“Why Would I Want to Die”
by Grandaddy
from the album Concrete Dunes
2002
Buy the album on Amazon

I love the idea of a monthly theme based on shuffling, and not being able to skip, but the problem is for me my 5 star playlist is only has 122 songs on it (vs. 2448 4 stars), so all of them are going to be things I love and almost never skip. I’m very restrictive about what makes 5 stars, whereas there are plenty of moments of potential embarrassment (if that’s what Lance was hoping for) in the 4 star list (I’m not entirely positive Lance and I use the same criteria for our rating system). But, this month is about the best of the best, so onward.

I don’t know much about Grandaddy. I think maybe my friend/former coworker/former boss Patrick recommended them, and he and I used to be concert buddies so I decided to check them out (or maybe I’m totally making that up and I came across them just via Pandora or something – no idea). I downloaded one or two of their albums a few years back, and I think I’ve only rated 2 or 3 songs of theirs highly. I do really like the singer’s voice though, and I really love this song. I’m a big fan of songs that tell a specific story so well that when I hear it, the wannabe film director in me pictures exactly how I would shoot the short film portraying the story. Just try to listen to this and not picture the characters, the conversations, and the actions.

You didn’t really die you only went away
my drummer he saw you
buying supplies about a week ago
a couple towns away south on the interstate

I gave him shit for not telling me sooner than he did
he said he thought I knew
he said everybody else has seen her too
I haven’t been around that much
or kept in touch with anyone or anything.

You didn’t really die although it seems as if you did
why would you have to hide
and who stayed on with you while you hid?
through all those silent nights
that silence sure can be real loud,
louder than anything.

You didn’t really die
So what am I to do with the memories of ours
I chronicled and buried in the back yard
dig them up today attach a note that say they’re yours
leave them at the door of the supply store
and hope that when you come along
you bring yourself to reading them
and wonder from precisely that there moment on…
Why would I want to die?
Why would I want to die?
Why would I want to die?
Why would I want to die?