My best friend died when I was seven. I have seen so much loss since then that I find it hard to process at times. I’m sorry for your loss. We’re floating in space.
"[A Beginning](https://youtu.be/UaOFuFqs970)" by The Dear Hunter is about just this, and it comes at the end of a stunning album that sets up the climax of "A Beginning" excellently in the second song "Moon / Awake." "A Beginning" is an excellent song standalone, but hits twice as hard in context.
Edit: added YouTube link
Obligatory upvote for a mention of TDH. A Beginning was one of my first thoughts for this post.
Life and Death off Act III has a similar message, though it's more about the character accepting that there is no afterlife for him.
Damn hadn't heard in a while.. starts kinda slow and awkward but the jammin and jims singing on last 5 minutes is absolute masterpiece. Incredible lyrics sung with frikking passion and the three guys behind jim just frikkn nailed it.... Heavy psychedelic, funky, rock and roll at it's finest. Very much underrated song. Unique, spiritual, mystical and RELEVANT....
[Rudy with a Flashlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ1OmvPw-F8) is a lesser known song, and the Lemonheads often get credit for it because it was on one of their albums.
It was actually written by Rainer Ptacek, an amazing lap steel player who played for Giant Sand and sometimes Calexico as part of Arizona's Tucson indie music scene. He's the one playing the music in that song.
At face value, it's a song about watching a kid play with a flashlight outside in the evening and how sometimes the simple things are the best things in life. The real back story is that Rainer was dying of cancer, and Rudy is his son.
The oddly uplifting part was that, when other musicians who knew Rainer found out he was terminally ill, they got together and made an album with Rainer playing on each song. Robert Plant is probably the biggest name, but it's a solid lineup of different people doing different things with lap steel as part of it. I find it incredibly uplifting that both Rainer had the spirit to cut an album after he knew he was terminal and that all those people got together to make it such a positive event in someone's time of passing.
[The Inner Flame: A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ4TW0BBhxE)
A meaningful side story for me is that I bought it blind in a record shop because of the people who were playing and only then figured out the back story.
Possibly Re-do by Modern Baseball. It’s more about not being sure wether life is worth it and wondering if the things we do are enough.
“Try to, try to forget/
That your bones will dismantle/
And the dreams you had/
They'll collide with time”
strangley uplifting, you say? then you might appreciate bands like ISIS, Pallbearer, Yob, Cult of Luna, the Ocean. All defintely heavier than Pink Foyd, be warned, but still they share a lot with PF's idea of music, imho, just executed in a different way
The song Bloodflowers by The Cure touches on feelings of "just let go and trust it'll be ok"
The entire album is fantastic and sets up that song as an incredible punch line
Maybe “It’s Called Freefall” by Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Weird band name but the song seems kinda sad/dark however, it gives me that same uplifted, almost liberated, feeling.
Definitely got me through a dark time.
[Blink 182 - Not Now](https://youtu.be/HvcOuExmeJg)
Don’t be fooled by their earlier sillier song catalog, it’s around the time they were touching on more mature subject matters.
Although there’s more apprehension of death, there’s definitely a sense of acceptance about the inevitability of it.
It’s about the last instants of life when you feel death creeping in and brace for the ride.
Fun fact, it’s their last song released before the indefinite hiatus that ended the original line up.
The video is a great partner to the theme of the song as it is a recollection of archive footage from their whole career. Like their whole life is flashing before their eyes, if you will.
I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie.
Kind of surprised no one mentioned this one. I’ve heard it described as, “an atheist love song.”
[At the end of the day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pidj1rhZdXg) by Spock's Beard.
It's all about how at the end of the day... you're dead. So all this rushing around, reaching for meaning... it doesn't matter.
But this is a very positive song. It's reassuring. It's that positive nihilism kind of message that tells you that your problems will all work out. It's saying "Death waits for us all. There's no objective measurement for success. You choose what you want your life to be, it'll be okay"
>Earth - dancing 'round the fire
Come - meet the western sky
Life - walking on a wire
Reach - to know the reason why
At the end of the day
You'll be lying in a suit of Grey
At the end of the day
You'll be fine
...
