Like most humans, I wonder about death. What it feels like, what comes after, and how I will react are all questions that have plagued my being. However, I don't live in fear of death. I don't know exactly where this stems from, whether it be my Christian faith, my mother's constant exposure (as a hospital worker) and discussion of it, or simply my understanding that we exist in a cycle where we live, grow, and pass on. I am not, in any way, shape, or form, excited for death, because in the words of Robert Frost, I've got "miles to go before I sleep;" I just know that when the time comes, I will need to let go of this life and move on to the next chapter for my soul.

As previously mentioned, my thoughts on death are strongly connected to my faith. I believe that my soul is not lost once my body passes. I believe in a creator and that according to the most quoted Bible verse of all time, "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." This obviously plays an important role in how I view death, but the purpose of this article is not to convert anyone to Christianity. The Purpose is to illustrate how death and the afterlife is represented through lyric and music. Anyway, I've grown stronger and stronger in my faith throughout the years and this belief, the belief in life eternal, has only strengthened my relationship with Christ. It also gives me insight into what will happen to me, and subsequently answers one of my main questions about death.

Probably my favorite bridge in any worship song goes:
"Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity."

Now, in the last line of this bridge they are discussing a figurative walk from our life on earth to eternity or in this case, Heaven.

The concept of the unknown has always intrigued me to no end. There are things out there that we do not know, things we have yet to discover, and things we cannot possibly understand; death fits in to all of these. Aaron Weiss of the band MewithoutYou describes death as a "blazing unknown" when one of the characters in his song "The King Beetle On a Coconut Estate" casts himself into an inferno. I think that is an excellent way to describe what happens to us when we let go of life. It quite literally is "the unknown." If that doesn't sound cool I don't know what does.

Now what about the actual act of dying, the actual event that we all go through yet no one can ever describe? Being a major "Momma's boy," I talk to my mother, a woman who has worked in hospitals for as long as I can remember, about this kind of stuff. She says that you can sometimes see a weight come off of the person when they are about to let go and have accepted it. She explains that it is peaceful most of the time and that sometimes people who don't want their family present for their death tend to hold on until they are gone. After they leave, my mother will sometimes whisper in their ear that it is okay to let go. Is it sad? Definitely, but it can be so beautiful.

The song "What Sarah Said" has one of the most beautiful depictions of death that I have come across yet. It is all done through instrumental process. The song is about a speaker who witnesses the death of a loved one in the hospital. Each instrument represents an element to the scene of someone dying in the hospital. First the piano melody is played that represents the telemetry meters and the heartbeat of the victim. Then, there is a high pitched guitar arpeggio and a faint snare drum roll reminiscent of IV’s and ventilators. Next, there is the slow down then up strum of a guitar that clearly represents breathing. Then, a drone of either a guitar or piano note represents the victim's will to live. Finally, a cymbal crash represents the patient's final brain activity. All of these elements slow down and get quieter to represent the person slipping away from the narrator until only the melody piano left. The melody is stripped down until it is just an electronic drone to represent the person's final heartbeat and the drone of the telemetry machine. The outro is an eerie, yet very beautiful, serene piece of music. It is disturbing, yet comfortable. It makes this song unique and unforgettable.

Now before the outro to this song the speaker asks the listener of the song, "who's going to watch you die?" This is the song's central theme because the speaker defines love as being able to watch the person you love die. This really got me thinking about my own death. Personally when I die, I want to be surrounded by my children, their children, and quite possibly their children's children. I'd like my wife by my side, God willing, knowing that I had a good run, had a lot of dear friends, and was the best person I could've been. As I make that next step to "the unknown," I want to know that I have finished what I came here to do and that I have fulfilled my purpose.