive Songs No. 79 (2021)
🔗 🎧 13 Intriguing Right or Left Songs
🔗 🎧 Mortality: 5ive Songs No. 83 (2021)

2. Billie Eilish, “Listen Before I Go”

💿 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? • 🏷 Darkroom / Interscope • 📅 2019

“Take me to the rooftop / I wanna see the world when I stop breathing.” Hmm, well that’s incredibly morbid. Some background first! 🎙 Billie Eilish released her major-label debut album, 💿 When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, to critical acclaim in March 2019.  Furthermore, the album was a commercial juggernaut that went on to earn five 🏆 Grammys including the highly coveted award for Album of the Year.

🎵 “Listen Before I Go,” the 12^th track from the highly decorated LP, is lethargic-paced and heavy to the nth degree.  How is it heavy exactly? Well, it references suicide… ouch. “Sorry can’t save me now,” Eilish sings on the chorus, later adding, “Sorry there’s no way out / But down.” What is fueling the suicidal thoughts that cross the protagonist’s mind? Depression, it seems. What isn’t sad is the top-notch quality of this dark standout from an equally brilliant debut album. As always, her brother and producer 🎛 FINNEAS puts in work on the production end of things.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 11 Awesome Songs that Tickled My Fancy: March 2019
🔗 🎧 11 Songs Where the ‘Before’ is Key
🔗 🎧 12 Simply Terrific Before or After Songs

3. Don Diablo & Imanbek, “Kill Me Better”

Ft. Trevor Daniel

🎵 “Kill Me Better” • 🏷 HEXAGON • 🗓 2020

“I fell in love with the warzone / This is not my home / This is just a place where I’ve been…” Ah, there is nothing like a rad electronic song, is there? Sure, 🎵“Kill Me Better” possesses a somewhat morbid and contradictory title, but the song itself is rad. Dutch DJ and record producer 🎙 Don Diablo does wonders with his work behind the boards speaking volumes.  🎙 Imanbek, a young DJ from Kazakhstan, joins him.  Sweetening the deal are the vocals of ascending pop singer, 🎙 Trevor Daniel.

Numerous writers make “Kill Me Better” go. From an instrumental standpoint, it’s awesome, with energetic, inescapable synthwave vibes on full display. There’s an 80s vibe but “Kill Me Better” sounds like a proud product of 2020.  Beyond the masterful production by Diablo, it’s the vocals of Trevor Daniel that bring the record to life.  Daniel brings an emo/punk vibe, which is super cool when mixed with the synthwave sound.  Furthermore, the lyrics add to this emo-tilt, particularly the pre-chorus:

“Gotta kill another demon left in my head
He’s been scheming on the walls and under my bed
It’s these suicidal thoughts that I’m fed
Welcome to my American wasteland.”

Diablo, Imabek, and Daniel make one heck of a team. Great production, great writing, and awesome singing make “Kill Me Better” a surefire winner.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Awesome Songs That Tickled My Fancy: November 2020
🔗 🎧 Better: 5ive Songs No. 63 (2021)
🔗 🎧 13 Magnificent Better Songs

4. Marsha Ambrosius, “Far Away”

💿 Late Nights & Early Mornings • 🏷 J • 📅 2011

Lyrically, “Far Away” (💿 Late Nights & Early Mornings) tackles suicide.  In the context of the song, there aren’t any direct references to homosexuality. What the listener takes away is that 🎙 Marsha Ambrosius is heartbroken after her friend commits suicide.  As sad as the situation is, “Far Away” finds Ambrosius depicting her emotions in the aftermath. The accompanying music video takes things a step further, incorporating homosexuality and homophobia.

The homophobic component drives the male to commit suicide.

“If I had known Sunday morning, that you would be gone
I would’ve never come home
I wouldn’t have answered my phone to hear the voice had a tone
I knew that something was wrong
The cop’s the one who had told me that you were alone inside
An empty room
Identified you as my baby
Oh, my baby, so far away.”

