Line #108 Main/WhenImGoneSong


1	This song comes in three basic forms (assuming that a man is singing to a woman):
2	# The singer is singing to the other person from the afterlife telling her not to miss him while he's gone.
3	# The singer is singing to a person right before going somewhere from which he might not return for a long time, if at all, asking her to do something while he's gone.
4	# Very close to the first and second, this version has the singer close to death or questioning how long his life will be and has him singing out all the things he wants to tell people before he's gone.
5
6	This is different from a BreakUpSong, because this kind of song isn't about the couple breaking up, and often carries the meaning that neither of the two really wants to part from the other, but they must because of forces outside their control.
7
8	Compare GriefSong, which is about death. These frequently appear as AlbumClosure.
9	------
10	!!Examples:
11
12	[[AC:Songs]]
13	* "When I'm Gone" originated as a bluegrass song performed by Music/TheCarterFamily in the 1930s. In 2009 it was recorded by a band called Landshapes, using cups for the percussion beat. In 2012 it was included in the film ''Film/PitchPerfect'', and that version, by Creator/AnnaKendrick and also known as "Cups", became a massive hit. The singer of the song says "you're gonna miss me when I'm gone" and urges the listener to come along.
14	* "Halfway Around the World" by Music/ATeens
15	* "Generator ^ Second Floor" by Music/FreelanceWhales is a weird variation: it's told from the point of view of someone who is either about to die or is already dead, reflecting on their life and giving certain instructions regarding his funeral, such as telling his loved ones to smile.
16	-->''And since you are my friend\
17	I would ask that you lower me down slow\
18	And tell the man in the black cloak\
19	He doesn't need to trouble his good soul\
20	With those latin conjugations\
21	And if it's all the same to them\
22	You should tell your gathering friends\
23	Please not to purse their faces grim\
24	On such a lovely sunday''
25	* "When I'm Gone" by Music/ThreeDoorsDown has a dual meaning: The song is both about the singer going off on a tour and asking to be loved while he's gone, and the music video adds soldiers going off to war as another meaning.
26	* "We're All Alone" by Boz Scaggs seems fitting for a couple in which the narrator's beloved is on their deathbed, with the lyrics proclaiming faithful love even facing departure from the world.
27	-->''Outside the rain begins\
28	And it may never end\
29	So cry no more, on the shore a dream\
30	Will take us out to sea, forever more, forevermore\
31	Close your eyes ami, and you can be with me\
32	'Neath the waves, through the caves of hours\
33	Long forgotten now, we're all alone, we're all alone''
34
35	-->''Once a story's told, it can't help but grow old\
36	Roses do, lovers too, so cast\
37	Your seasons to the wind\
38	And hold me dear, oh hold me dear''
39
40	* "When I'm Gone" by Music/{{Eminem}} has a triple meaning. It's a song about Eminem regretting that he has to constantly leave behind his daughter Hailie when he goes on tour and that he has to keep brushing her off to get his work done, but also served as his major single announcing his hiatus (to focus on producing... and, unfortunately, [[CreatorBreakdown opioid abuse]]). It's also the song in which Eminem kills off his Slim Shady alter ego, so the words of the chorus -- "''don't mourn, rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice''" are to be understood as Slim Shady's words to his fans after his death. (Don't worry - in 2009, [[FirstLawOfResurrection Shady got better]]. By which we mean, [[{{Horrorcore}} worse]].)
41	* "When I'm Gone" by The Click Five is about asking a lover to love the singer after he dies in a car accident.
42	* Subverted in Music/TomLehrer's "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)", from ''Music/ThatWasTheYearThatWas'', which is supposedly the words of a pilot about to fly off to war. It ends:
43	-->''I'll look for you when the war is over\
44	An hour and a half from now''
45	* "Good Man" by Music/IndiaArie, which is a strange version because it's from the point of view of the wife singing about her husband telling her this.
46	* [[Music/AfterTheGoldRush "Birds"]] by Music/NeilYoung
47	* "And When I Die" by Music/LauraNyro. Covered by Blood, Sweat And Tears.
