Mortality | 5ive Songs

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.”

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

2. 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)

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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