I Could Not Stop for Death – A Song Based on the Poem by Emily Dickinson

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs once said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.”
That’s a brilliant quote.
And now I have a friendly “You’re going to die soon” reminder for you as well—and that reminder comes in the form of a song.
It’s an original song I wrote and sang myself called “I Could Not Stop for Death (Nothing but Time).”
The track is an unauthorized and century-too-late sequel of sorts to Emily Dickinson’s 1891 poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” originally called “The Chariot.”
All we have is time
I edit dumpster fire essays for a living currently. A student analyzed this poem (poorly) and I immediately knew I had to write a song based on the title alone. What you’re about to hear is the end result. I didn’t have a big enough range to hit the high notes in this one for a long time, but now I do (or close enough). The poem is below.

Because I could not stop for Death (479)

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads
Were toward Eternity—

 

My guitar’s still messed up, but I felt like playing this anyway. You’re going to die. And soon. I hope you find this song as uplifting as I do (it’s meant to be motivational, after all!).

0 thoughts on “I Could Not Stop for Death – A Song Based on the Poem by Emily Dickinson”

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