What further amplifies the significance of the video is the use of black characters.  Homophobia is more pronounced in the black community, so Ambrosius took a bigger risk with “Far Away” given the storyline and social implications.  A Think Progress article (from February 2016) by Zack Ford suggests black homophobia is a myth, based on a Public Religion Research Institute survey.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Songs Centered Around or Referencing Suicide, Vol. 1
🔗 🎧 A Compendium Comprised of 100 Notable LGBTQ+ Songs

5. Manchester Orchestra, “Angel of Death”

💿 The Million Masks of God • 🏷 Loma Vista • 📅 2021

On 💿 The Million Masks of God, Atlanta, Georgia alt rock band 🎙 Manchester Orchestra deliver one of the most accomplished albums of 2021. Among key themes on The Million Masks of God are life and death.  One of the very best songs from this ultra-consistent LP is 🎵 “Angel of Death,” a nearly six-minute record.

The second track from The Million Masks of God continues to the conceptual nature of the album.  The music sounds utterly awesome with the robust bass, ripe guitars, and of course, beautiful, and commanding vocals by front man 🎙 Andy Hull. “I was told it wouldn’t be long / ‘Life’s a basket full of cravings’,” he sings on the second verse, as mortality drives the narrative.  On the epic, powerful chorus, he asserts, “I’m on fire / And the guilt’s doing all of the thinking / I’m alive / But it isn’t the same as before.”  Definitely a record that tickles one’s fancy despite its darker theme.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 ‘A’ Songs: No Rhyme or Reason, Vol. 2
🔗 🎧 Angel of Death: 3BOPS No. 63 (2021)
🔗 🎧 Mortality: 5ive Songs No. 83 (2021)

6. Billie Holiday, “Gloomy Sunday”

With Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra

💿 The Essential Billie Holiday • 🏷 Sony • 🗓 2010

“Sunday is gloomy, my hours are slumber-less / Dearest the shadows, I live with are numberless / Little white flowers will never awaken you / Not where the black coach of sorrow has taken you.” 🎵 “Gloomy Sunday” is bummer city… While this 🎙 Billie Holiday gem is beautiful (covered by numerous musicians), it’s also chilling and haunting, thanks to its morbid content. Holiday does a fantastic job covering it but that doesn’t eliminate the controversy, which comes into play is two-fold.

First, the song’s protagonist exhibits suicidal thoughts. That’s incredibly unsettling in its own right:

“My heart and I have decided to end it all
Soon there’ll be candles and prayers that are sad.”

Those lyrics speak for themselves.  What’s worse and more eerie, however, is “Gloomy Sunday” has earned the reputation as the Hungarian suicide song, “blamed for being connected to more suicides than any other song in history.” Yikes 😮! Adding more fuel to the fire, the composer, Hungarian pianist 🎼✍ Rezső Seress,  committed suicide in 1968! Yikes 😮! Worth noting, the lyrics that became popularized were written by poet 🎼✍ László Jávor (no, he didn’t commit suicide). “Gloomy Sunday” is a record to be wary of.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Songs Centered Around or Referencing Suicide, Vol. 1
🔗 😈🎶 Billie Holiday, “Gloomy Sunday”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 5
🔗 🎧 11 Superb Sunday Songs

7. Badflower, “My Funeral”

💿 This is How the World Ends • 🏷 Big Machine / John Varvatos • 📅 2021

“Imagine if I took my life, gave up on love and died tonight / I wonder who would cry for me.” The final trio of 💿 This is How the World Ends, the sophomore album by Los Angeles alternative rock band 🎙 Badflower, is thought provoking.  The three songs are heavy as opposed to lighthearted numbers. On final song, 🎵 “My Funeral,” front man 🎙 Josh Katz explores death, specifically via suicide.

“And everybody else would try to analyze my suicide
Everybody wants to cry about some famous kid that died
Tonight, I’ll light a candle and fantasize my funeral.”

