- 5 months ago
These final musical farewells cut deeper than most. Join us as we count down the most haunting songs written by musicians who knew they didn't have much time left. From David Bowie's poignant "Lazarus" to Johnny Cash's heart-wrenching cover of "Hurt," these artists transformed their mortality into powerful artistic statements that continue to move us long after they've gone.
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00:00This morning, the music world is remembering grunge rock pioneer, Chris Cornell.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the most haunting songs
00:11written by musicians who knew they didn't have much time left.
00:18Number 20, When I Get to Heaven, John Prine.
00:26When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand, thank Him for more blessings than one
00:33man can stand.
00:34It's only fitting that one of the most significant lyricists of his time would process his own
00:40fate through song.
00:42John Prine's health had been devastated by recurring fights with cancer when he wrote
00:47When I Get to Heaven as a unique approach to death.
00:50Buddy, when you're dead, you're a dead peckerhead.
00:56I hope to prove him wrong.
01:01That is, when I get to heaven.
01:03He lays out his plans for the afterlife, from visiting his deceased relatives to forgiving
01:09those who've wronged him, even his critics.
01:12He even envisions indulging in vices he could no longer enjoy, like his signature cocktail.
01:18And then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale.
01:24Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long.
01:29The witty, heartfelt lyrics and cheery acoustic instrumental make the morbid reality feel more
01:35like going home.
01:36Though it wasn't the last piece Prine recorded before his passing from coronavirus in 2020,
01:42it's the first to acknowledge and accept the inevitable.
01:46Tonight, Bruce Springsteen tweeting,
01:48He was a true national treasure and a songwriter for the ages.
01:52We send our love and prayers to his family.
01:55Number 19, Ain't It Fun, Rocket from the Tombs.
01:59Ain't it fun when you're always on the run?
02:04One of punk rock's earliest songsmiths was also one of its first victims.
02:11Rocket from the Tombs frontman Peter Loeffner co-wrote Ain't It Fun just before the band
02:16split in 1975.
02:19The lyrics expressed disillusionment with the toxic rocker lifestyle that Loeffner publicly
02:24admitted ensnared him.
02:26One crucial line is,
02:28Ain't it fun when you know that you're gonna die young?
02:33It's such fun.
02:35Two years later, Loeffner succumbed to acute pancreatitis at the age of 24, despite warnings
02:42about his excessive drinking and substance use.
02:46Rocket from the Tombs wouldn't record Ain't It Fun in the studio until their 2003 reunion.
02:58After co-writer Gene O'Connor debuted the song with Dead Boys in 78,
03:03many bands covered it in tribute to an artist who understood the stranglehold of drug culture.
03:09Just stuck it way too deep in something that really stung, that ain't it fun.
03:16Number 18.
03:18I'll never get out of this world alive.
03:21Hank Williams with his drifting cowboys.
03:25How you looking at a man that's getting kinda mad?
03:29I had a lot to look, but it's all been bad.
03:33His fame couldn't help him escape reality.
03:36Country music star Hank Williams struggled with spina bifida occulta, a back condition.
03:42He developed a dependency on substances to self-medicate his immense pain,
03:46ostensibly contributing to his heart failure in 1953.
03:51This recontextualizes his final single,
03:54I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive,
03:57which appears to be about a person experiencing a streak of horrible luck.
04:01I'm not gonna worry wrinkles in my brow,
04:05cause nothing's ever gonna be alright no how.
04:10Following Williams' death,
04:11it can be interpreted as a man coping with his chronic illness
04:15and substance use disorder through cynical humor.
04:18It's hard to say if Williams knew he'd die following its release,
04:23but considering the downtrodden message
04:25and the physically draining recording experience,
04:27it's easy to assume that the thought was on his mind.
04:31No matter how I struggle and strive,
04:35I'll never get out of this world alive.
04:40Number 17.
04:42My Only True Friend, Greg Allman.
04:45You and I both know
04:47this river will surely flow
04:51to an end.
04:53It's easy to assume that this heartfelt track
04:57is merely the singer's way of reflecting on his life.
