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I recently came across an educational computer game called "The End".  The game was developed by UK broadcaster Channel 4, specifically their C4 education branch.   Channel 4 commissioned the software developer Preloaded to write the program, geared specifically to 14-19 year olds.  The game also just earned a BIMA Award for "Best Game" this month.

The producer Charles Batho says, "The End sets out to level the playing field, presenting a variety of views about life and mortality from famous thinkers of our time. It's not a non-religious game, just philosophical"

I found it interesting that in designing the game, the producers actually interviewed 14 - 19 year olds, asking them about death, even having them draw out their ideal funeral.

The game starts after you design your own character. In the first moments in suburbia, a meteor falls from the sky and your character is whisked into the afterlife. There are several objectives at hand, as you explore 3 different worlds.  First is to collect "death objects", you do this by playing logic games at the end of each level.  There are also quotes about death and living by famous people interspersed throughout the level.

The level itself is peaceful. The character walks and jumps around collecting stars and light. No worries if you fall off a cliff, your character is already dead, so you get as many re-trys as you want.

A sub theme to this game is self identity. There are yes/no questions in each level that you must answer. These questions are purely personality driven, for example, "Is it possible to be happy simply living in the moment?" and "Would you still be yourself if your mind was put into another body?"

Each question you answer gives a more accurate plotting on something called the Death Dial.  This aligns your personality with other famous thinkers.  These questions then become a conversation piece as those who play the game can ask others what their philosophy is.

The best news- the game is free.  You can play it this moment at http://playtheend.com/game

For such a heavy topic the developers did a good job making something approachable, fun, and slipping in a little philosophy as well.

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If you ever write a 9 minute song you would hope it would be a good one. There are only a few 9 minute plus songs in my song collection but "The Trapeze Swinger" by Iron and Wine is one that stands out. If you have any familiarity with it you may remember it from the end credit sequence in the moderately memorable movie "In Good Company."

Hypnotically repetitive, I would occasionally put this song on repeat to fall asleep to when I lived alone during my palliative medicine fellowship (and my wife had to be in another city for her fellowship.) At first I took the 'please, remember me' line to be more about my long-distance relationship with my wife, but as I continued to listen to it falling asleep after long days of being surrounded by dying people at the hospice house the meaning clearly evolved.

Since the song is so long go ahead and start listening to it as you read the rest of this post.


Iron and Wine is really a one man band led by Samuel Bean. The simple strong structure repeats through the song with little accents placed on each verse by different instruments or Bean's voice. The back and forth nature of the song structure reminds me of being at the beach watching the waves come crashing in and then slowly recede.

The intro begins with soft wind chimes and what sounds like sea shells or a rain stick followed by the basic guitar melody and a chorus of 'oohhh-ohhhhhs.' As the song advances we hear a ton of different instruments: slide guitar, bass guitar, wood blocks, tom toms, percussive metal, an organ played in reverse, tympani drums, upright bass (around 4:53 - my favorite part!), a song played in reverse, piano, and finally a toy whistle. All of these instruments begin to layer into an increasingly complex sound. I can't imagine being the sound mixer on this song!

The lyrics obviously focus on a theme of rememberence and like the instrumentation the repetitive nature allows for different takes on the same theme. here are the first lines of all the verses laid together.

Please, remember me happily
But please, remember me fondly
And please, remember me that Halloween
So please, remember me mistakenly
And please, remember me as in the dream
But please, remember me, my misery
And please, remember me seldomly
So please, remember me finally

The perspective of the dying person wanting to instruct those still alive on how to keep the memory (and the legacy) alive is commonly seen in hospice and palliative care. How we as friends, family or staff enhance or suppress this legacy building is not often talked about as openly as this song manages. How would caring for a person who is dying be different if we spent some time with them asking how they would like to be remembered?