48	* Musical ''Theatre/InTheHeights'' features a song, "When the Sun Goes Down," about a romantic pair about to separate, and their plans on making the relationship work.
49	* Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun" was a Type 3 as was the original French version, Jacques Brel's "Le Moribund" (that had been translated to English by poet Rod [=McKuen=])
50	* "A Tout le Monde", by Music/{{Megadeth}}.
51	* "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" by Glass Tiger.
52	* "Leavin' on a Jet Plane" by Music/JohnDenver is about a man, well, leaving on a jet plane, and promising his girlfriend that he'll be back.
53	* "When I'm Gone" by Music/PhilOchs puts a more positive spin on things:
54	-->''Won't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone\
55	And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone\
56	Can't be singing louder than the guns while I'm gone\
57	So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here''
58	** Sadly, Phil Ochs died by suicide on April 9, 1976, at the age of 35.
59	* "Leave Out All the Rest" By Music/LinkinPark is an example of the third type.
60	* "Here Comes the Arm" by Music/TheProtomen. [[spoiler:Emily's verse in the song was written as a letter to be given to Thomas as type 2, but it isn't read until 20 years later and is sung by her posthumously as a type 1.]]
61	** Thomas inverts this trope at the end of the song, [[spoiler:Before reading the letter, he was about to accept his death and go off to be with Emily in the afterlife. Upon finishing the letter he inverts type 2, as he won't be joining Emily in the afterlife because he "''Still has work to do''."]]
62	*** Type 2 parodied by Joe, in "Breaking Out." When he tells a girl that had been ignoring him all night not to miss him, as he steals a kiss from her, and leaves in hope of escaping the city.
63	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NJqUN9TClM&ob=av2e If I Die Young]]" by The Band Perry, where the narrator muses about what would happen if she were to die young, and is telling others things such as not to cry, and it references Tennyson's poem ''The Lady of Shallot'' (in fact, the video ends with a close-up of a book opened up to the poem). Listeners often interpret it as a suicide song, but that wasn't the intent, according to the band: "We wanted to write a song about making the most of whatever time you're given -- whether it's two years, twenty years or two hundred."
64	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmRkNSDsALA If You're Reading This]]" by Music/TimMcGraw is written as if it were a letter a soldier wrote to his family in case he died: in it, the soldier reassures everyone that he's in a better place, and contains things he wanted to say to people, such as "Tell Dad I don't regret that I followed in his shoes" and "I won't be there to see the birth of our little girl, I hope she looks like you, I hope she fights like me".
65	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTUvH7GpFVQ If Something Should Happen]]" by Darryl Worley. In the song, a man tells his best friend that he's preparing for surgery for a dangerous health condition, and gives his friend instructions on what to do just in case something happens to him, such as visiting his wife, and taking his son camping and teaching him how to throw a football and answer any questions he has. The song doesn't say anything about his fate, though the last lyrics are in a very hopeful tone. The video, on the other hand, [[StartsWithTheirFuneral starts with his funeral]] and then jumps back to him asking his friend, and shows some of the things he's talking about actually happen (such as the friend throwing the football to his son), with his spirit watching.
66	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RH-JMBJgM If I Don't Make It Back]]" by Music/TracyLawrence is about the narrator and his friends at a bar before one of them goes to fight overseas. The soldier leaves instructions to his friends on what to do if he doesn't come back.
67	-->''Have a beer for me\
68	Don't waste no tears on me\
69	On Friday night, sit on the visitors' side and cheer for the home team\
70	Drive my Camaro\
71	Ninety miles an hour down Red Rock Road\
72	With "Born to Run" blasting on the radio\
73	And find someone good enough for Amy\
74	Who will love her like would have\
75	If I don't make it back.''
76	** The last verse reveals that he didn't come back, as the narrator talks about them doing the things in his honor that he asked them to.
77	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpIdRkfVtA8&ob=av2e If Heaven]]" by Andy Griggs is about the narrator talking about what he pictures heaven to be like, and saying not to cry for him if he dies. The song makes it seem that he's just thinking about death, but the video makes it look as if he's already dead, looking back over his life and seeing his wife cry at his grave.