05:00Given that Greg Allman passed away from cancer less than a year
05:03after recording My Only True Friend,
05:06that meaning does serve as one interpretation.
05:09The repeated pleas for his music to be remembered
05:11and the acknowledgement of his slowly approaching end
05:14only contribute to it.
05:16I can't bear to think
05:18this might be the end.
05:22However, there's more than meets the eye.
05:25The song's made even more poignant
05:27by it having been covertly written
05:30from the perspective of his deceased brother
05:32and longtime musical partner, Dwayne.
05:34After Dwayne died in a motorcycle crash in 1971,
05:38Greg kept the band together.
05:40This takes the song's emotion
05:41to an even higher level,
05:43transforming it from a plea for legacy
05:45to a final message
05:47between siblings
05:49before reuniting.
05:50You and I both know
05:53The road is my only true friend
05:58Number 16.
06:01You Never Knew My Mind
06:03Chris Cornell
06:04I know you feel the way I change
06:10Considering Johnny Cash's haunting cover
06:13of Nine Inch Nails
06:14before his own passing,
06:16it's fitting that his work would be used similarly.
06:20But you can't change the way I feel
06:26Chris Cornell adapted two of Cash's unreleased poems,
06:30You Never Knew My Mind
06:31and I Never Knew Your Mind
06:33into one song for a tribute album.
06:35The lyrics are about a crumbling relationship.
06:38Yeah, sitting on the steps of a cabin that he built
06:41just to get away from it all
06:43is surreal.
06:45I haven't even processed it yet.
06:47But after Cornell took his own life,
06:49before the single's release,
06:51it took on a much darker connotation.
06:53You never really knew my mind
06:57When he sings about fleeting good times,
07:01signs not being recognized
07:03or how his feelings were never truly known,
07:07it's as though he's addressing the listener.
07:10It takes an already bittersweet peace
07:12and makes it more heartbreaking.
07:14And the fact that it was one of his final recordings
07:17makes it doubly so.
07:19I Never Really Knew Your Mind
07:23Number 15.
07:28Riders on the Storm
07:29The Doors
07:31Into this house we're born
07:33Into this world we're thrown
07:38Though the rest of the band
07:40would sporadically create and release music afterwards,
07:44this signaled the end of their time
07:45with frontman Jim Morrison.
07:47Riders on the Storm
07:49was the last track The Doors created
07:51before he made his final trip to Paris
07:53and died of an apparent overdose.
07:55Like a dog without a bone
07:58And actor out of love
08:00Riders on the Storm
08:03The song is already melancholy
08:05with soft vocals
08:06and a moody, introspective instrumental.
08:10The news of his demise painted it in a new light,
08:13displaying the final message of a tortured soul.
08:16The third verse in particular
08:18is haunting as Morrison pleads with his partner
08:21to stay by his side and love him.
08:31Coincidentally,
08:32his last words to his lover,
08:34Pamela Corson,
08:36would be,
08:36Pam,
08:37are you still there?
08:39His manager said Morrison died six days ago in Paris,
08:42either of a heart attack or pneumonia,
08:44but the death was kept secret to avoid a sensation.
08:47He was buried in Paris in the same cemetery
08:49where Balzac and other French immortals lie.
08:52Number 14.
08:54You Know You're Right
08:55Nirvana
08:56Unlike some other songs on this list,
09:06the context behind this one
09:07is immediately noticeable.
09:09Released eight years after Kurt Cobain
09:11tragically took his own life,
09:13You Know You're Right
09:14offers a blunt look
09:16into his dwindling mental health.
09:17It's clear that he knew the way he would pass,
09:29from the cathartically wailed chorus
09:31lamenting his own pain
09:32to feelings of his own perceived failure.
09:35The promises to disappear for good,
09:37and that he knew things would end like this,
09:40comes across as desperate cries for help.
09:42Cobain died just a few months
09:53after recording the song,
09:55and it was shelved for years afterwards.
09:58Kurt Cobain's body was found
09:59inside a garage apartment
10:01adjacent to his Seattle home.
