When I Was Done Dying
| "When I Was Done Dying" | |
|---|---|
 Promotional CD cover | |
| Song by Dan Deacon | |
| from the album Gliss Riffer | |
| Released | February 24, 2015 |
| Length | 4:18[1] |
| Songwriter | Dan Deacon |
| Producer | Dan Deacon |
| Music video | |
| DDWIWDD (Dan Deacon “When I Was Done Dying”) on YouTube | |
"When I Was Done Dying" is a song by American composer and electronic musician Dan Deacon, which appeared as the third track on his 2015 studio album Gliss Riffer.[2]
Background and lyrics
The song was inspired by Deacon losing his voice in January 2014. He came to consider how the human voice is "an instrument that expires", which made him reflect on how his body, memory and consciousness are "entirely separate and constantly changing", and how changes in mood could involve an interplay between the three.[3]
Ayaan Paul Chowdhury of The Hindu described the song as a "surreal meditation on death, rebirth, and everything in between" and as Deacon's breakout hit.[4] In an article for Consequence, Michelle Geslani called the song "trippy" and "aqueous".[5] Max Savage Levenson of KQED wrote that the song is "sung in a clear voice" and "marks a distinct shift in Deacon’s approach to songwriting".[6]
Music video
The music video was released on March 24, 2015 as a special feature of the psychedelic anthology television series Off the Air, which aired on the Adult Swim programming block. Directed by series creator Dave Hughes, the video was produced in an exquisite corpse format involving nine different creators: Jake Fried, Chad VanGaalen, Caleb Wood, Hiraoka Masanobu, Colin White, Dmitri Stankowicz, Anthony Francisco Schepperd, Kokofreakbean and Taras Hrabowsky.[7][8] Deacon liked the idea that the lyrics, which are in past tense, are "some casual body telling other casual bodies this story at some party deep beyond the ether of the astral plane", which led the video to be structured as a sequence of works by several visual artists.[3] VanGaalen's segment was inspired by The Incal, a graphic novel written by Alejandro Jodorowsky and illustrated by Jean Giraud, in creating a "quasi future/retro world of creatures and technology".[7]
The video is described by The Absolute Mag as a "surreal journey through the afterlife".[9] Vice compared the video to "stepping into a whirlpool of imaginary 2D and 3D worlds".[7] The video has been viewed over ten million times on YouTube.[10]
In other media
"When I Was Done Dying" was featured in the ninth episode of the first season of the German science fiction television series Dark.[11] It also plays during the opening credits of the HBO docuseries The Dark Wizard (2026), which chronicles the life of Dean Potter.[12][13]
References
- ↑ "Gliss Riffer - Album by Dan Deacon". Apple Music. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
- ↑ Dan Deacon: Gliss Riffer Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic, retrieved August 21, 2026
- 1 2 "OFF THE AIR - Dan Deacon". Tumblr. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ Chowdhury, Ayaan Paul (September 10, 2025). "Dan Deacon interview: On HBO's 'Task' and the dazzling melancholia of 'When I Was Done Dying'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ Geslani, Michelle (March 24, 2015). "Dan Deacon shares trippy video for "When I Was Done Dying"". Consequence. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ Levenson, Max Savage (April 4, 2016). "Listen In: Dan Deacon, 'When I Was Done Dying'". KQED. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Chung, Becky (April 1, 2015). "What We Learned From the Animators of Dan Deacon's "When I Was Done Dying" Music Video". VICE. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ Minsker, Evan (March 24, 2015). "Dan Deacon Shares "When I Was Done Dying" Animated Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
- ↑ "Dan Deacon's "When I Was Done Dying" for Adult Swim's Off the Air". The Absolute Mag. Retrieved August 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Dan Deacon brings life to his experimental sounds with Soundtoys". Soundtoys. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
- ↑ ""Dark" Alles ist jetzt (TV Episode 2017) - Soundtracks". IMDb. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
- ↑ Deacon, Dan (April 29, 2026). "'The Dark Wizard'". Retrieved August 21, 2026 – via Instagram.
- ↑ Mangalindan, J. P. (April 14, 2026). "The True Story Behind HBO's Extreme Climbing Documentary 'The Dark Wizard'". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved August 21, 2026.