O Death

O Death, also known as O, Death, Oh Death and Conversations with Death, is a traditional American folk song. In 2004, the Journal of Folklore Research asserted that "O, Death" is Lloyd Chandler's song "A Conversation with Death", which Chandler performed in the 1920s while preaching in Appalachia.^[1][2]

Recordings

Country blues banjo player Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs recorded the song in the late 1920s.^[3] A recording from the 1938 National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. is on file with the Library of Congress.^[4] Various folk music artists included O, Death on musical collections throughout the 1970s and '80s.^[5] It is sung in the 1976 Barbara Kopple documentary Harlan County, USA.

Among the most famous recordings is Ralph Stanley's version in the 2000 Coen brothers film (and soundtrack album) O Brother, Where Art Thou?, for which Stanley won the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 2002.^[5] The soundtrack's producer, T-Bone Burnett, originally asked for a banjo rendition emulating Dock Boggs, but Stanley convinced him otherwise with an a cappella performance in the style of the Appalachian Primitive Baptist Universalist church.^[6] The song also appears in episode 7 of the second season of television series Fargo, inspired by another Coen brothers film of the same name. The version used in this episode was recorded by Shakey Graves with Monica Martin of PHOX.

O, Death has appeared twice in American television series Supernatural, both times in connection with the show's personification of Death, portrayed by Julian Richings. The 2010 episode "Two Minutes to Midnight" featured a version by Jen Titus; Lisa Berry performed the song in character as Billie in the 2015 episode "Form and Void".

Other versions

• A Hill to Die Upon recorded an extreme metal variant with harpist Timbre on Holy Despair (2014).
• Amy van Roekel, for the video game Until Dawn (2015).
• Bitter End, on Illusions of Dominance (2015).
• Camper Van Beethoven, with variant lyrics and melody (1988).
• Diamanda Galás, on All the Way (2017).
• Faun Fables, on a reissue of Early Song (2004).
• Gangstagrass, on Broken Hearts and Stolen Money (2014).
• John Cygan as protagonist Silas Greaves in the video game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2015).
• Joshua Eustis (formerly of Telefon Tel Aviv), under the moniker "Sons of Magdalene" on Move to Pain (2014).^[7]
• Kaleidoscope, on Side Trips (1967).
• Rising Appalachia with a spoken word interlude by Theresa Davis, on Wider Circles (2015).
• Sam Amidon, on All is Well (2008).
• Vera Hall, as Death Have Mercy (1959)
• Kate Mann, in Rattlesnake on the Road (2014).
• American metal band Khemmis recorded a doom metal version on a split EP with Spirit Adrift (2017).^[8]

Lyrics

As a folk song, lyric variations of O, Death are common. Presented here are the lyrics sung by Ralph Stanley in his Grammy-winning performance in O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

O, Death
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 can't walk
I'll lock your jaw til you can't 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
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year

External links

• http://www.metrolyrics.com/o-death-lyrics-ralph-stanley.html
• http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/obrotherwhereartthou/odeath.htm

References

1. ↑ Smith, Hazel (April 25, 2005). "HOT DISH: The Preacher and the Song". CMT.com. Country Music Television. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 
2. ↑ Lindahl, Carl (May–August 2004). "Thrills and Miracles: Legends of Lloyd Chandler". Journal of Folklore Research. Indiana University Press. 41: 133–171. ISSN 0737-7037. doi:10.2979/JFR.2004.41.2-3.133. Retrieved 2008-12-28. 
3. ↑ "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.". 
4. ↑ http://www.loc.gov/item/afc9999005.3281
5. 1 2 Wichita Eagle, Op. cit.
6. ↑ "Old-Time Man" interview by Don Harrison June 2008 Virginia Living, p. 57.
7. ↑ https://sonsofmagdalene.bandcamp.com/track/o-death
8. ↑ http://decibelmagazine.com/blog/2017/5/2/khemmis-have-a-conversation-with-death