Mental health and suicide were part of the M.O. on 💿 Ok, I’m Sick, the band’s underrated debut. One of my favorite lyrics on this heavy number appears on the third verse, where this suicidal kid asserts, “And here I am a privileged me with no concept of suffering / I think I’ll shut the fuck up and donate to a charity.” I guess you could say, Mr. Katz has his own distinct way of putting things.  Nonetheless, mortality and the aftermath of a potential suicide play a pivotal role on this closing cut.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Mortality: 5ive Songs No. 83 (2021)

8. Jhené Aiko, “Jukai”

💿 Trip • 🏷 Def Jam • 📅 2017

“If anyone should try and find me / Just know I’m where I wanna be.” Hmm, troubling 🎙 Jhené Aiko. Why, you ask? Well, the second track from 💿 Trip is named 🎵 “Jukai.”  What is Jukai? Well, it’s an infamous forest in Japan.  Jukai is another name for The Sea of Trees aka Aokigahara Forest.  The forest is infamous because is known for its high incidence of suicide in Japan.

As you’d expect, “Jukai,” the 🏆 Grammy-nominated R&B singer/songwriter references a trip to the infamous Sea of Trees – in her mind, ‘mind’ you. “I’ve made my way down to the forest,” she sings on the verse, continuing, “Way down to the sea of trees.” Later, she adds, “I tried, but my feet kept touchin’ the ground / … If I died, would it even make a sound in the sea of trees.” Her question is psychologically-driven – thought provoking to say the least.  Even in the literal sense, it runs deep.   The good news regarding Aiko’s exploration of life and death is that she survives the forest and doesn’t surrender her life.

“Okay now, I’m okay now
Alive, alive
Made it out alive, made it out alive
Surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise
I’m out alive.”

Also appears on 🔽:
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9. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, “Sea of Trees”

💿 12 Bar Bruise • 🏷 Flightless • 📅 2012

🎵 “Sea of Trees” is an energetic, rollicking, fast-paced song from psychedelic rock standouts 🎙 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.  “Sea of Trees” appears on the collective’s 2012 album, 💿 12 Bar Bruise.  That said, even if this three-and-a-quarter-minute joint is set in a major key and sounds happy, you should totally dive into the lyrics and theme.

“Sea of Trees” is named after/associated with the Sea of Trees in Japan, perhaps best known as the Aokigahara forest.  That forest, of course, has become one of the most infamous places on the planet, as it’s known for its high suicide rate.  So, the ‘See of Trees’ aka the Aokigahara forest has earned its most popular nickname, ‘Suicide Forest’ given its unfortunate, high suicide rate. While 🎙 Stu Mackenzie and company deliver a record that doesn’t sound morbid, the lyrics confirm the connection with Aokigahara.

“Oh, hell, I’m feeling underwater
My head is sinking like a stone
And hell, I’m feeling kinda sick
I don’t know what’s the use in it
And when you’re feeling suicidal
Sometimes, you’ve just got to unfold.”

Also appears on 🔽: 
🔗 🎧 11 Amazing Songs Associated with Trees
🔗 🎧 Japan 🗾: 5ive Songs No. 61 (2021)
🔗 🎧 11 Captivating Songs Associated with Japan

10. James Blunt, “Monsters”

💿 Once Upon a Mind • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2019

“You’re Beautiful” is undoubtedly the crowning achievement of 🏆 Grammy-nominated, singer/songwriter 🎙 James Blunt’s discography. That said, in 2019, Blunt released a song that is easily one of his best in years, not to mentioned potentially the ‘second-best’ of his career.  “Monsters”, from 💿 Once Upon a Mind isn’t monstrous because it’s scary in the least.  I might even opt for ‘beastly’ as opposed to monstrous, because of the thoughtful, personal, and incredibly relatable lyrics.

Dedicated to his ailing, aging, and dying father, James Blunt seems to cherish the time he has left (“Oh, well, I’ll read a story to you / Only difference is this one is true / The time has gone…”).  He also prepares to take the torch passed on by his father – truly ‘man up.’ The crème de la crème (besides those ever-distinct vocals) is the soaring chorus.  If you listen to the chorus, or better yet, watch the music video accompanying “Monsters” and don’t shed a tear (or at least sniffle or get ‘moist’), well, you’re incredibly coldhearted.

