Author Archives: llivelymusic

Together we grieve, on Benedict October’s heart-wrenching alternative pop ballad ‘Beautiful Way To Die’.

‘Beautiful Way To Die’ is best described as the turning point on Benedict October’s new album ‘And then the ocean’. “It was written in the week my father died. The song describes the scene and mood in that week. Autumn 2020, COVID-19, a newly built house, a family and a man who wasn’t ready to die yet.”

“My father always had this dream to build his own house. When he was 68 he was finally given the opportunity to do so. He was already a little sick at that time. After undergoing heart surgery in January he was slowly recovering from it that spring. Or at least that was the plan. At the same time he was working on his dream of a new house. One where he and his loving wife could live for at least another 10 years with a garden with flowers and a big table for family dinners with grandchildren running through the garden.”

“In the year the house was built he got more and more sick. One day I was working in the studio on new music when my mom called me to tell me dad had been hospitalised. A month going back and forth between home and the hospital followed. He didn’t want to give up, and got a little cranky. Who wouldn’t? As long as he was fighting, we were fighting… But what can you do?”

“After a month in the hospital he wanted to go home. He wanted to go to the house he built and die in peace at a place where he felt safe. It took less than 24 hours before he passed away. My mom, sister and I were sitting around the bed holding his hands. It was 3.30am when he shared his last breath with us, in the living room of his own built house. At that moment I saw one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. As if someone pulled away some grey thin overlay sheet from all the way down to his toes, all the way to over his head. It was as tragic as it was beautiful. It was a beautiful way to die.”