10:03He was among the most powerful voices
10:04of his generation,
10:06an originator of a music style
10:07and fashion called grunge.
10:09It wasn't until 2002
10:11that his fans could hear
10:12just how much
10:13he'd been struggling.
10:18Number 13.
10:22Gone With The Wind
10:23Architects
10:25Context can be a powerful tool
10:32when perceiving art.
10:34When the Architects first released
10:36Gone With The Wind in April of 2016,
10:39it seemed like a standard,
10:40well-written, sad song.
10:42The pieces started to come together
10:45when the band's guitarist Tom Searle
10:47succumbed to cancer
10:48just four months later.
10:59Suddenly,
11:00the lyrics referencing an incurable sickness,
11:03attempting to embrace the reality of death,
11:05and realizing it may have all been for nothing felt more personal.
11:09A sickness with no remedy
11:12Except the ones inside of me
11:16Searle's diagnosis hadn't been made known
11:20during its initial release,
11:22causing the track's true meaning
11:24to fly under the radar.
11:25In terms of lyrically,
11:27I mean,
11:28at that point,
11:29there was nothing else
11:29I could write about.
11:30That was the most
11:31pressing thing in my life.
11:34You know,
11:35when you,
11:35someone close to you like that,
11:37it's,
11:37there is nothing else,
11:39you know.
11:39Now,
11:40it's impossible to listen to
11:42without hearing his struggles
11:44to accept his impending demise.
11:47I remember when
11:49You said to me
11:50My friend
11:51I'll be complacent
11:53Number 12
11:56Requiem
11:58Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
12:00Come,
12:01let's begin.
12:03We ended in F major.
12:05Yes.
12:05So,
12:06now,
12:06A minor.
12:08Though not intended
12:09to be about his own demise,
12:12Mozart's final masterpiece
12:13is now permanently associated with it.
12:15He was tasked with writing a dirge
12:18to honor a client's deceased spouse.
12:21He'd struggled with his health
12:22throughout his life,
12:23which worsened while working on Requiem.
12:26He was only able to complete
12:28the first movement,
12:29Introitus,
12:30before passing.
12:41He drafted the lyrics,
12:43including pleas for himself
12:45and other lost souls
12:46and musics
12:47over how he'd be judged
12:49in the afterlife.
12:51Though they make sense
12:52considering the commission,
12:54it's easy to imagine
12:55them becoming
12:56more personal.
12:57Other composers have completed
13:14the symphony,
13:15and while it's still beautiful,
13:17there's no telling
13:18how haunting
13:19it could have been
13:20had Mozart seen his vision
13:22through to the end.
13:24Good.
13:25Show me
13:25the whole thing
13:26from the beginning.
13:26Number 11.
13:52Memory Lane.
13:53Minnie Riperton.
13:54It's tragic
14:04when a star is cut down
14:05in their prime.
14:07A year after her initial peak
14:09in 1975,
14:11Minnie Riperton was diagnosed
14:12with late-stage breast cancer
14:14and given months
14:16to live.
14:16She got into the studio
14:18and recorded
14:20her final album
14:21with the standout being
14:23Memory Lane.
14:24I thought I had forgot the past
14:27and now I'm slipping fast.
14:29Oh, back down memory lane.
14:33It starts with her reflecting
14:34on her life,
14:36then devolves into her insisting
14:38that she isn't ready to go
14:40and pleading to be saved
14:42from her health
14:42and anxieties.
14:44Unlike other swan songs
14:46that accept the inevitable,
14:48this one acknowledges
14:49the fear
14:50that comes with knowing
14:51your fate is
14:52just around the corner.
14:53Save me!
14:57Oh!
14:58Oh!
15:00Oh!
15:01Riperton passed away
15:02shortly thereafter,
15:04leaving behind a raw dirge
15:06that's sure to impact listeners
15:08for generations to come.
15:10I'll never be late.
15:14Number 10.
15:20Last Donut of the Night.
15:22Jay Dilla.
15:24While most would choose
15:25to say goodbye with lyrics,
15:27renowned producer Jay Dilla
15:29did so through production alone.