“I’m not you son, you’re not my father
We’re just two grown men saying goodbye
No need to forgive, no need to forget
I know your mistakes and you know mine
And while you’re sleeping, I’ll try to make you proud
So, daddy, won’t you just close your eyes?
Don’t be afraid, it’s my turn
To chase the monsters away.”

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 13 Monstrous Songs About Monsters

11. jxdn, “Better Off Dead”

💿 Tell Me About Tomorrow • 🏷 DTA / Elektra • 📅 2021

“It’s been cloudy with a chance of depression / Broke my heart and I learned my lesson / It’s already over in my head.” Ah, young angst – the tortured youth – perfect fuel for a song if I do say so myself.  For 🎙 jxdn (Jaden Hossler), the pain and toxicity of love is disturbing to say the least.  At the top of 🎵 “Better Off Dead” from his 2021 album, 💿 Tell Me About Tomorrow (partially excerpted), it’s clear the situation is NOT GOOD.

“It’s been cloudy with a chance of anxiety
Can’t keep out the demons inside of me
Maybe I’m just better off dead.”

Better off dead? Well, that’s how jxdn feels on this brief but potent record, notably featuring a co-write by 🎼✍ Lauv (among others).  Also, worth noting, the production is handled by a star-studded team: 🎛 Andrew Goldstein, 🎛 blackbear, and 🎛 Travis Barker.  What I’m saying is, there’s a lot of life about this track for Hossler to be getting morbid. That said, he knows how she makes him feel, including “Use your body to sedate me / and you make me fucking crazy / You made me miserable.” So, good sex, bad, toxic emotional connections… check ✅.  I suppose I could’ve ended the list with a more optimistic ‘better’ song, couldn’t I?

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 13 Magnificent Better Songs
🔗 🎧 Mortality: 5ive Songs No. 83 (2021)

12. The Killers, “Terrible Thing”

💿 Pressure Machine • 🏷 Island • 📅 2021

“I’m in my bedroom on the verge of a terrible thing.” Man, that is heavy – it hits hard. 🎵 “Terrible Thing,” as you’d expected, is sad.  It appears as the third song on 💿 Pressure Machine, the much sooner-than-expected, seventh studio album by 🎙 The Killers.  What exactly is that ‘terrible thing’ the male character in the song is on the verge of? Contemplating suicide.

Why does the character consider ending it all? He’s gay but he comes from a place where that’s unaccepted, particularly given the time.  You could say, he’s knee-deep into the Pressure Machine, as “Around here, we all take up our cross and hang on His Holy name / But the cards that I was dealt will get you thrown out of the game.” Wow.  Flowers does a masterful job performing this and putting himself in the situation of this young man.  It marks one of many bright spots from Pressure Machine.

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Awesome Songs That Tickled My Fancy: August 2021
🔗 🎧 Mortality: 5ive Songs No. 83 (2021)

13. Bob Dylan, “Black Rider”

💿 Rough and Rowdy Ways • 🏷 Columbia • 🗓 2020

“Black rider, black rider, all dressed in black / I’m walking away, you try to make me look back…” The chilling, dark, enigmatic, minor-keyed 🎵 “Black Rider” has a strong argument for the best song from 💿 Rough and Rowdy Ways, the 39^th studio album by 🎙 Bob Dylan.  Furthermore, “Black Rider” ranked among the best songs of 2020.  Here’s the deal about “Black Rider.” Even if the lyrics weren’t potent and Dylan had ‘fallen off’ his storytelling game, the music alone would earn this record accolades. The production is spare, allowing Bob to be the focal point, yet the harmonic progression – the chords – are gorgeous.

Of course, it’s Bob Dylan, lyrical master, so it only requires one lyric to confirm the elite nature: “Black rider, black rider, hold it right there,” he sings on the fifth and final verse, “The size of your cock will get you nowhere.” How awesome is that? “Black Rider” is subject to interpretation, including references to mortality – perhaps Dylan’s own – and perhaps, more subtly, politics.

“Maybe I’ll take the high moral ground
Some enchanted evening I’ll sing you a song
Black rider, black rider, you’ve been on the job too long.”

Also appears on 🔽:
🔗 🎧 Awesome Songs That Tickled My Fancy: June 2020
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