O Death

“O Death” or “Conversation with Death”

A ballad with origins in broadside dialogues between death and a sinner that date back to at least the 17th century. Many versions exist in both Anglo- and African-American song lines. We learned this one from Berzilla Wallin. The words and sounds slowly transform as both mouth and ear do their distorting work. An eerie glow of pebble-worn melody and beyond anthropomorphic confusion. O Death! Oh, Death! Listen up, death and even here, too, am I.