When You Die Explained

When You Die
Cover:When_you_die.jpg
Type:single
Artist:MGMT
Album:Little Dark Age
Released:December 12, 2017
Recorded:2017
Length:4:23
Label:Columbia
Chronology:MGMT
Prev Title:Little Dark Age
Prev Year:2017
Next Title:Hand It Over
Next Year:2018

"When You Die" is a song by American pop and rock band MGMT, and the second single from the band's fourth studio album Little Dark Age. It was released worldwide on December 12, 2017, through Columbia Records.

Recording

The song was recorded in 2017. It was co-written by Ariel Pink, who also plays guitar on the song.[1]

Artwork

The song's artwork is based on an illustration in The Heart of Man; Either a Temple of God, or a Habitation of Satan; Represented in Ten Emblematical Figures, an 1851 book by German religious figure Johannes Evangelista Gossner.

Music video

The music video was directed by Mike Burakoff and Hallie Cooper-Novack, and was released on December 12, 2017 through The New Yorker along with the audio release. The video stars Alex Karpovsky and Lucy Kaminsky, with Karpovsky playing a failing magician that appears to die and watch his death through a psychedelic trip presumably in purgatory.[2]

The video has been viewed 29 million times through the band's official Vevo account on YouTube.[3]

Personnel

MGMT

Additional Personnel

Notes and References

  1. https://genius.com/Mgmt-when-you-die-lyrics MGMT – When You Die
  2. Web site: Gordon. Arielle. 2017-12-12. MGMT – "When You Die". SPIN.
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmozGmGoJuw MGMT – When You Die