One Last Song: Conversations on Life, Death, and Music

by Mike Ayers, Jim James, Studio Muti (Illustrator)

An ironically upbeat book that asks some of today’s most inimitable musicians which song they would choose to be the last one they ever hear   If you could choose the last song you’d hear before you died, what would it be and why? Your favorite song of all time? Perhaps the one you danced to at your wedding? The song from that time you got super stoned and just let the chords speak to you? It’s a hard question that Mike Ayers has thought about for years.   In One Last Song, Ayers invites 30 musicians to consider what song they would each want to accompany them to those pearly white gates. Weaving together their explanations with evocative illustrations and poignant interludes—what your song to die to says about you, what songs famous people have died to, and more. The book offers insight into the minds of famous artists and provides an entry point for considering how integral music is to our own personal narratives.Artists Jim James of My Morning Jacket, André 3000, Killer Mike, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Phoebe Bridgers, Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire, Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES, A.C. Newman of The New Pornographers, Courtney Barrett, Bobb Bruno of Best Coast, Angel Olsen, Regina Spektor, Kevin Morby, Will Oldham, Julia Holter, Margo Price, Sonny Rollins, Ryley Walker, Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Yannis Phillippakis of Foals, Bettye Lavette, M.C. Taylor of The Golden Messenger, Wanda Jackson, Roseanne Cash, Lucinda Williams, and Beth Orton.  

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 13, 2020

About the author

My new book, Sharing in the Groove: The Untold Story of the '90s Jam Band Explosion and the Scene That Followed, is an oral history of this wonderful time period featuring all new interviews from Phish, Widespread Panic, Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors, moe., Medeski, Martin & Wood, the Disco Biscuits, String Cheese Incident, God Street Wine, Strangefolk, and many more.

My first book, One Last Song, was a Variety best music book of the year selection in 2020. In it, I asked 32 musicians one question: What's the last song you'd ever want to hear? The book features answers from an array of contemporary and classic musicians, including Andre 3000, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Killer Mike, The National's Matt Berninger, Phoebe Bridgers, Sonny Rollins, Jim James, Colin Meloy, Courtney Barnett, Lucinda Williams, Angel Olsen, Regina Spektor, and many more.

"An unexpectedly uplifting read" — Variety's Best Music Books of 2020

"Slightly morbid yet endlessly entertaining" — TIME's Best Fall Books of 2020

"Sometimes the most morbid questions lead to the most fascinating answers" — Esquire

I've written about arts and culture for 20 years at numerous publications such as Billboard, Relix, GQ, Esquire, Time, the Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone.

Reviews

[Joachim Stoop · Rating 2 out of 5]

All filler, no killer.

I know it's all about taste, but I had higher expectations about the death bed music choice. Firework by Katy Perry? Baker 'the absolute low of 80's sax playing' Street by Gerry Rafferty? Perfect day by Lou Reed? Girls just want to have fun? by Cyndi Lauper. Of course one would die! You don't need a death bed or disease with this kind of music.

To give it an air of encyclopedic insight (i.e. to thicken the book) we get some lists which were at best lightly entertaining:
- Famous musicians and the last live songs they played
- The most morbid number one songs of all time
- Songs somefamous TV character went out to

If I want to find this kind of info... I'll check wikipedia next time.

[Gerrod Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike Ayers tackles an impossible question in his book, One Last Song: Conversations on Life, Death, and Music. Through a series of brief interviews with a wide range of artists - from Killer Mike to Phoebe Bridgers and Sonny Rollins to André 3000 - he challenges them to think of what song they would like to hear as the final piece of music they'd hear on our Earthly plane. While some conversations certainly stand out above others, Ayers' work is centred around a gripping concept and an unanswerable question, making for a unique book that I wish went just a little deeper with most artists interviewed for this book.

[Mike Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike Ayers has created a fantastic homage to one of the only things that truly helps us cope with existential dread — music. One Last Song is the natural next step from a former Rolling Stone editor and author who has been listening to, thinking about and writing about music for years. If you want a fun and fascinating book that is equal parts about music and how we think about our life and death, check it out!

[Jay Gabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Years in the making, One Last Song landed with special poignance when published in October, amid a global pandemic that cruelly circumscribes what Jim James, in a foreword, calls "our final act of creation." To protect their loved ones, COVID-19 victims must die alone, with only PPE-clad medical personnel — doing heroic, compassionate work — to ease their transitions.

When most of us think of death, we imagine our loved ones at our side. That's certainly what Stephen Malkmus had in mind when he made his pick: "Carefree Highway" by Gordon Lightfoot. "It's almost not about you," he told Ayers. It should be a song the whole family can enjoy together.

Malkmus is one of 32 artists who responded to Ayers's query; each response appears as a brief essay in a book that's kind of a page-turner once you get past the unavoidably macabre premise. It would be an interesting question to ask just about anyone, but the special appeal of querying musicians is that the answers reveal something of how the artists think about music itself.

