It's Friday! Let's ponder death.

"The Mercy Seat" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is boiling

And in a way I'm spoiling

All the fun by all this truth and consequence

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to die.

I would be remiss not to point you to Johnny Cash's hauntingly brilliant cover as well.

And the mercy seat is smoking

And I think my head is melting

And in a way that's helping

To be done with all this twisting of the truth

A lie for a lie

And a truth for a truth

And anyway I told the truth

But I'm afraid I told a lie.

"Hush (Somebody's calling my name)" - Nashville Bluegrass Band

Oh my brother, now won't you hush, hush

Somebody's calling out my name

O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do?

"Sometimes our dreams float like anchors" - William Elliott Whitmore

Oh the skin, oh the skin

That this old world has put me in

I can't wait to shed, I can't wait to shed

Lord, I'll be free when I'm dead.

"Parting Friends" - Word of Mouth Chorus

Farewell my friends, I'm bound for Canaan,

I'm traveling through the wilderness

Your company has been delightful,

You, who doth leave my mind distressed

I go away behind to leave you, perhaps never to meet again

But if we never have the pleasure, I hope we meet on Canaan's land.

And, inevitably...

"Romeo is bleeding" - Tom Waits

Romeo is bleeding

He climbs to the balcony at the movies

and he'll die without a wimper

like every hero's dream

like an angel with a bullet

and Cagney on the screen.