15:31After experiencing difficulties
15:32with lupus
15:33and thrombotic
15:35thrombocytopenic purpura,
15:37he was eventually hospitalized.
15:40Ladies and gentlemen,
15:41let's look,
15:42ladies and gentlemen,
15:45ladies and gentlemen,
15:46ladies and gentlemen.
15:47Knowing the end was near,
15:49he worked on his last album
15:50from his medical ward.
15:52Last Donut of the Night
15:53is the penultimate track,
15:55serving as the emotional climax.
15:59I give to you.
16:04While there are no words,
16:05he conveyed his thoughts
16:07on mortality
16:08through complex beats
16:09and melodies.
16:11It sparked discussion
16:12within his fandom,
16:13with some even finding symbolism
16:15pertaining to death
16:16in the official fan-made video.
16:19It was a fitting conclusion
16:20to his respected career,
16:22one that ensured
16:23he won't be forgotten
16:25anytime soon.
16:26Number 9.
16:35I'm Not Gonna Miss You
16:36Glenn Campbell
16:37You may think
16:39that most songs
16:40about one's end
16:41would be bleak
16:42and gloomy,
16:42but some have
16:44a wildly different tone.
16:46Glenn Campbell
16:46was a beloved figure,
16:48and his final contribution
16:50cemented his legacy.
16:51You're the last person
16:54I will love
16:56After learning
16:59he had Alzheimer's disease,
17:01he knew that
17:01the clock was ticking.
17:03This led to him
17:04recording one more tune,
17:06I'm Not Gonna Miss You.
17:07The message is irreverent
17:09and blunt,
17:10referencing his illness
17:11and the memories
17:12it took from him.
17:15All the things
17:17I say or do
17:19His outlook
17:21was realistic,
17:22even stating
17:23that while people
17:24would be sad,
17:25he wouldn't be able
17:26to care
17:27due to his disorder.
17:28The dark humor
17:29was the perfect way
17:30of approaching
17:30the unfortunate situation,
17:32closing out his life
17:33and vocation
17:34with acclaim.
17:39I'm Not Gonna Miss You
17:42Number 8.
17:44Don't Worry About Me
17:45Joey Ramone
17:47Even if a piece
17:49isn't necessarily
17:50about the creator's
17:51impending fate,
17:52some can be
17:53recontextualized
17:55to have that meaning
17:55post-death.
17:57Joey Ramone,
17:58the lead singer
17:58of the band
17:59The Ramones,
18:00had only just
18:01started his solo venture
18:03when complications
18:04with lymphoma
18:05began to arise.
18:07I want you baby
18:09But you always lie
18:12He kept the diagnosis
18:14secret until
18:15just before he died,
18:17shocking people
18:18across the nation.
18:19This led them
18:20to look at his
18:20posthumous debut
18:21in a new light,
18:23particularly
18:24the titular track
18:25Don't Worry About Me.
18:33While it could have been
18:34interpreted to be
18:35about a failing relationship,
18:37some read between the lines
18:39and saw it
18:39as his farewell
18:40to his supporters.
18:42The result was haunting,
18:44making listeners wonder
18:45what could have been
18:46had he had more time.
18:48Oh, oh, oh, oh,
18:49don't worry about her,
18:51don't worry about me.
18:54Number 7.
18:56When the sky comes
18:57looking for you,
18:58Motorhead.
19:00Sometimes,
19:00the inclusion
19:01of despondent themes
19:02can seem purely coincidental,
19:05but end up carrying
19:06new weight
19:07after a tragedy.
19:08Motorhead,
19:09and more specifically,
19:10its frontman,
19:11Lemmy,
19:12were widely beloved
19:13in the rock scene.
19:14Dreaming,
19:16screaming,
19:17not trying to use shoes.
19:20Their last project
19:21was created
19:22and published
19:22just before Lemmy
19:23died in 2015,
19:25with none of the members
19:27even being aware
19:28that their time
19:29with their bandmate
19:30was coming to a close.
19:31His passing
19:32gave new meaning
19:33to when the sky
19:34comes looking for you.
