8. November 2021 By Walter Price 0

BENJAMIN DAKOTA ROGERS When I Do Die

Benjamin Dakota Rogers – When I Do Die is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer.

Long before legends like Marty Robinson, Cash, Fender, Bobbie Gentry, and the like were telling their stories of heartbreak, life, and inevitable deaths, story-songs were the frontporch and campfire ways of conveying truth and invention. From the mountain communities to wary wayward wanderers, spinning a good yarn kept folks enthralled before the brainwashing of TikTok. And in this time-honored, if not nearly lost to time, tradition, the recent single, “When I Do Die”, from critically acclaimed Canadian songwriter Benjamin Dakota Rogers is a love and tragedy tale that’ll have you captivated through and through.

In a quote provided to the GTC, the song’s storyline is explained, “When I Do Die” follows the classic murder ballad storyline of boy meets girl and falls in love, girl has another lover who boy kills, he gets the girl for a short while before his crime catches up to him. At the beginning of the song, he’s asking her to carry his body back home when he’s gone.”

This song comes in two versions. The studio version features beautifully haunting harmonies from an uncredited (possibly Yasmine Shelton?) vocalist that’s probably my favorite and then there’s a recorded live in a barn version with Peter Klaassen and Joseph Martel handling backing vocals that’ll find fans of traditional folk and bluegrass singing along with eager sorrow. Whichever version you become drawn to, you can’t go wrong with this respectful and stunning ode to timeless Americana storytelling.