The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
The Jim Carroll Band
“People Who Died” is poet and bandleader Jim Carroll’s most famous song. It is the fifth track on his 1980 post-punk album Catholic Boy. The title is self-explanatory. Carroll lists, sometimes humorously, all the people he has known who have died, be it accidental, sickness, suicide or murder.
[Intro]
Teddy sniffing glue, he was twelve years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-Nine
Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug
Twenty-six reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, fourteen years old
He looked like sixty-five when he died
He was a friend of mine
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and just died
[Verse 1]
G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam? Bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine
Two more friends that died
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
[Verse 2]
Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from his cell in the Tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others
And I salute you, brother
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
Guitar solo
[Verse 3]
Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof
Tony thought that his rage was just some goof
But Herbie sure gave Tony some, some bitchin' proof
"Hey," Herbie said, "Tony, can you fly?"
But Tony couldn't fly, Tony died
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
[Verse 4]
Brian got busted on a narco rap
He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers
He said, "Hey, I know it's dangerous
But it sure beats Riker's"
But the next day he got offed
By the very same bikers
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and one day, they died
[Verse 5]
Teddy sniffing glue, he was twelve years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-Nine
Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug
On twenty-six reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, fourteen years old
He looked like sixty-five when he died
He was a friend of mine
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and one day, they died
[Verse 6]
G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten
They died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan
Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head
Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed
They were two more friends of mine
I miss 'em, they died
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and just died
[Verse 7]
Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room
Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs
Judy jumped in front of a subway train
And Eddie got slit in the jugular vein
And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others
This song is for you, my brother
[Chorus]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
[Outro]
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
Those are people who died, died
They were all my friends and they died
People Who Died was written by Wayne Woods & Terrell Winn & Steve Linsley & Brian Linsley & Jim Carroll.
People Who Died was produced by Earl McGrath.
The Jim Carroll Band released People Who Died on Mon Nov 05 1979.