19:36What would you say?
19:38What would you say?
19:39What would you say?
19:41The deceptively
19:43upbeat number
19:44wasn't about
19:44Lemmy in particular,
19:46but the lines
19:46questioning
19:47what would one do
19:48when faced
19:49with their own undoing
19:50were suddenly
19:51much more pertinent
19:53than they originally
19:54had been.
19:55The newly derived
19:56meaning helped
19:56provide some closure
19:57for his grieving
19:58fan base.
20:04Number 6.
20:08Keep Me In Your Hearts
20:09Warren Zevon
20:11For some musicians,
20:13an unwelcome
20:13medical discovery
20:14is all the motivation
20:15they need
20:16to get their
20:17parting words out.
20:19Warren Zevon
20:20was an accomplished singer
20:21who recorded
20:22his endmost work
20:23after learning
20:24he had an inoperable
20:25form of mesothelioma.
20:27If I leave you
20:30it doesn't mean
20:32I love you
20:33any less
20:33The saxophone-backed
20:35Please Stay
20:36was his plea
20:37for his family
20:38to support him
20:38as he fearfully
20:40faced oblivion.
20:41Would you stay
20:43with me
20:44till the end?
20:49Things became
20:50even clearer
20:50once
20:51Keep Me In Your Heart
20:52began.
20:53Sometimes
20:53when you're
20:54doing
20:54simple things
20:56around the house
20:57Maybe
20:59you'll
20:59think of me
21:00and smile
21:01It's even
21:02more somber
21:03this time
21:04asking people
21:04to think of him
21:05as they continued
21:06living
21:07even during
21:08simpler moments.
21:09It celebrated
21:10the little things
21:11that made
21:11living great
21:12while acknowledging
21:13he wouldn't be able
21:14to enjoy them
21:15much longer.
21:16It was the last
21:17thing he ever created
21:18bidding adieu
21:19to those
21:20who loved him.
21:23Keep Me In Your Heart
21:25For A While
21:26Number 5
21:30Stuck Inside A Cloud
21:32George Harrison
21:33Whether
21:34with the Beatles
21:35or on his own
21:37his dedication
21:38to his art
21:39was unparalleled.
21:41In the early aughts
21:42it was revealed
21:43that George Harrison's
21:44cancer had returned.
21:46This caused him
21:47to dedicate
21:47his remaining energy
21:48to brainwashed.
21:49his first
21:50full-length
21:51solo output
21:52since 1987.
21:54Only I can hear
21:56I'm stuck
21:58inside a cloud
22:00His escalating
22:01sickness led
22:02to him teaming up
22:03with his son
22:04to finally finish it.
22:05While
22:06Stuck Inside A Cloud
22:07doesn't mention
22:08his ailment
22:08it does allude
22:09to his own
22:10contemplations
22:11about his existence.
22:14I lost my will
22:16to eat
22:17Some lyrics
22:19even point to him
22:20potentially losing sleep
22:21and not eating
22:22due to his thoughts
22:23which could be construed
22:25to be about
22:26his prognosis.
22:28Although the meaning
22:29isn't certain
22:30it ended up being
22:31a touching way
22:32to end his career.
22:34Number 4
22:43You Want It Darker
22:44Leonard Cohen
22:45He's one of the
22:47poster children
22:47of melancholic music
22:49making it
22:50no surprise
22:51when his conclusive
22:52composition
22:53referenced his own
22:54demise.
22:55It was released
22:56just before he fell
22:57and passed away
22:58in his home
22:59after several months
23:00of physical deterioration.
23:02Burning for the help
23:04that never came
23:05You Want It Darker
23:07His declining health
23:11encouraged him
23:12to finish his final record.
23:14Some tunes
23:15like Leaving the Table
23:17acknowledged his condition
23:18and the feelings
23:19that came with
23:20accepting death.
23:21There's no one
23:23left to blame
23:25on leaving the table.
23:28The true piece
23:29de resistance
23:30was the opener
23:31You Want It Darker
23:32where he references
23:34his religious roots
23:35by questioning God.
