History Main / WhenImGoneSong

--->''Fare the well, but be back soon

--->''Give me one long, last look
Bless you'

--->And since you are my friend
--->I would ask that you lower me down slow
--->And tell the man in the black cloak
--->He doesn't need to trouble his good soul
--->With those latin conjugations
--->And if it's all the same to them
--->You should tell your gathering friends
--->Please not to purse their faces grim
--->On such a lovely sunday

-->I'll look for you when the war is over\\
An hour and a half from now

--> Won't see the golden of the sun when I'm gone
--> And the evenings and the mornings will be one when I'm gone
--> Can't be singing louder than the guns while I'm gone
--> So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here

-->''Have a beer for me''
-->''Don't waste no tears on me''
-->''On Friday night, sit on the visitors' side and cheer for the home team''
-->''Drive my Camaro ''
-->''Ninety miles an hour down Red Rock Road''
-->''With "Born to Run" blasting on the radio''
-->''And find someone good enough for Amy''
-->''Who will love her like would have''
-->''If I don't make it back.''

-->''Don't cry a tear for me now, baby''
-->''There comes a time we all must say goodbye''
-->''And if that's what heaven's made of''
-->''You know I, I ain't afraid to die.''

-->When I die, I want you to dress me
-->in straight-laced shoes, a box-back suit and a Stetson hat.
-->Put a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain
-->so the boys will know I died standing pat.

--> Fare the well, but be back soon
-->Who can tell where danger's lurking

--> Give me one long, last look
-->Bless you

--> We must disappear
-->We'll be back here
-->Today... perhaps tomorrow

-->''And if your heart stops beating
-->I'll be here wondering
-->did you get what you deserve
-->The ending of your life
-->And if you get to heaven
-->I'll be here waiting, babe...''

-->Will you say to me\\

Cause light strikes a deal with each coming night.

* "Birds" by Music/NeilYoung

** Sadly, PhilOchs committed suicide on April 9, 1976, at the age of 35.

* 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=O0C-euAyCTU 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.

* '''Halfway Around the World''' by Music/ATeens

* 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 "when I'm gone" ''letter'', namely the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0C-euAyCTU 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.

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6RH-JMBJgM If I Don't Make It Back]]" by Tracy Lawrence 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.

* 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 "when I'm gone" ''letter'', namely the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0C-euAyCTU 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.

* "Be Back Soon" from the musical ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}''. The pickpocket boys sing to Fagan 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:

* "When I'm Gone" by Music/{{Eminem}}

* Music/RandyNewman wrote a song called "When I'm Gone" for the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' series finale.

* Music/RandyNewman wrote a song called "When I'm Gone" for the ''Series/{Monk}'' series finale.

* ''Music/RandyNewman'' wrote a song called "When I'm Gone' for the ''Series/{Monk}'' series finale.

* "When I'm Gone" by Music/PhilOchs

* [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare William]] [[ZerothLawOfTropeExamples Shakespeare's]] Sonnet 71:

* Subverted in Music/TomLehrer's "So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III)", which is supposedly the words of a pilot about to fly off to war. It ends:

!!!Examples:

* Subverted in Music/TomLehrer's "So Long, Mom" (a song for World War III).
--->I'll look for you when the war is over
--->An hour and a half from now

* "One of These Days" by 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.

* 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 "when I'm gone" ''letter'', namely the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljyCmWz07s8 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.

* 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 "when I'm gone" ''letter'', namely the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljyCmWz07s8 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).

* 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 Second Bull Run/Manassas 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; she accepts that, but says she'll be sad and miss him anyway.

* 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 Second Bull Run/Manassas and his 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; she accepts that, but says she'll be sad and miss him anyway.

* "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI71oOrLpJs Let Me Go]]" by EnterTheHaggis is an uplifting take on the third iteration of this trope

* "[[http://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 going to visit the doctor soon, and he 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.

* Most songs on TheBlackParade, a Music/MyChemicalRomance album, though "Dead!" is more of an inversion, because it's a narrator perspective speaking to the dying patient