Now the leaves are goldening again
And I'm walking down to meet my friend
Feel the chill that's growing in the air
And falling on the evening
In the last fallen leaves
Let the time go with me
Come to see my memory
I'll be waiting patiently
She sits me in the bath
The hair rolls off my back
Then we stand and watch it wash away
Swirling down the darkened drain
In the last fallen leaves
At the end of everything
Come to see my memory
I'll be waiting patiently
Come alive
Come alive
I'll be with you, I'll be with you
I'll be with you, I'll be with you
I'll be with you, I'll be with you
I'll be with you, I'll be with you
Young Death came about one day when I was messing around on a couple of cheap thrift store synths in the garage of my college house, specifically a Yamaha PSR-7 and Yamaha PSS-570. I remember really liking the part from the start, but I put it aside for a few years before I actually started developing it. It was also the only one where the instrumental was completely finished before the lyrics were begun.
I don't have any recordings of the chorus melody being written, and I don't know why. It was definitely written on the piano itself, and I remember thinking it sounded very similar to the melody in the chorus of "Breathe (2 AM)" by Anna Nalick. I love that song. My mom used to listen to it a lot when we were kids. I was very pleased with that melody when it was written. It also reminds me of the chorus melody of From The Morning by Nick Drake. That's definitely one of my favorite songs ever.
I was stuck on these lyrics for like 2 years after writing the melodies, especially the last 2 lines of the 1st verse and the first 3 lines of the chorus. They were part of what contributed to the great writer's blockage of 2022-2024. I had a strong feeling which I wanted to write about, something like some acknowledgement of my death if it were to happen randomly, but I couldn't figure out how to express it. I'm not sure I ever really succeeded. All I had for the chorus was the lyrics to How to Disappear Completely by Radiohead, "I will go / Where I please" (which became "In the last / Fallen leaves") and the "I'll be waiting patiently". I really liked the way that line sounded but I didn't like it implying something about an afterlife. I remember the 3rd line popping into my head some day, "Come to see my memory", and that totally fixed it. I thought that was really good and sad, like I'm dead but you can still come visit me in the memories we have together.
"A Day in the Life" was a huge influence on the lyrics to this song. That was the first song that ever really got me into The Beatles. I definitely wanted the verses to be like that, like some random narrative about nothing. I had just gotten my hair cut by my friend like 2 weeks after I moved to New York and it was just a beautiful day where I felt really happy. And that line about the leaves goldening popped into my head so I ran with that. Carpe Diem style. I wanted the lyrics to be puzzling. It seemed more impactful than stating the feeling directly.
"Sarah" by Alex G was also a huge influence. They're both very golden in my mind. I love the whimsical melancholiness of that pan flute. I listened to that song a shit ton while making this. "Picture This" by KKB was the same. It's so melancholy and poignant, that melody and the flutes. These songs are also all at the end of their album as well. I wanted it to feel like the last week of school.
For me, it was unusual for the instrumental to be finished before the lyrics. Usually the lyrics dictate the song structure and then everything gets produced. I think that contributed to the decision to cut the lead vox from the final chorus. I was so used to listening to it without them. It also just felt right. Like oh, he's gone.
I like that the strings at the end sound like the strings at the end of Music for 18 Musicians. I like the synth melody a lot. It's always reminded me of Proteus shapeshifting or something like that. I like the beginning of the bridge. It reminds me of Zealots of Stockholm by Childish Gambino, or also the end of Send It Up by Kanye. I think it's kind of funny.
I felt so proud of this song when it was finished. It's definitely one of my favorites on the album. I don't love every lyric but I love the melody and the sound and the songwriting so much, and I think it's a funny song to include. I like ending like this.
The earliest recording I have of Young Death is a voice memo from April 23, 2020 called "LCD Soundsystem recording":
The next recording is from 2 years later, August or September 2022, and is a more complete sketch of the song. This is the first of 3 attempts in Pro Tools:
Shortly thereafter came another try, which is much closer to the final version but still not composed of any of the final stems:
The version above also only includes one of the keyboard drum machines. The other was added sort of as an accident, because I realized I had been using the wrong keyboard the whole time for the drum machine. When I added the real one they stacked really well together, and that's why there's two of them.
The third attempt became the final instrumental and from there I started working on the melody. The first section of the melody to be written was actually the chorus backing vocals, which might be my favorite part of the song. September 11th 2022:
From 2 days later is a rough recording of the 2nd verse melody:
Nice melody from Sept 24th on the way to something, featuring my sister talking about some girl smelling like sour cream:
1st verse melody developing here from September 25, as well as maybe the chorus:
Sept 28th still thinking the 2nd verse melody would be for both:
Same day at night ending conceived:
Still confused about the verse melody on October 3rd, but here's the idea to extend the phrase at the end of the 2nd verse:
1st verse melody finally developed on October 15th, 2022:
Personnel:
Yamaha PSR-7
Yamaha PSS-570
Paganini WR70 Cello
Mexican Fender Strat through Fender Deluxe Reverb
Pinkerton Melodica/Farfisa drones
Recorded at 24bit 48khz
This song had possibly the most extreme transformation in the mastering. I think Alan's master really did a lot for it.
Unmastered version:
