History Main / DeathSong

* In ''Theatre/Frankenstein2014'', when Victor's dear friend Henri goes to the guillotine in Victor's place, he sings to Victor that he will live on "In Your Dreams", and that that's enough for him. But Victor Frankenstein, being Victor Frankenstein, is not just going to let him stay dead...

* ''Anime/{{Symphogear}}'' features this as a mechanic of its music-based MagicalGirl system- the "Swan Song," a song sung as a last resort, removing all limiters on their power at cost of the singer's life.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* The reprise of the titular song in ''Theatre/ManOfLaMancha'' - but a surprise, as Don Quixote does not know he is dying.

* "Mozarts Tod" ("Mozart's Death") from ''Theatre/{{Mozart}}''. The titular character confronts Amadè about all he's gained and lost throughout his life, and [[spoiler: [[KilledMidSentence gets cut off by the boy/demon stabbing him in the arm.]]]]

* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' managed to partially do this when [[spoiler: Melvin kills Hank Ishtar.]] Hank sings the events as they happen in the style of ''Music/HarryChapin'''s "Cat's in the Cradle".
-->'''Hank''': And then he stabbed me in the torso and the cat's in the cat place and oh god, that's sharp!\\

* "Sh'ma" from ''Theatre/{{Parade}}'' could be argued to be this, as Leo is about to die. The ''Sh'ma'' is the central prayer of Judaism, and the last thing a Jewish person is supposed to say before they die.

* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'':
** Season 4's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS4E13Flashpoint Flashpoint]]" has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50BMU5NnuB4 "The Banks of the Lee", performed by Silly Wizards]], which is played at the end of the episode when the villains [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide jump to]] [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled their deaths]] [[DestenationDefenestration through the]] [[SuperWindowJump top floor]] of the building.]]

** Season 4's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS4E13Flashpoint]]" has "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50BMU5NnuB4 "The Banks of the Lee", performed by Silly Wizards]], which is played at the end of the episode when the villains [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide jump to]] [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled their deaths]] [[DestenationDefenestration through the]] [[SuperWindowJump top floor]] of the building.]]

* Also subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Bart's Comet": With the citizens of Springfield cut off from any means of escape and the comet hurtling toward the city close enough to not only be seen with the naked eye, but heard with the naked ear, Ned Flanders accepts his fate and walks up to a nearby hill, staring at the comet and singing "Que Sera Sera." The other citizens, seeing him do this, gradually come join him to sing it together. Subverted in that [[spoiler:the comet burns up in the atmosphere until it's too small to harm anyone--though as Bart discovers, it's still very hot to the touch.]]

** "Soldier of Heaven," sung by one of the soldiers killed in the White Friday avalanche.
* ''Music/JohnothanCoulton'' has "Red Shirts," a FilkSong for Creator/JohnScalzi's ''Literature/RedShirts.'' The singer is one such RedShirt whose Captain Kirk-[[{{Expy}} analouge]] has led him to his death in yet another crazy adventure billions of miles away from home for no other reason than [[MetaFiction the Audience finds it dramatic]].

* Played for [[{{Bathos}} darkly dissonant comedy]] in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' with Mikau, the warrior guitarist of a Zora jazz band. He's first introduced to Link beached and fatally wounded by the Gerudo pirates who stole his girlfriend's eggs, and knowing his number's up, he offers Link his final message... [[MoodWhiplash by abruptly standing back up]] with his guitar out of {{hammerspace}}, giving one last jam to exposit his backstory and [[LastRequest final request to rescue his children]] before he finally collapses for good. His last words are a lively "Thank you! That's all..."

* [[Music/OfMonstersAndMen Of Monsters and Men's]] hit single, ''Little Talks'' tells the story of a man wandering through the home he shared with his late wife, imagining her telling him to let her go. The dreamy instrumental and the singers' accents (by some reports, the band wasn't fluent in English when recording this song and used a phonetic translation) covers up the LyricalDissonance of the song's message.

* ''Theatre/{{Diana}}'': The last song, "If (Light Of The World)", follows Diana in the immediate aftermath of the car crash that killed her. She contemplates her life, accomplishments, and potential impact on the world before passing.