when kids die
Written by Ron Moses
Programming and vocal by Ron Moses
Single, produced by Ron Moses
I heard two similar news stories within a few days of each other, one about a group of boys who were found dead, and one about a group of girls, same deal. The difference in tone between the two stories inspired this song. The underlying assumption was that the boys were likely victims of their own misadventure, while the girls had almost certainly fallen victim to something more nefarious, probably sexual, definitely predatorial and male. I have no idea what happened to either group, but those assumptions were probably not far off.
At the time, I was living in one room of a shared condo, and all I had was my PC (with a spiffy Creative Sound Blaster sound card, remember those?), a dinky lapel microphone, and a MIDI program. That’s why it sounds like this, and I think it suits the material perfectly.
In retrospect, I might not have included the baby verse. I don’t want to trigger anyone’s trauma, you know? And the part about blaming the parents doesn’t quite ring true. But the song couldn’t exist without that verse, so there it is. And it’s all worth it for the teens verse, of which I shall be eternally proud.
When kids die
Other kids cry
Grown-ups cry
Everybody cries
When kids die
Dum de dum de dum
When boys die
People say, “Hmm.”
“Wonder what happened?”
“What were they doing?”
When boys die
When girls die
People flip out
“Who’s the sick fuck who killed those girls?”
When girls die
Dum de dum de dum
When a baby dies
People blame the parents
That’s pretty shitty but
Whadda ya gonna do?
When a baby dies
People pass laws
Some are misguided but
People don’t like it when a baby dies
Dum de dum de dum
When teens die
People say, “Drugs.”
They pick up frying pans
And make bad metaphors
When teens die
Dum de dum de dum
When kids die it’s really, really sad