There are many religious references in the song, but each of them comes with a little bit of the singer's reality. Imagining the heaven with obscene graffiti, or rushed angels who want to get all the new souls through the door place an potentially unknowable realm in earthly terms.

Overall, Bean gives us a bit of poetry mixed with american folk and indie pop that allows you to discover a little something new with each listen. Please share any lines in this song stand out the most to you.

Lyrics by Iron and Wine (aka Samuel Bean) 2004

Please, remember me happily
By the rosebush laughing
With bruises on my chin, the time when
We counted every black car passing
Your house beneath the hill
And up until someone caught us in the kitchen
With maps, a mountain range, a piggy bank
A vision too removed to mention

But please, remember me fondly
I heard from someone you're still pretty
And then they went on to say
That the pearly gates
Had some eloquent graffiti
Like "We'll meet again" and "Fuck the man"
And "Tell my mother not to worry"
And angels with their great handshakes
Were always done in such a hurry

And please, remember me that Halloween
Making fools of all the neighbors
Our faces painted white
By midnight, we'd forgotten one another
And when the morning came I was ashamed
Only now it seems so silly
That season left the world and then returned
And now you're lit up by the city

So please, remember me mistakenly
In the window of the tallest tower
Calling passers-by but much too high
To see the empty road at happy hour
Gleam and resonate, just like the gates
Around the holy kingdom
With words like "Lost and found" and "Don't look down"
And "Someone save temptation"

And please, remember me as in the dream
We had as rug-burned babies
Among the fallen trees and fast asleep
Aside the lions and the ladies
That called you what you like and even might
Give a gift for your behavior
A fleeting chance to see a trapeze
Swinger high as any savior

But please, remember me, my misery
And how it lost me all I wanted
Those dogs that love the rain and chasing trains
The colored birds above their running
In circles around the well and where it spells
On the wall behind St. Peter
So bright, on cinder gray, in spray paint
"Who the hell can see forever?"

And please, remember me seldomly
In the car behind the carnival
My hand between your knees, you turned from me
And said, "The trapeze act was wonderful
But never meant to last", the clown that passed
Saw me just come up with anger
When it filled with circus dogs, the parking lot
Had an element of danger

So please, remember me finally
And all my uphill clawing
My dear, but if I make the pearly gates
I'll do my best to make a drawing
Of God and Lucifer, a boy and girl
An angel kissing on a sinner
A monkey and a man, a marching band
All around a frightened trapeze swinger

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Time again to pick a theme and look at some contemporary artwork that deals with it. Having just posted about digital afterlife, I began looking for current artists' material on the subject.

As with the topic of "pain" art, the idea of "afterlife" is very subjective. If anything, these works all have a bit of the surreal to them. As they should; unlike pain, none of us has been able to live through what comes after life and then document it from personal experience. These are works of the imagination, and so being, can be playful at times.

This first image entitled "Afterlife" is a mixed media piece by Donald McIntosh. There is a body on the left, separated from the complicated gears/machine like area on the right.


I came across an art site on the web that chooses themes for their artists to contribute to. They actually have an entire art pack dedicated to the theme "afterlife". The site is called Slashtree, and of those in the collection, I've picked out my two favorites to display. The first is the piece entitled "Afterlife" by Maciej Mizer. A link to the full image here shows how detailed this work is. A very imaginative creation with people, homes, castles, hot air balloons and even a McDonald's sign.



This next work from Slashtree, although not entitled "afterlife", asks the question behind the concept. The title of this work is "What will it be?" by Dominik. The subject in this work swings or dances, giving the viewer a sense that the answer to the question is at least playful and nothing to be scared of.



Finally, a bronze sculpture entitled "Afterlife Afterthought" (2005) by artist Emil Alzamora. This 8 foot structure to me depicts the out-of-body concept so many people speak about in near death experiences. Both images are of the same piece.

Just a small representation of contemporary works contemplating afterlife. In the future we'll look at some historical works of art with the same theme. As you can imagine the historical works have quite a different approach.