13 Great Songs About Death
In life, only birth, death and taxes are guaranteed. Yet only one of these are actually interesting.
News of a slightly inconvenient nature: death is inevitable. Sorry if that has put a dampener on your afternoon tea but that's just how it is. It's a topic that has rightfully garnered a lot of discussion and opinion; some believing that there is an afterlife, others in reincarnation (some suggest the existence of ghosts) and then there are the cheery lot that think it's eternal darkness as worms eat your eyes.
Musicians have lent their thoughts on all aspects of this phenomena, from hypothesising what comes after to the grim detail of sending someone to their end. Though it is typically associated with the likes of death metal and black metal, many a mainstream popstar have lent their voices to mortality, whether through clever symbolism and metaphor, or being Iggy Pop and singing a song called 'We're All Gonna Die'.
The more tactful of artists can manipulate death via their craft. They can romanticise it, laugh at it. They can show you how it felt to lose their own loved one, empower you through stories of sacrifice or excite with horror chronicles of murder. The subject of death often helps make these titans of private jets and massive fortunes appear more human, as not even they can escape the Reaper's clutches...
13. Manowar - Sleipnir
Give credit where it's due, the Scandinavians know how to go about death. The 2007 concept album from über metal band Manowar - entitled Gods of War - documents various stories from Norse mythology, or more specifically, the Norse God of War: Odin. The album itself is regarded as an experiment, incorporating more symphonic metal influences, but that's not what's important - you're here for all the death.
'Sleipnir' starts off with a spoken word biography of the song's namesake, Odin's trusted eight-legged steed. Detailing Sleipnir's position in the mythology of carrying Odin to help lead those that have fallen in battle to the gates of Valhalla, the main part of the song begins with Scott Columbus' thunderous drum hits, shifting from a general narrative to a more first-hand perspective of a warrior in battle.
Though slightly inaccurate in the grand scheme of things (fallen warriors are typically led by a number of Valkyries), the journey from the battlefield to Asgard's Valhalla via the Rainbow Bridge was the dream for every battle-hardy viking, which would lead to fighting alongside Odin at Ragnarok.
The focus on Odin's personal steed offers a small taste into the expansive and often perplexing Norse mythology.