I WANT TO DIE WHILE YOU LOVE ME – The Vampire's Wife

Part of the Harlem Renaissance, Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880 –1966) wrote this ebullient honouring of love and life, I Want To Die While You Love Me. Her most celebrated poem was read at her funeral. Wonderful! Love Susie. x

I Want To Die While You Love Me

I want to die while you love me,

While yet you hold me fair,

While laughter lies upon my lips

And lights are in my hair.

I want to die while you love me,

And bear to that still bed,

Your kisses turbulent, unspent

To warm me when I’m dead.

I want to die while you love me

Oh, who would care to live

Till love has nothing more to ask

And nothing more to give?

I want to die while you love me

And never, never see

The glory of this perfect day

Grow dim or cease to be!

By Georgia Douglas Johnson

THE CARNIVAL IS OVER

I have just a simple song for you all from 1967, all the way from Australia (where my husband is), by The Seekers. I love this song, melancholy but so stirring, and Judith Durham, dressed in what looks like something from the archives of The Vampire’s Wife, is so touching. It is a song full of tears about the end of things and love’s enduring presence. We adore this song here at The Vampire’s Wife.

TIME AFTER TIME, LITTLE JIMMY SCOTT

Look at this heart-breaking piece of film of Little Jimmy Scott singing Time After Time and giving his thoughts on what a song is meant to be. He is a vast talent and a beautiful man; we met him at my husband’s Meltdown Festival in London in 1999.

TO DIE BY YOUR SIDE

I heard this wonderful version of The Smiths classic song "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by the brilliantly ebullient Dum Dum Girls on the DJ Lonny’s amazing Cover to Cover on Radio Lewes this week. What a great show! What a superb song! What a joyful cover! ‘To die by your side is pleasure and a privilege’ indeed!