Death Post

Mariska Riollano
Jackie Mazur
Daryna Zhadovich
Ricky Li

The Art of Dying by Graeme Thomson, is an article explaining moods in death songs and why Thomson believes musicians write, or sing, about death. By not singing about death we get the impression older artists are fearful of it just like everyone else. Artists that do sing about death typically add a touch of humor to it and somehow lighten the idea. "If mere death is all a death song has to offer, then it is likely to become a suffocating and grim listening experience; it devalues currency." On the other hand, songs do not need to be about death because their soul mean is for entertainment. We believe that if the artist wants to sing about death they can, thus we are not convinced by Thomson's argument.

Dead Ahead by James Sullivan, is more or less about how singers save music for after their deaths. Because of this strategy some artists become more popular after death than they were when they were alive. For example, Elvis Presley, Tupac, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, and so on. By saving songs for after their deaths, or for the future in general, the artists are acknowledging that death is inevitable. We agree with the author's argument because we have witnessed some artists we love become more popular after death.

The last article, The Show Goes On by Melinda Newman, is about the agencies of a deceased musician and the conflict they encounter after the artist has passed. The agency does not want to seem as if they are releasing a song to make money off the publicity of the artist's death. An example of this conflict would be when Sublime's lead singer, Brad Nowell, died in the same year in which the band's album was to be released. After consulting other bandmates, the agency believed it was okay to keep the same release date. Overall we agree with the point the author is trying to make. Agencies have to take many things into consideration when something unfortunate, like death, happens to one of their artists.

Death Playlist:
Seven Nation Army-The White Stripes
Drops of Jupiter-Train
Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden
42, Death & All His Friends-Coldplay
Wake Me Up When September Ends-Green Day
I'll Be Missing You-P. Diddy
Helena, Welcome To The Black Parade-My Chemical Romance
Timshel-Mumford & Sons
Atlantic-Keane
Possibility-Lykke Li
Soil-System Of A Down