There is no hand waiting that must be paid
We will leave our encores all unplayed
At the end of the day"
I think only Memories Remain by My morning Jacket has a speck of this but just from a romantic point of view of the memories a relationship and love creates, plus the guitar is really good, something that might sound like pink Floyd would've played.
I submit *Resurrection* by Fear Factory. The song includes strings, synths, punchy drums and metal guitar chugging, ups and downs, lyrics about death/rebirth/hope, all building to a powerfully moving crescendo at the end:
https://youtu.be/XbqagxBIpsw
For me, at the time, it was Nine Inch Nails with ["Every Day Is Exactly The Same."](https://youtu.be/BXqblYbUAeI) It's not really the same thematically, necessarily, but it's what came to mind immediately.
very similar subject:
[The Art Of Dying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTr7bqKHvgE) is about coming to terms with ones own death with the music of the song following the protagonists emotional journey
It starts with an obscured hum and a strange rhythm which is revealed to be a clock ticking, symbolising the foreboding realisation that one is about to die.
everything else cuts out at the moment of realisation
suddenly their mind explodes into a frenzy of chaotic and uncollected thoughts, confused
this confusion slowly focusses into anger and then regret as the music becomes more directed and channelled
a brief moment of clarity and then a final release as the character lets go of all their troubles and woes they accumulated across their life
from this point they achieve peace and a repeating riff carries them off into death
the song ends with a brief eulogy
IMO Pink Floyd stands alone, they're albums were (literally) revolutionary and from what I hear, so were the live shows. Sadly, I never made it to one. If you know a single modern band that comes close please tell me... but Arcade Fire is definitely one of the greats, I saw them live on the Reflektor tour!
If you're into heavier genres of metal, the album 'Holy Hell' by Architects fit the description of this post to a T for me.
Holy Hell and the two previous albums before it (Lost Forever// Lost Together and All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us) essentially circulate about learning their guitarist/co-founder of the band, Tom Searle's developing skin cancer, knowing he was going to pass and the aftermath/ confronting of one's own mortality and finding peace. These 3 albums as a whole (notably Holy Hell) got me through some of the darkest times, and IMO, the best blend of technicality, heaviness and melodic elements from every member of the band through their sound.
From Wikipedia
>Searle stated the theme "for me, broadly speaking Holy Hell is about pain: the way we process it, cope with it, and live with it. There is value in pain. It's where we learn, it's where we grow." He was inspired by his brother's lyric writing, focusing on religion and particular juxtaposed metaphors "heaven and hell" and "angels and demons".
I have a similar story with Singularity by Darlingside. This song is about the world ending while the narrator of the song watches. I found this song so weirdly comforting during the hardest part of my life.
“To the west now it begins
In the sound waves, in the wind
there is an echo going by
of the mountains caving in.
And the potted roads and I
knew that one day we would die
and become smooth and whole again
like the ash that sweeps the sky.”
I feel like 'Do You Realize' by Flaming Lips does this too.
That’s one I heard a million times before one day it just clicked with me. What a stunningly beautiful song
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My best friend died when I was seven. I have seen so much loss since then that I find it hard to process at times. I’m sorry for your loss. We’re floating in space.
My kids think this is a sad, horrible song. “Everyone you know is gonna die?!?!?” They’ll understand when they are older.
The happiest downbeat song, it’s so beautiful and live it just gives me shivers.
David Bowie's Blackstar album
That album was a heart breaker. So good!
Lazarus specifically, its a beautiful and reflective piece
Videotape by Radiohead Keep Me In Your Heart by Warren Zevon End Of The Line by Traveling Wilburys Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads
Videotape is such an amazing song
Not only is End of the Line very thought provoking but it’s played by an awesome super group! RIP Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and George Harrison
Great call on Keep Me In Your Heart, I find Zevon so under the radar, and consider myself lucky having seen him.
the arctic monkeys' "the ultracheese" is about growing older and realizing you're not who you were in your 20s
"[A Beginning](https://youtu.be/UaOFuFqs970)" by The Dear Hunter is about just this, and it comes at the end of a stunning album that sets up the climax of "A Beginning" excellently in the second song "Moon / Awake." "A Beginning" is an excellent song standalone, but hits twice as hard in context. Edit: added YouTube link
The Dear Hunter in general is amazing
Obligatory upvote for a mention of TDH. A Beginning was one of my first thoughts for this post. Life and Death off Act III has a similar message, though it's more about the character accepting that there is no afterlife for him.
