O Death
O Death — also known as O, Death, Oh Death, and Conversations with Death — is a traditional American folk song.
Country blues banjo player Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs (1898-1971) recorded the song in the late 1920s.[1] A recording from the 1938 National Folk Festival held in Washington, D.C. is on file with the Library of Congress.[2] Various folk music artists included Oh, Death on a variety of musical collections throughout the 1970s and '80s.[3]
Indiana University Press' The Journal of Folklore Research features articles in an 2004 issue asserting that "O, Death" is Lloyd Chandler's song "A Conversation with Death", which he performed for several years while preaching in Appalachia.[4][5]
Lyrics
O, Death
O, Death
Won't you spare me over til another year
Well what is this that I can't see
With ice cold hands takin' hold of me
Well I am death, none can excel
I'll open the door to heaven or hell
Whoa, death someone would pray
Could you wait to call me another day
The children prayed, the preacher preached
Time and mercy is out of your reach
I'll fix your feet til you cant walk
I'll lock your jaw til you cant talk
I'll close your eyes so you can't see
This very hour, come and go with me
I'm death I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold
To draw up the flesh off of the frame
Dirt and worm both have a claim
O, Death
O, Death
Won't you spare me over til another year
My mother came to my bed
Placed a cold towel upon my head
My head is warm my feet are cold
Death is a-movin upon my soul
Oh, death how you're treatin' me
You've close my eyes so I can't see
Well you're hurtin' my body
You make me cold
You run my life right outta my soul
Oh death please consider my age
Please don't take me at this stage
My wealth is all at your command
If you will move your icy hand
The old, the young, the rich or poor
All alike to me you know
No wealth, no land, no silver no gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul
O, death
O, death
Wont you spare me over til another year
Wont you spare me over til another year
Wont you spare me over til another year
Covers and other uses
O, Death has been performed by many artists in recent times, including:
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
- A very ominous version by Kaleidoscope, on Side Trips (1967).
- It is sung in the Barbara Kopple documentary Harlan County, USA (1976).
- Ralph Stanley's cover in the film (and soundtrack album) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)[6]
- The band Camper Van Beethoven covered the song although greatly changing most of the lyrics and melody.
- Sam Amidon on his 2008 album All is Well.
- Jen Titus in the American television series Supernatural episode "Two Minutes to Midnight" (2010) to introduce the character Death.
- It is heard in 2013 Western video game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, sung by protagonist Silas Greaves (voiced by actor John Cygan).
Awards
Ralph Stanley version
Stanley's version of the song won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2002.
| Preceded by Solitary Man by Johnny Cash |
Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance 2002 |
Succeeded by Give My Love to Rose by Johnny Cash |
External links
- http://www.metrolyrics.com/o-death-lyrics-ralph-stanley.html
- http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/obrotherwhereartthou/odeath.htm
References
- ↑ "Wichita Eagle - Song 'Oh, Death' dates back to the late 1920s and was also recorded by Bessie Jones & Georgia Sea Island Singers for the Library of Congress.".
- ↑ http://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.3281
- ↑ Wichita Eagle, Op. cit.
- ↑ Smith, Hazel (April 25, 2005). "HOT DISH: The Preacher and the Song". CMT.com. Country Music Television. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ↑ Lindahl, Carl (May–August 2004). "Thrills and Miracles: Legends of Lloyd Chandler". Journal of Folklore Research (Indiana University Press) 41: 133–171. doi:10.2979/JFR.2004.41.2-3.133. ISSN 0737-7037. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ↑ Wichita Eagle, Op. cit.