78	-->''Don't cry a tear for me now, baby\
79	There comes a time we all must say goodbye\
80	And if that's what heaven's made of\
81	You know I, I ain't afraid to die.''
82	* "I'll Be There" by Escape Club is one of those "I'm dead, but don't miss me, because I'm always with you in spirit" types.
83	* The traditional American ballad "St. James Infirmary Blues", based on the even older English ballad "The Unfortunate Rake" has been covered by everyone from Music/LouisArmstrong to Music/TheWhiteStripes. Music/{{Sevendust}} quote it in "Gone."
84	-->''When I die, I want you to dress me\
85	in straight-laced shoes, a box-back suit and a Stetson hat.\
86	Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain\
87	so the boys will know I died standing pat.''
88	* "Be Back Soon" from the musical ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}''. The pickpocket boys sing to Fagin and he sings back as they prepare go out into the street to pickpocket. The song mainly references returning, but considering that stealing at the time could conceivably carry a death sentence by hanging, an ominous cloud hangs behind the cheery tune and lyrics. Some examples:
89	** From Fagin:
90	--->''Fare the well, but be back soon''\
91	Who can tell where danger's lurking''
92	** and
93	--->''Give me one long, last look\
94	Bless you''
95	** And the boys:
96	--->''We must disappear\
97	We'll be back here\
98	Today... perhaps tomorrow''
99	* The song "Lost and Damned" by Music/{{Kamelot}} is an example of type 2. Another song, "Don't You Cry", is a type 1 example.
100	* Most songs on Music/TheBlackParade, a Music/MyChemicalRomance album, though "Dead!" is more of an inversion, because it's a narrator perspective speaking to the dying patient
101	-->''And if your heart stops beating\
102	I'll be here wondering\
103	did you get what you deserve\
104	The ending of your life\
105	And if you get to heaven\
106	I'll be here waiting, babe...''
107	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofgud4wLLo "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" (shortened version)]] by Rolf Harris. It [[GallowsHumor amusingly]] details the dying requests of an Australian stockman to his buddies, including what to do with his various aussie animals and in the last verse, his "hide."
108	* The Celtic song "Danny Boy" is a farewell from a father to his son, in which the father anticipates his death before Danny returns from war.
109	* "Gone 'Til November" by [[Music/TheFugees Wyclef Jean]].
110	* "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Music/GarthBrooks: the narrator worries that when he dies his significant other might doubt how much he loved her, so he tells her every day to make sure she knows.
111	* "No Reply" from the Anime/CowboyBebop soundtrack falls under type 3. A man commits suicide by jumping to his death, hoping that the love of his life, who has done nothing but good and supported him through everything, will forgive him for all the lies and ultimate betrayal he's shown to her.
112	-->I close my eyes and watch as my life passes by\
113	The only thing I see is you\
114	For all the times you walked the line for me and standing by my side\
115	I say thank you.
116	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI71oOrLpJs Let Me Go]]" by Music/EnterTheHaggis is an uplifting take on the third iteration of this trope
117	* Music/{{U2}}'s "Kite" is mostly a Type 3 with occasional elements of Type 1. It is sung from Bono's perspective to his daughters. (It was later repurposed as a GriefSong when Bono's own father passed away a year later, during the Elevation Tour.)
118	* "Each Coming Night" by Music/IronAndWine.
119	-->''Will you say to me\
120	When I'm gone\
121	Your face is faded but lingers on\
122	Cause light strikes a deal with each coming night.''
123	* "One of These Days" by Music/MitchBenn is about a guy apologising to his partner that he has to leave again, and promising that one day his work will be over and they can spend the rest of their lives together.
124	* Based on his own mother's passing, Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton's "When I Get Where I'm Going" is an elderly woman describing all the wonderful things she thinks are waiting for her on the other side and says "don't cry for me down here."
125	* "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" was written by Glen Campbell to his wife as his last song. It refers to how his affliction with Alzheimer's is slowly taking his memory away.
