Song of The Week: Live Before I Die

I'm not going to lie to you, I was stalling getting this article started because I had absolutely no idea where to begin with it, and I ended up going on quite the little adventure during that time. It all started while I was wrestling with my large black blanket, because it's cold enough to build a snowman in my house and I was trying to fashion it into a warm little couch-nest. But in doing so (with the air being as dry as it is in here), I also managed to create a lot of static electricity. That may not sound like a big deal to you, but unfortunately I have a short somewhere inside my laptop battery, and if I accidentally zap the computer it will immediately power down, causing me to lose what little unsaved work I already had here.

Long story short, I had to find another manner of discharging the static before safely touching my computer... Now, I'm not saying it's your fault that I ended up zapping the dog instead (and I swear I only laughed for like 20 minutes), I'm just saying that she ended up becoming collateral damage in the pursuit of this week's article, because I did light her up pretty good. I may be going to hell, but at least I am one step closer to my ultimate goal of becoming Dr Manhattan.

(Please don't call the ASPCA, she's perfectly fine and has always had that twitch.)

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see Live Before I Die win the poll this week, especially considering it was up against a few others that seem to be a bit more well-known. Released in 2019 as part of the 25 to Life album (which is one of my favorites, by the way), Live Before I Die is both poignant and defiant, with the standout line being “fuck you if I can't live before I die.” I mean, come on, how can anyone argue with that!? For reasons I cannot explain, this song has always reminded me of an old cartoon that has lived rent free in my head since I was a kid:

Clocking in at just under two minutes, this song is the very definition of 'short but sweet'. In essence, it perfectly captures the feeling of being stuck in a rut with a head full of lofty dreams, and no viable assurance that any of them will survive in the sobering light of reality. The opening lyrics jump straight to the point of questioning whether or not life will always remain the same as it was in the moment that they were written, but they also make it abundantly clear that there is no intention to buckle under the weight of that uncertainty. Instead, you are met with the same 'Carpe Diem' attitude that is always fringing on the periphery of any Skinner Brothers song, telling you to grab life by the horns and to not let it slip by in passive regret. Don't let the gentle, lo-fi keying of the piano lull you into a false sense of comfort and security— the underlying message of this song is to not grieve for a life long past before it has yet to meet its natural end.

Speaking of soothing pianos, I don't know if it's that, the lyrics, or both that give this song such a well-worn, lived-in feeling. It's a timeless sound that leaves you feeling nostalgic for simpler times you may have only ever read about. As soon as you press 'play', the first couple of seconds are like taking a step into the early 1900's, when Beethoven had just dropped a sick new banger, and you couldn't wait for your horse and buggy to bring you home so you could fire up the phonograph. (I swear to God, if any of you say, “but Beethoven died in 1827!” I'll throttle you!) The Skinner Brothers are not just excited for the sudden resurgence of vinyl records, they're actively trying to bring back wax cylinders!

Nothing about Live Before I Die screams overproduction—it's gritty, raw, and direct. And while it's true that Zac's delivery was pretty mellow overall, the lyrics themselves still had plenty of that trademarked venom coursing through their veins. In one moment, he is crooning (almost playfully) about how "I'm always on a comedown, but I never get... ^hiiiigh", and then in the next he's spitting “fuck you if I can't live before I die” with so much malice you feel as though you've pissed him off personally somehow just by listening.

Whoever he had in mind when he wrote this song probably had a chill run up their spine the day it was released. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the intended recipient of these daggers is probably still not right to this day (come on Zac, we know it must have been SOMEONE... Tell the truth and shame the devil 😉). But be that as it may, the rest of us still get to benefit from the product of that hostility, so I guess that person is just going to have to take one for the team this time.

The damn postman's a snail...

Oh, the irony! Zac must have written that line many, many moons ago, before the Skinner Brothers had the following that they do today. At the time he wrote it, he couldn't have possibly known that one day there would be tens of thousands of us saying that exact same thing while we wait for our own postmen to deliver the Skinner Brothers latest album to our doorstep. A growing number of doorsteps all around the world, in fact. That all sounds like something out of Inception... Or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, pick your poison. (And whatever you do, don't panic!)

☘️🖤