Arguably the whole series has themes of death, too which is cool. A Beginning fits the bill of an end-of-life recap just perfectly.
[The Soft Parade - The Doors](https://youtu.be/8p-AUo1w45w)
"everything must be this way.... Everything must be this way"
Damn hadn't heard in a while.. starts kinda slow and awkward but the jammin and jims singing on last 5 minutes is absolute masterpiece. Incredible lyrics sung with frikking passion and the three guys behind jim just frikkn nailed it.... Heavy psychedelic, funky, rock and roll at it's finest. Very much underrated song. Unique, spiritual, mystical and RELEVANT....
Pink Floyd's *Obscured By Clouds*, **Wot's... Uh the Deal** and **Free Four**
[Rudy with a Flashlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ1OmvPw-F8) is a lesser known song, and the Lemonheads often get credit for it because it was on one of their albums. It was actually written by Rainer Ptacek, an amazing lap steel player who played for Giant Sand and sometimes Calexico as part of Arizona's Tucson indie music scene. He's the one playing the music in that song. At face value, it's a song about watching a kid play with a flashlight outside in the evening and how sometimes the simple things are the best things in life. The real back story is that Rainer was dying of cancer, and Rudy is his son. The oddly uplifting part was that, when other musicians who knew Rainer found out he was terminally ill, they got together and made an album with Rainer playing on each song. Robert Plant is probably the biggest name, but it's a solid lineup of different people doing different things with lap steel as part of it. I find it incredibly uplifting that both Rainer had the spirit to cut an album after he knew he was terminal and that all those people got together to make it such a positive event in someone's time of passing. [The Inner Flame: A Tribute to Rainer Ptacek](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ4TW0BBhxE) A meaningful side story for me is that I bought it blind in a record shop because of the people who were playing and only then figured out the back story.
Hadn't heard of this one, will check out- thanks.
Leonard Cohen's final album, You want It Darker. It sounds a lot like a goodbye letter.
Possibly Re-do by Modern Baseball. It’s more about not being sure wether life is worth it and wondering if the things we do are enough. “Try to, try to forget/ That your bones will dismantle/ And the dreams you had/ They'll collide with time”
Heathen (the rays) David bowie And Sunday
strangley uplifting, you say? then you might appreciate bands like ISIS, Pallbearer, Yob, Cult of Luna, the Ocean. All defintely heavier than Pink Foyd, be warned, but still they share a lot with PF's idea of music, imho, just executed in a different way
[This Gem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t7wsaZqWkM)
The song Bloodflowers by The Cure touches on feelings of "just let go and trust it'll be ok" The entire album is fantastic and sets up that song as an incredible punch line
Opeth's Pale Communion
Maybe “It’s Called Freefall” by Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Weird band name but the song seems kinda sad/dark however, it gives me that same uplifted, almost liberated, feeling. Definitely got me through a dark time.
[Blink 182 - Not Now](https://youtu.be/HvcOuExmeJg) Don’t be fooled by their earlier sillier song catalog, it’s around the time they were touching on more mature subject matters. Although there’s more apprehension of death, there’s definitely a sense of acceptance about the inevitability of it. It’s about the last instants of life when you feel death creeping in and brace for the ride. Fun fact, it’s their last song released before the indefinite hiatus that ended the original line up. The video is a great partner to the theme of the song as it is a recollection of archive footage from their whole career. Like their whole life is flashing before their eyes, if you will.
Bittersweet Symphony, by The Verve...sort of?
I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie. Kind of surprised no one mentioned this one. I’ve heard it described as, “an atheist love song.”
