- Source: O Death
- Source: O'Death
"O Death", also known as "O, Death", "Oh Death", "Conversations with Death", or "A Conversation with Death", is a traditional Appalachian folk song, listed as number 4933 in the Roud Folk Song Index. The song is generally attributed to the musician and Baptist preacher Lloyd Chandler, but it was likely taken or adapted from folk songs already existing in the region.
Variants
The version as performed by Lloyd Chandler and members of the Wallin family:
A modified version with a chorus and different tune, performed by Dock Boggs, Nimrod Workman, Ralph Stanley and others:
Origin
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. Chandler's daughter-in-law, Barbara, asserted that "O, Death" was based on Chandler's composition.
However, Chandler seems to have taken the song from another source or at least based it on an older version.
In 1913, the Journal of American Folklore printed a version sung by "Eastern North Carolina Negroes" 1908:Sinner, I come to you by Hebbin's decree;
This very night you must go wid me.
O-o death! O-o death!
How kin I go wid you?
"Jes' like a flower in its bloom,
Why should you cut me down so soon?
O-o death! O-o death!
How kin I go wid you?This version seems closer to the version first performed by Dock Boggs than Chandler's "original" version.
Encounters with a personified "Death" featured in traditional English songs which possibly date to the 14th century, including "Death and the Lady" (Roud 1031), which was found in the oral tradition in early twentieth century England. "O Death" bears a strong resemblance to a broadside ballad printed in Ireland in 1870, entitled "A Dialogue Between Death & the Sinner" (pictured).
Recordings
Country blues 1920s banjo player Moran Lee "Dock" Boggs recorded the song in 1963 after his 'rediscovery' during the Folk Music Revival. A recording from the 1938 National Folk Festival in Washington, D.C. by an unknown singer is held by the Library of Congress. Various folk music artists included "O, Death" on musical collections throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It is sung in the 1976 Barbara Kopple documentary Harlan County, USA by early union activist and coal miner Nimrod Workman, a well known folk music singer from Mingo County, West Virginia. In the 1960s, Alan Lomax recorded the folk and gospel singer Bessie Jones singing "O Death".
Lloyd Chandler's recording of "A Conversation with Death" appears on Rounder Records 1975 release High Atmosphere: Ballads and Banjo Tunes from Virginia and North Carolina, a collection of recordings made by John Cohen.
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. 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. 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". The version sung by Vera Hall was featured in episode three of the first season of Altered Carbon, a Netflix original.
A version by Jeff Grace, performed by Amy Van Roekel, was featured in Until Dawn, a 2015 horror video game by Supermassive Games. The 2024 remake of the game attracted criticism for omitting the song. The song returned for Until Dawn's spiritual successor, the Dark Pictures Anthology, with a folk metal recording by the band Khemmis as part of the series intro and a unique recording over the outro of each of the four episodes. O Death was trademarked in 2022 as the name of the upcoming eighth and final Dark Pictures game.
A written version of the lyrics were included in a letter sent by Dennis Radar to KAKE-TV in 1978.
= List of versions
=Vera Hall, as Death Have Mercy (1959)
John Reedy, on Starday Records, (1961).
Kaleidoscope, on Side Trips (1967).
Camper Van Beethoven, with variant lyrics and melody (1988).
Mike Seeger with the medieval ensemble Hesperus, on Crossing Over (1988).
Faun Fables, on a reissue of Early Song (2004).
Sam Amidon, on All is Well (2008).
John Cygan as protagonist Silas Greaves in the video game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (2013).
Joshua Eustis (formerly of Telefon Tel Aviv), under the moniker "Sons of Magdalene" on Move to Pain (2014).
Kate Mann, in Rattlesnake on the Road (2014).
Gangstagrass, on Broken Hearts and Stolen Money (2014).
A Hill to Die Upon recorded an extreme metal variant with harpist Timbre on Holy Despair (2014).
English folk-rock band False Lights, on Salvor (2015).
Amy van Roekel, for the video game Until Dawn (2015).
Bitter End, on Illusions of Dominance (2015).
Rising Appalachia with a spoken word interlude by Theresa Davis, on Wider Circles (2015).
Americana musician Shakey Graves, on Fargo (2016)
Diamanda Galás, on Guilty Guilty Guilty (2008), All the Way (2017), and At Saint Thomas the Apostle Harlem (2017).
American metal band Khemmis recorded a doom metal version on a split EP with Spirit Adrift (2017) and for the video game series The Dark Pictures Anthology.
Rhiannon Giddens feat. Francesco Turrisi, on They're Calling Me Home (2021).
Jason Graves on the soundtrack for The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me (2022).
