Only the Young Die Good

Only the good die young.

A phrase immortalized as reverant folk knowledge and convenient song lyrics. But is this true? Or is it the other way around?

In my humble opinion, only the young can die good. Consider, if you will, some characters to which this adage would apply to. Look at the spectrum of modern music: Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, and Dimebag Darrell. Did they die young because they were good, talented muscians? Or were they only good because they died young? Consider their peers, Perry Farrell, Mick Jagger, any member of Jefferson Airplane, Pete Townshend, and Lars Ulrich. Today, they may be alive, but they are just not the men they used to be, losing their talent and spirit with age. They will die old and a shadow of their former selves, where their counterparts have died and will never be remembered beyond their days of glory.

And political and cultural figures: Ghandi, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Franz Ferdinand, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Harvey Milk. If these people had not died before their time, would they still be such treasured, fabled leaders? Would John F. Kennedy been tarnished by the quagmire of Vietnam? Would Abraham Lincoln been able to Reconstruct the Union after the devastating civil war? Would Frank Ferdinand been able to repair relations between the Serbs and Austria and avoided World War?

The simple answer is, somebody that dies young, remains young forever. They never grow old and lose their spirit, or their influence. They never lose their athletic ability, never lose their symbolism of the people they represent. They are worth more dead than alive because dieing in a blaze of glory is more memorable and meaningful than withering away and disappearing in the throughs of time.

Consider the countless men and women that die old, but because they faded into obscurity, their deaths aren't as meaningful. Charlie Wilson, Ronald Reagan, Walter Matthau, J.D. Salinger, countless upon countless others. And one day, everyone makes it there. With age, they lose their image, their shine, one day, every person falls from grace and fades in obscurity and dies. Or in death, they lose their life, but leave their memory in their place. Because only the young can die good.