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And When I Die.
Song by Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Lyrics by Laura Nyro;

I grew up with this song as a teenager, but at my age now and hearing it often my fav internet radio channel, it seems to me it's about right:

"I'm not scared of dying
And I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dying
Well, then let the time be near..

...And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on..

...Give me my freedom for as long as I be
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally
Oh, I want to go naturally."

I like the satirical references to the Devil. The joke is on the religious listening to it.
......................................................................

And When I Die
Song by Blood, Sweat & Tears 1968

I'm not scared of dying
And I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dying
Well, then let the time be near
If it's peace you find in dying
And if dying time is near, just bundle up my coffin
'Cause it's cold way down there
I hear that it's cold way down there
Yeah, crazy cold way down there

And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on
Now troubles are many, they're as deep as a well
I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell
Swear there ain't no heaven and I pray there ain't no hell
But I'll never know by living, only my dying will tell
Yes, only my dying will tell, yeah, only my dying will tell

And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on, yeah yeah
Give me my freedom for as long as I be
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally
Oh, I want to go naturally
Here I go, hey hey
Here comes the devil right behind
Look out children
Here he comes, here he comes, hey
Don't want to go by the devil
Don't want to go by demon
Don't want to go by Satan
Don't want to die uneasy
Just let me go naturally
And when I die and when I'm dead, dead and gone
There'll be one child born
In our world to carry on, to carry on, yeah yeah

David1955 8 July 10
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2

Great tune👍

Davekp Level 8 July 13, 2021
1
7

Laura Nyro one of the most under rated songsters. I did not know she wrote this. I am delighted she did.

And a beautiful voice, I have an 8 track of hers still.

3

This is one of my classic rock/soul tunes that I sing at karaoke, that always seems to go over big with crowds, even here in the Bible Belt of Iowa.

I guess they don't get the satire in the lyrics at the end about the Devil. People take from lyrics what they want, I suppose.

@David1955 I know this sounds smug and elitist, but most people in Iowa, where I live, are not smart or educated enough to get any kind of nuance or irony in things. Which is one reason on my dating profile on Batch, I don't list as Agnostic, since most people are too ignorant or prejudiced to get or understand what it means, and my compatible slice of the local dating pool is small enough, that I simply use the category of Spiritual, But Not Religious, even tho I know it's a cop-out.

@TomMcGiverin understood.

@David1955 I used to attend a Meetup.com group for divorced and other single people like me (widowed), and I made the mistake of being honest about this last point when the group was discussing dating site profiles. I mentioned that I was Agnostic, unlike the rest of the group who pretty much all belonged to a Christian Singles Group as well on Meetup, and that I didn't list myself as Agnostic in my profile. I told them that I use the other label I mentioned above. Then one of the women in the group (it was almost all divorced women in the group and there was lots of misandry there, which the female leader of the group did nothing to discourage or confront. It was clear that men were merely to be tolerated in the group) asked me why I didn't list myself as Agnostic in my profile. I flatly told her that in my experience, most people in Iowa were too ignorant or prejudiced to understand and be open-minded about it. She then told me that she was very personally offended by that, and the rest of the women jumped in and bashed me on that. A couple months later, after some more friction, during which the group leader never stood up for me against the obvious misandry and general resentment towards males going on, the leader booted me out of the group by removing or blocking me from the group on Meetup. She was merely protecting her bread and butter, I suppose, since she had a business as a dating and relationship coach and was using the Meetup group to provide her clients and she also charged people for attending her monthly workshop sessions where she presented boilerplate obvious stuff about relationships and dating.

@TomMcGiverin wow. I could flippantly say you might consider moving, but I know myself that easy to say but.. Hope you can cast a wider net. Good luck.

@David1955 Moving to get a better dating pool is easier to say than to do. Esp. when your local friends are your whole support system and you have no family to lean on for emotional support. I am stuck here.

5

I feel like I have always understood, and agreed with, these lyrics.

Hits the nail on the head, doesn't it?

@David1955 in multiple ways.

1

Michael Brecker was one of those who played trumpet. He later went on to have a full career in jazz. In fact the group considered themselves to be playing jazz, rather than rock. A marvelous version of Eric Satie's 2nd, or 3rd Gymnopedie, is on their first album.

@creative51 Thanks for the correction. I had sought to determine whether, or not, I was a match for Michael, around donating a body part, but I was told that I was too old.

2

I am, literally feeling a physical thrill (No, not that kind) seeing these words. BS&T was my long time favorite group, both before, and after, David Clayton Thomas was their lead. And yes, they put on a great show. For me it was at the Fillmore East, probably 1968. That's Thomas' voice I hear, in my head now, on this cut.
I echo DP's sentiment "...just let me go naturally."

Also surprised to read that the lyrics were by Laura Nero.

@BirdMan1 Nyro. She had her own hits.
Unfortunately, I did marry Bill.

@MsKathleen
Always loved to hear her songs.... 😍😍😍😍😍

6

Don't want to die uneasy, just let me go naturally.

Yes, I knew that. So you "unfortunately" married Bill, andI "unfortunately" married Pat.

5

Didn't know this was Laura Nyro. BS&T was the best concert I ever saw.

kmaz Level 7 July 10, 2021

Also, I want to add I don't think I knew the name Laura Nyro (not really well) until I heard Elton John bringing some attention to her accomplishments, and what she meant to him, I think on Elvis Costello's tv show.

6

Sadly Laura Nyro passed away 25 years ago. She wrote the words and music. BS&T only covered it, and made her a lot of money.

barjoe Level 9 July 10, 2021
5

Great band and great song.

4

David Clayton-Thomas is still alive. Blood Sweat and Tears. He was not with the band for the first album. David took over as the lead singer from Al Kooper, he's still alive too. Those boys were young. Only old head like me remembers him.

barjoe Level 9 July 10, 2021

Those were the days.Those were the bands.

@creative51 Chicago was great so I disagree with that.

@barjoe ditto!

@creative51 I am in complete agreement.

@creative51, @MsKathleen The death of Terry Kath was big reason why

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