Five songs that were written moments before death
A person’s art is usually a reflection of who they are and what they’re going through at a given moment. Graham Nash has previously spoken about how art is most effective when used in this way.
“I really think every day about a quote by Nina Simone,” he said in an exclusive interview with Far Out, “Who said ‘Every artist, whether you’re a songwriter or a piano player or a sculptor or a painter, you have to reflect the times in which we live’.”
For Nash, this means that his music is often a reflection of the emotional state he finds himself in as well as the political climate around him. The theme of an album for a lot of artists entirely depends on what’s happening in their lives at the time of writing. As such, if somebody is struggling with their health or if they’re close to death, then the music they make will be a reflection of what can be quite a scary time.
There are a lot of songs written by someone who knew that death wasn’t far away, and while these tracks might be sad, they’re also a representation of what makes music one of the most emotive and connective art forms out there.
Five songs which were written just before death:
Warren Zevon – ‘Keep Me in Your Heart’
When Warren Zevon learned that he had terminal mesothelioma, he started working on his album The Wind, which he knew would be the last record he ever made – the LP consists entirely of original songs (aside from his cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’, and so listening to the album is a glimpse into the mind of a man who knows he’s dying.
The final track that he wrote and recorded for the album was the song ‘Keep Me in Your Heart’. The song is an incredibly moving way to finish, and a track which highlighted Zevon’s love for life. Perhaps his greatest piece of advice for everyone was when he was promoting the album and told David Letterman, “Enjoy every sandwich.”
Johnny Cash – ‘Hurt’
The song ‘Hurt’ was originally written by Trent Reznor and recorded by the Nine Inch Nails, who put together an incredibly vulnerable track, saying, “I’m not proud to say I hate myself and don’t like what I am, but maybe there is real human communication that ends up positive even though everything being said is negative.”
Johnny Cash’s version was just as vulnerable, but it came from a place of mortality rather than self-loathing – Rick Rubin convinced Cash to record the cover, and he put everything together towards the end of the country singer’s life… It’s a truly heartbreaking track to listen to, and yet despite his fragility, the stoic nature of Cash’s vocals is truly commendable.
Leonard Cohen – ‘You Want It Darker’
Two days before Marianne Ihlen died and three months before Leonard Cohen passed away, he wrote to her one final time. “Our bodies are falling apart, and I think I will follow you very soon,” he said. “Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine… Goodbye, old friend. Endless love, see you down the road.”
Leonard Cohen knew that he was dying, and that knowledge is reflected in the subdued, but also confrontational track ‘You Want It Darker’. In this song, he tosses and turns with the idea of religion, and questions how “just” God can really be when so much cruelty exists. Cohen made it clear when he spoke about the song (and album of the same name) that he was thinking a lot about death when he wrote it.
“The big change is the proximity to death,” he said. “I am a tidy kind of guy. I like to tie up the strings if I can. If I can’t, also, that’s okay… I’ve got some work to do. Take care of business. I am ready to die.”
David Bowie – ‘Lazarus’
Released the same year as Leonard Cohen’s ‘You Want It Darker’ and also a song from the point of view of someone approaching death, David Bowie’s ‘Lazarus’, and the entire album of Blackstar, is one of the most haunting records he ever put out throughout his entire career… Unlike Cohen, Bowie was a lot more secretive with his knowledge of death, but it is reflected in the lyrics he wrote, which are confrontational of mortality.
Danny McCaslin, who played saxophone on the song, recalled how moving it was to hear Bowie put the track together, elaborating, “I was listening to the song that’s now called ‘Lazarus’, which is probably the second or third one we recorded, I remember hearing that ‘the sax had a prominent role’, which is a line that David had written… Hearing him sing it was emotional because I was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ There he is and there I am.”
J Dilla – ‘Last Donut of the Night’
You can never really categorise an artist like J Dilla. He didn’t just make good music, but he also completely reinvented the way that people perceived rhythm. The amount he changed the worlds of hip-hop and R&B is certainly impressive, but even more so when you consider he had such an impact in such a short space of time, given he passed away at 32.
Having created so much great music at such a young age is undoubtedly an achievement, and his crowning moment was the instrumental album, Donuts. The last full track on that album is appropriately called ‘Last Donut of the Night’, and it’s a truly beautiful offering.
