So They Say, "In Loving Memory"

Photo: Kainet, Flickr (CC by-SA 2.0)

As I referenced in our earlier "The Truth About Heaven" post, I’ve always had this thing for death. Musically, that is. (I’m not perving on the Grim Reaper or anything freaky like that).

And it goes way back.  My favorite childhood song was that one about that clock that “stopped short, never to run again, when the old man died.” I mean how cool is that? Talk about loyalty. I can only hope that when I go someday, my Vitamix will say “Screw this, I’m done too.”

By the way, back in 1878, Henry Work caved to the commercial pressures and penned a sequel to "My Grandfather’s Clock" (thus foreshadowing Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime II).  In the sequel, G-pa’s clock gets sacked for “that vain stuck-up thing on the wall” and then unceremoniously cremated by the junk dealer’s wife. That sound you just heard was my V-Mix hightailing it the hell out of my kitchen. So much for loyalty.

One of my earliest favorite “adult” songs was "Don’t Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult.  “Another 40,000 coming every day. We can be like they are.  C’mon baby.” Oh yeah. (BTW, it’s more like another 150K coming every day, but no quibbles.)

Come to think of it, my first favorite “adult” song was actually “She’s Gone” by Hall and Oates.  Now I’m pretty sure that the “she” in question merely ditched H and/or O, but maybe my seven-year old brain heard death. Not sure. (BTW, you have to check out the video. Trust me.)

Then there was the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  You had to flip over the 45 to hear the whole thing, but when that main hatchway caves in and the cook says “fellas it’s been good to know ya”, it gave me goose bumps every time.  Still does.  (BTW, I had a Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter the other day. Awesome.)

And I could go on and on. About Billy not keeping his head low and getting himself killed.  Realizing we were just dust in the wind. Saying bye-bye to American Pie. Pleading for that damn Joey to run. Mourning that one tin soldier. Burning up in that disco inferno.

Um, I request that last comment be struck from the record.

It’s not that I’m morbid. I wanted them to find Wildfire terribly. And I was happy as anyone when that door burst open wide the night Chicago died. And that heaven (and not hell) was on the seventh floor.

Damn, I did it again. Involuntary disco-era childhood flashback. It’s kind of like musical turrets. Apologies.

And while I’m admittedly a bit of a metal head (the sound you hear in the background is Pandora exploding from the cognitive dissonance), I was never a death metal kind of guy.

OK, brief sidebar. Uh, big guy (or big gal?), just in case you are reading this, let me clarify my previous statement. Yes, I dig a few Megadeath tunes. But in my defense, they don’t actually qualify as death metal (kind of ironic, huh?). I respectfully refer you to the Wikipedia entry on Death Metal.

It’s just that death is interesting.  He certainly was the best part of that bogus, god forsaken Bill and Ted sequel. (BTW, is it sexist to refer to Death as he?). I mean who hasn’t at some point pictured how their funeral would go down?  Who would show?  What would they pick out for you to wear? (To whom it concerns, please don’t put me in a tie). What kind of food would there be afterwards? (Brownies, fudge style, if you would). OK, sure it’s a bit narcissistic, but it’s all good healthy fun.

I distinctly remember this exact topic being discussed by Gomez and Thorpe on an imminently crashing plane in season one of the White Shadow.  And St. Louis’ So They Say takes up the subject in this post’s featured track, “In Loving Memory” from 2006’s Antidote for Irony.

To be honest, I can’t quite decide what the subtext of the song is. I know he’s dead. I know I like it. I know a mere 25,000 YouTube views is a crime against the almighty him or herself.

Speaking of YouTube, based on views, it looks like “Wake Me Up” was So They Say’s big song. I like that track, but to me it's more typical pop-punk post-hardcore emo fare (kudos to Allmusic for pegging that). But “Wake Me Up” is apparently about death too, so it’s all good. ☺

PS:  Also check out "Goodbye".  Don’t worry; it’s only a break-up song.

PPS: Gomez and Thorpe make it.