References
External links
"O Death lyrics by Ralph Stanley from O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack". Stlyrics.com. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
O’Death (stylized as o'death) is an American gothic country band from Brooklyn, New York. They combine elements of folk, bluegrass, punk, metal, gothic and Americana music.
History
All the members of O'Death met between the years of 2000 and 2003 at SUNY Purchase. With Greg Jamie on guitar and vocals, Gabe Darling on electric guitar, ukulele, piano, and vocals, David Rogers-Berry on drums, Robert Pycior on violin, and Andrew Platt on bass - O'Death put together a very raw, 10-track CD-R, entitled Carl Nemelka Family Photographs, recorded by Joshua Benash (of the bands Kiss Kiss and Vuvuzela) in 2004.
In 2005, Gabe Darling switched to banjo and ukulele, the band added bass player Jesse Newman to the permanent lineup, and O'Death played a year-long monthly residency at the now defunct Apocalypse Lounge in NYC. The band built a local fan base around their irreverent take on Americana by playing dive bars in the East Village and house parties around Brooklyn, as they worked on new material for their second self-released LP, Head Home. In 2006, they took the stage alongside acts such as Battles, Dr. Dog, Art Brute, Langhorne Slim, THEUSAISAMONSTER, and Old Time Relijun in New York City, and began touring the United States.
The band's nonstop touring caught the attention of the New York-based Ernest Jenning Record Co., who re-released Head Home in June, 2007. Later that summer, Germany-based label City Slang released Head Home in Europe.
O'Death continued to tour the US and Europe throughout 2007, putting out a limited edition (500 copies) vinyl version of Head Home on Ernest Jenning Record Co./City Slang, followed by a 7" single of two new songs, "Low Tide" and "I Think I'm Fine", as well as a cover of Pixies' "Nimrod's Son" as an internet bonus track. Head Home was nominated for a 2007 Shortlist Prize.
On February 5, 2008, Gigantic Music released a new 7", which features the songs "Spider Home" and "Silk Hole". In August 2008, City Slang released O'Death's second LP, Broken Hymns, across Europe and Australia. The record was released in the United States later that year by Kemado Records.. The album included a new version of the single, "Lowtide", with a video directed by Oscar-nominated, Benh Zeitlin. Kemado Records also released a 7" single in 2009 for the song, "Underwater Nightmare", b-sided with a cover of "Mongoloid" by Devo, and an original song called, "Prince of Beasts." In this time, O'Death toured with Murder By Death, and later on with Les Claypool, playing main support to both artists.
After being on hiatus due to David Rogers-Berry undergoing cancer treatment, they released the album, Outside, in April, 2011. The first single, "Bugs", from the album was released on 26 January 2011, and the band toured extensively in the US and Europe in support of the record.
The band's newest album, Out Of Hands We Go, was released in October 2014 on Northern Spy Records. The album was recorded and mixed by Caleb Mulkerin (of Big Blood, Fire on Fire, and Cerberus Shoal) in South Portland, ME.
Discography
= Albums
=Carl Nemelka Family Photographs (Self-released, 2004)
Head Home (Self-released, 2006; Ernest Jenning Record Co., 2007)
Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin (Kemado Records, 2008)
Outside (Ernest Jenning Record Co., 2011)
Out of Hands We Go (Northern Spy Records, 2014)
= EPs and singles
=Carl Nemelka Family Photographs EP (Self-released, 2005)
“Low Tide” / ”I Think I’m Fine” / “Nimrod’s Son” 7” (Ernest Jenning Record Co., 2007)
“Spider Home” / “Silk Hole” 7” (Gigantic Music, 2008)
"Brother" / "Home" 7" split single with Murder By Death (self-released by Murder By Death, 2009)
Underwater Nightmare 7” (Kemado Records, 2009)
= Videography
=Members
Greg Jamie - vocals, guitar, harmonium
Gabe Darling - backing vocals, ukulele, guitar, banjo, piano
David Rogers-Berry - drums, percussion
Bob Pycior - violin, piano
Jesse Newman - bass, piano
Past members:
Dan Sager - trombone, euphonium, keys
Tristan Palozola - trombone, percussion, auxiliary
Andrew Platt - bass guitar
References
External links
O’Death’s Official Website
O’Death on Myspace
O’Death’s Daytrotter.com session
O’Death feature in the Village Voice
Live O’Death show on BandsThatJam
City Slang's release of Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin
Interview with drummer David Rogers in Chief Magazine
Twang Nation's Review of O’ Death's Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- P.O.D.
- Game of Death I
- Death
- Ping Kematian
- Death rock
- Napalm Death
- Xdinary Heroes
- Kamen Rider Zi-O
- Lee Dorrian
- Butana
- O Death
- O Death Rock Me Asleep
- Mike Derks (musician)
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)
- Personifications of death
- Death Note
- O'Death
- Kiss of Death
- Death Row Records
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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