"Gonna be the Death of You"  Harry's CD

Gonna be the Death of You, the CD     -     The Lead Belly Songbook     -     The Lead Belly Page    -   Harry Lewman Music     -   Current Pricing and Orders   -  Home  

Oh Death

Click here to listen to Real Audio format 28.8 modem

Mark Patton was inspired to do this song after listening to Charley Patton and a female singer (Bertha Lee?) perform this as a duet. Mark sings a nice falsetto as the female part, but I decided to sing it an octave lower, creating a bass sound, trying to recreate the authority of death itself. The two voices represent the man who has lost his "Annie" and Death who he seems to be in all his thoughts.

There is another version of "Oh Death", sung by Ralph Stanley which is on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? sound track.  That version does not have the same melody or even the same theme, but it is a beautiful song, nonetheless.

Click here to listen to Real Audio G2 format 28.8 modem.  I recommend that you use the new G2 player.