A short song about dead friends (inspired by Nellie Was a Lady)
Why Did You Die?
You were my dear old friend
That word is too short for you
Now you’ve gone and left me
And I don’t know what to do
I’d walk with you by my side
On summer days and winter nights
I thought you’d always be around
Like the clear blue sky
So why did you have to die?
And leave me here to cry
What harm did I do to you?
That you could ever justify
I asked what’s on your mind
I hung on every word
And you hung on every word of mine
We never went unheard
There was no doubt in our bond
I could see it in your eyes
But now it’s over and beyond
I’m left with only memories
So why did you have to die?
And leave me here to cry?
What harm did I do to you?
That you could ever justify
Why did you die?
Oh, why did you die?
Each time I read this through, it reveals something else to me (or at least I think it does). Taken literally it seems to be suicide of a friend, but there feels like an ambiguity – there is a sense that this is in some way metaphorical. I can’t quite put it into words, but it’s that line “what harm did I do to you” – it implies suicide, but it itself could also be black humour of a sort. The friend didn’t choose to die.
It could also be the death of one’s faith/belief in God, though I recall you are an atheist so this seems unlikely.
Perhaps it is the friendship itself that has died rather than the friend, the friend is now dead to you.
Interesting stuff.
Yes, those ambiguities are present. I would add: it feels as if the dying is a kind of willful act of friendship deprivation. Death is one way of ending a friendship, but there are others (some quite despicable).