23:37It's particularly
23:38accusatory
23:39with Cohen
23:40interrogating the deity
23:41while admitting
23:42he was ready
23:43to join it.
23:44It closed out
23:45his body of work
23:46perfectly
23:47committing to
23:48the gloomy
23:48lyricism
23:49that defined him.
23:50If thine is the glory
23:53mine must be the shame
23:55You Want It Darker
23:57Number 3
23:58Mother Love
24:00Queen
24:01Freddie Mercury
24:02defined the word
24:03icon.
24:04Known for his
24:05extraordinary voice
24:06Mercury helped
24:07lead Queen
24:08to its great heights.
24:10After contracting HIV
24:11he knew that his time
24:13would run out
24:14motivating him
24:15to take to the studio.
24:17His work included
24:18anthems
24:18that showcased
24:19his unwavering dedication
24:21such as
24:22The Show Must Go On
24:23I can fly
24:25my friends
24:28The show must go on
24:30Others like
24:31These Are The Days
24:32of Our Lives
24:33recalled simpler moments
24:34that were lost to time.
24:36These are all gone now
24:39The most gut-wrenching
24:44was Mother Love
24:45which he never
24:46got to finish.
24:49All I want
24:50is the comfort
24:51and care
24:52Besides the lyrics
24:54longing for peace
24:55and references
24:56to the pain
24:57he was experiencing
24:58the instrumentals
24:59include bits
25:00of every piece
25:01they made
25:02creating a
25:03heartbreaking tribute
25:04to one of music's
25:05most beloved performers.
25:15Number 2
25:16Hurt
25:17Johnny Cash
25:19Although he
25:20didn't write it himself
25:21Johnny Cash gave
25:23the song
25:23an entirely new meaning.
25:25After a long
25:26successful career
25:27Johnny Cash
25:28saw the end
25:29approaching
25:30After a litany
25:38of issues
25:38with his well-being
25:40the writing
25:41was on the wall
25:42resulting in
25:43his decision
25:43to cover
25:44Nine Inch Nails
25:45Hurts
25:45He took the
25:46already bleak
25:47premise
25:48and transformed it
25:49into a tortured
25:50self-reflection
25:51of a man
25:51looking back
25:52on his complicated
25:53life
25:54and the choices
25:55he made.
25:55What have I
25:57become
25:58my sweetest friend
26:04The accompanying
26:04video added
26:05to the vision
26:06showing Cash
26:07surrounded by
26:08things in
26:09different phases
26:10of deterioration
26:11using his wife's
26:12memory as
26:13inspiration
26:13he was able
26:14to take his
26:15remaining days
26:16and use them
26:17to create
26:17one of the most
26:18respected covers
26:19in the modern era.
26:20I will make you
26:23before we continue
26:27be sure to subscribe
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26:42Number 1
26:43Lazarus
26:44David Bowie
26:45Having the chance
26:47to say goodbye
26:47is a privilege
26:48that not all artists
26:50get to enjoy.
26:51David Bowie
26:52seemed to know that
26:53and therefore
26:53constructed a song
26:55that put both
26:55his creativity
26:56and emotional
26:57intelligence
26:58on display.
26:59I'm in danger
27:00I've got nothing
27:06left to lose
27:07After being diagnosed
27:08with liver cancer
27:09he kept the news
27:11under wraps
27:11while quietly working
27:13on his last release.
27:15The crowning achievement
27:16of his final days
27:17was Lazarus
27:18the last single
27:19he ever created.
27:21It's a direct
27:28reference to
27:29his own
27:29expiration
27:30while also
27:31serving as
27:32a personal elegy.
27:33With it
27:34Bowie forced
27:35the world
27:35to reckon
27:36with the fact
27:36that it would
27:37soon be losing
27:38a star
27:38and while
27:39it softened
27:40the blow
27:40people still
27:41weren't prepared
27:42for his demise
27:43less than a month
27:44afterwards.
27:53What swan songs
27:55do you think
27:56packs the hardest
27:57emotional punch?
27:58Let us know
27:59in the comments below.
28:01in the comments below.
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