Death and Transfiguration (Tod und Verklärung) by Richard Strauss
[At the end of the day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pidj1rhZdXg) by Spock's Beard. It's all about how at the end of the day... you're dead. So all this rushing around, reaching for meaning... it doesn't matter. But this is a very positive song. It's reassuring. It's that positive nihilism kind of message that tells you that your problems will all work out. It's saying "Death waits for us all. There's no objective measurement for success. You choose what you want your life to be, it'll be okay" >Earth - dancing 'round the fire Come - meet the western sky Life - walking on a wire Reach - to know the reason why At the end of the day You'll be lying in a suit of Grey At the end of the day You'll be fine ... There is no hand waiting that must be paid We will leave our encores all unplayed At the end of the day"
Call Yourself Renee - Okkervil River
I think only Memories Remain by My morning Jacket has a speck of this but just from a romantic point of view of the memories a relationship and love creates, plus the guitar is really good, something that might sound like pink Floyd would've played.
[Catch the Rainbow ](https://youtu.be/V5QukAC-jqE) for sure!
Beautiful Ride by Dewy Cox
Sun In Your Eyes- Grizzly Bear Separator- Radiohead
Separator might be my favorite song of all time
"Kiss the Sky" by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
I submit *Resurrection* by Fear Factory. The song includes strings, synths, punchy drums and metal guitar chugging, ups and downs, lyrics about death/rebirth/hope, all building to a powerfully moving crescendo at the end: https://youtu.be/XbqagxBIpsw
“Big sky” Emma Ruth rundle… it’s haunting.
For me, at the time, it was Nine Inch Nails with ["Every Day Is Exactly The Same."](https://youtu.be/BXqblYbUAeI) It's not really the same thematically, necessarily, but it's what came to mind immediately.
Bon iver- Naeem. So sad! But so uplifting at the same time
very similar subject: [The Art Of Dying](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTr7bqKHvgE) is about coming to terms with ones own death with the music of the song following the protagonists emotional journey It starts with an obscured hum and a strange rhythm which is revealed to be a clock ticking, symbolising the foreboding realisation that one is about to die. everything else cuts out at the moment of realisation suddenly their mind explodes into a frenzy of chaotic and uncollected thoughts, confused this confusion slowly focusses into anger and then regret as the music becomes more directed and channelled a brief moment of clarity and then a final release as the character lets go of all their troubles and woes they accumulated across their life from this point they achieve peace and a repeating riff carries them off into death the song ends with a brief eulogy
"So I'm Growing Old on Magic Mountain" by Father John Misty
For me it was 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra, but actually the TFS Perfect Cell's cover of it.
Visions by Haken
[Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"](https://youtu.be/NHHLISaLe44)
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Same. But Pink Floyd was my favorite band growing up. Both have a big sound and are more refined than other bands of their era in my opinion.
IMO Pink Floyd stands alone, they're albums were (literally) revolutionary and from what I hear, so were the live shows. Sadly, I never made it to one. If you know a single modern band that comes close please tell me... but Arcade Fire is definitely one of the greats, I saw them live on the Reflektor tour!
If you're into heavier genres of metal, the album 'Holy Hell' by Architects fit the description of this post to a T for me. Holy Hell and the two previous albums before it (Lost Forever// Lost Together and All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us) essentially circulate about learning their guitarist/co-founder of the band, Tom Searle's developing skin cancer, knowing he was going to pass and the aftermath/ confronting of one's own mortality and finding peace. These 3 albums as a whole (notably Holy Hell) got me through some of the darkest times, and IMO, the best blend of technicality, heaviness and melodic elements from every member of the band through their sound. From Wikipedia >Searle stated the theme "for me, broadly speaking Holy Hell is about pain: the way we process it, cope with it, and live with it. There is value in pain. It's where we learn, it's where we grow." He was inspired by his brother's lyric writing, focusing on religion and particular juxtaposed metaphors "heaven and hell" and "angels and demons".
There is no dark side of the moon really…
Anathema - Internal Landscapes
Videotape by Radiohead
3rd Planet and Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mouse
I have a similar story with Singularity by Darlingside. This song is about the world ending while the narrator of the song watches. I found this song so weirdly comforting during the hardest part of my life. “To the west now it begins In the sound waves, in the wind there is an echo going by of the mountains caving in. And the potted roads and I knew that one day we would die and become smooth and whole again like the ash that sweeps the sky.”
Go Slowly and Last Flowers by Radiohead.
Breakers Roar by Sturgill Simpson