126	* "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" by Music/EltonJohn is a Type 2 example, with the narrator asking his girl to wait for him while he's away. The music video shows that he's leaving because he joined the military.
127	* Music/TheDecemberists' "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)" is partly a Type 1--partly, because it's a ''duet'' between a young [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Confederate soldier]] (sung by Colin Meloy) killed at Bull Run/Manassas (First or Second is unclear) and his living pregnant wife (sung by Laura Veirs) in South Carolina. The soldier is telling his wife not to be sad and miss him, they will be reunited somehow (as he says, "I will come on the breath of the wind"); she accepts that, but says she'll be sad and miss him anyway. Oddly, the soldier's part seems to be based heavily on a famous Type-2 "when I'm gone" ''letter'', namely the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VK1KcZoDu0 letter]] from Rhode Islander and ''Union'' Army officer [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sullivan_Ballou Sullivan Ballou]], who wrote to his wife in much the same vein (including the wind-based imagery) and was killed at First Bull Run.
128	* Music/RandyNewman wrote a song called "When I'm Gone" for the final scene of the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' series finale.
129	* Another song titled "When I'm Gone" was recorded by Albert Hammond in 1981, and covered by Rockell in 1998.
130	* "Dreaming", a collaboration between Zero 7 and Music/{{Sia}}, seems to be written from the perspective of someone who has died and are telling their lover to move on.
131	* "Remember Me" by Music/{{Augustana}} is about a man asking his wife if she'll take the time to remember him after his death.
132	* "Flight of the Crows" by Music/{{Jhariah}}. The man feels that he's disappointed everyone so much and dug himself into his own problems, that he isn't deserving of sympathy and they shouldn't care about him. He plans to kill himself and assures people that he'll be happier in his "golden second try", so they should forget about him altogether.
133	-->''Well, I think that I've gotta go, and I don't know why\
134	But I need you to promise that you won't cry\
135	'Cause you'll be fine, and so will I\
136	So just let the thought of me die''
137	* The stage musical adaptation of ''Literature/LittleWomen'' has "Some Things Are Meant to Be", a Type 3 version where [[spoiler: Beth acknowledges that she will die soon and tells Jo]] that she will always be with her.
138	* The {{Eurobeat}} song "Spirit of the Night" by Daniel is a Type 1 example.
139	* Music/ClanOfXymox's "See You On the Other Side", the closing track of ''Spider On the Wall''.
140	* "Youtopia" by Music/ArminVanBuuren f/ [[Music/OwlCity Adam Young]](type 1).
141	* Two lines from Music/AesopRock's "More Cycles" say that, if he happens to meet a violent death, onlookers should merely gather up all that he left behind (either his motorcycle's wreckage or his contributions to music) and leave without taking time to mourn:
142	-->''Pinky swear that should I go exploding into springs and gears,\
143	You loot the rings and gear and ghost the scene without a single tear''
144
145	[[AC: Poems/Sonnets]]
146	* [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare William]] [[JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare's]] Sonnet 71:
147	-->"No longer mourn for me when I am dead, then you shall hear the surly sullen bell give warning to the world that I am fled from this [[CrapsackWorld vile world]] with vilest worms to dwell. Nay, if you read this line remember not the hand that writ it; for I love you so that I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot if thinking on me then should make you woe."
148	* The classical Roman poet Horace wrote the fourth epistle of his first book around 20 B.C.E on the theme of wanting his friends to remember him fondly after his death: "When you have a mind to laugh, think of me and you shall find me, fat and sleek, a true hog of Epicurus's herd."
149	** These lines are quoted by the title character in the film version of ''{{Literature/Hannibal}}'', where they take on a less pleasant connotation.
150	* The Victorian writer Christina Rosetti's famous poems "Remember" and "When I am dead, my dearest..." are both on this theme.
151	* Henry Scott Holland's 19th century poem "All Is Well" is about asking his loved ones to remember him sweetly.
152	* Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Come not, when I am dead."

Context Main / WhenImGoneSong