I reviewed One Last Song for The Current.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always interesting to read what others think would be the first song they remember, enjoyed dancing to, ones that bring back a flood of memories, what they want played at their funeral should they decide to have one and in this case what song they want to hear just before they die.
Several of the choices I was more than familiar with, many I was not simply because I just don't follow music as much as I used to not because I don't love music, I do, just because. And the choices ranged across all spectrums.
And the book just doesn't deal with individual choices. There were lists of the most morbid songs, movie and TV deaths songs, etc. There were some interesting facts in Mike Ayers book.
A very fast read and it may or may not make you think about the song you want to hear just before you kick that can! Is Mike's next book about the song(s) you want to have played at your funeral?!?!? We'll see but consider Peter Frampton's 'Do You Feel Like I Do?'.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

coffee table book I found at a junk shop! super interesting format. prompts ~20 musicians (think jeff tweedy, lucinda williams, phoebe bridgers) with the question “what’s the last song you’d ever want to hear?” then gives them 1-3 pages to make their case.

the rest of the book is annotated with fun facts about the their selections, as well as:
- top-ten lists of the most popular funeral music choices in the uk (oasis and coldplay overrepresented)
- chart-topping songs about death (don mcclean’s “american pie” all the way through wiz khalifa and charlie puth’s “see you again”)
- famous musicians and the last songs they played live (prince’s was a “purple rain” medley 🥲)

very morbid, but also cool and considered

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

30 musicians talk about the last song they would want to hear before they leave this earth. I loved this book! I'm usually someone who just reads books straight through and doesn't have more than one book going at a time, but I read this book a little at a time in conjunction with other books. I would read 3 or 4 essays a day of course listening to whatever song the artist was talking about while reading. It was nice little treat when I got off work. It was really fascinating to read about people's reasoning as to why the chose the song they chose.

[Kyrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I might have liked this book more if I'd been more familiar with the artists (either the ones choosing a song or the ones whose song was chosen). It made me feel old, which isn't wrong for a book about death, but um, to feel like you're too old to know this music?

Some of the musings were interesting, some felt like filler because not enough people responded to make a full book?

Anyhow, donating this one to the library for someone who will fit the age range/genre better.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked thinking about this book a lot more than the book itself. I kept it in my car to read while waiting to pick people up. I would read the essay, pull the song up on my phone, and give it a good listen (though I had to cut out early on Mozart because our city doesn’t take very long to drive through). The songs and essays were all over the map, but I wouldn’t have expected otherwise.

For my part, I am still waffling about my last song pick. Something with cello, though, loud enough for me to feel the vibrations resonate through my body.

[Lisa Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

So…conceptually I really wanted to love this. A conversation with various recording artists about the last song they’d want to hear. Could be both depressing & uplifting at the same times.
In the end, it was just meh. I frankly didn’t know most of the artists interviewed, but the impact their chosen songs had on them & their feelings were interesting to read. The author combined the comments with facts about death in music through the years; TV character deaths & even his suggestions for film characters.
Overall, an interesting read, but the unfamiliarity kept me at arms length.

[Katie]

DNF: Honestly, it's because I don't know enough of the artists/musicians interviewed within the pages. This is a collection of interviews where the topic of discussion is what song one would choose to be the last thing they hear before they die. This should be an emotional, moving concept, yet I wasn't feeling any impact because I don't have any connection, any interest in the people. While their reasonings may be sound for their song choice(s), I found myself bored reading. There are too many books out there to continue reading books that bore me.

[Teresa Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a thought provoking book! It certainly makes you think about yourself, your life, your history, etc. I was able to flip through the book, read a couple of "interviews" and go back through the book and read more.

[Martin C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating insight and a thoughtful dive into what musicians would hear as their last song ever. Very much enjoyed listening to the songs discussed in the book too. Highly recommend!

[Brian Rodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars; interesting light reading. I’m a fan of a lot of these artists which definitely made it more engaging for me.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

Neat idea but underwhelming essays. I don't judge the song selections (music is so subjective and personal) but writing style (especially from main author) was bland and felt like big font was used to fill up pages.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I love this book. It sounds like it would just be a total depressing read that leaves you sobbing... it’s not though. I laughed and smiled at some of the stories and observations, and it’s a book that makes you think.

First of all, the layout is great. The illustrations are so fun and well thought out, I love the creative colors used for the pages, the fonts used, the very large page numbers. It’s just an unexpected book that surprised and delighted me.

When I read the synopsis of this book, I thought, “what WOULD my last song be if I could choose?” And I almost immediately thought, Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” (or really anything from that album in particular). What a cool surprise that Colin Meloy of the Decemberists (the first musician featured) answered Astral Weeks. I mean, how awesome!

I definitely recommend this read for music lovers, I didn’t even know all of the musicians featured- nor did I recognize all of the “last songs”... But it was neat reading why people chose what they did. Very enjoyable book about an interesting concept and visually, it’s so pleasing!

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.