Dead Lyrics – Dead Outlaw
Dead Lyrics
Jeb Brown & Erik Della Penna
[BANDLEADER]
You're born with nothin'
Your cheeks are apple dumplings
The air, the water
There's somethin' more you're wantin'
The milk, the sugar
Outside you, there's a name, and
You came with nothin'
You'll leave here just the same, but
[ERIK]
Between the dark and the dark is
The voice you're always hearin'
Some crazy auctioneer is yellin' at you, and
You walk, you run
You flee the dark, you see the sun
And every brick you ever laid will crumble away
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Your daddy's dead!
[ERIK]
Your brother's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
And so are you!
[ERIK]
Abe Lincoln's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Frank James, dead!
[ERIK]
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
And so are you, and so are you, woo!
[BANDLEADER]
Your adolescence
Was just unopened presents
You drank the liquor
That made it all go quicker
Those dead ancestors
You had to make an exit
You went and found a bottle
And now your face reflects it
[ERIK]
And so you fail with failures
And you confront your rivals
Who stand there, armed with bibles, pointin' at you, and
You plot, you scheme
You had a chance, had a dream
Couldn't get a witness, now you stand here today
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
John Gotti's dead!
[ERIK]
Dillinger's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
And so are you!
[ERIK]
Balzac is dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Tupac is dead!
[ERIK]
Anne Frank is dead!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
And so are you, and so are you!
I've been a pilgrim on the road from coast to coast
I look around and all I seen was hungry ghosts
Dead-end and spinnin' on the gravel road to hell
I know the drill, cause I'm one of them as well
[ERIK]
Your wild desire
And all you must acquire
More love, more money
But don't you find it funny
[BANDLEADER]
That still, you're hungry?
In fact, you're really famished
The craving and the panic
Until the day you've vanished
[ERIK]
You just keep pushing pushers
You just keep cheating cheaters
Like those religious leaders tell you to do
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
So you kick, you scream
You hear the graduation theme
Jehovah calls your name and then she takes you away
[ERIK]
Babe Ruth is dead!
George Custer's dead!
Black Elk is dead!
And so are you!
[BANDLEADER]
Joe Young is dead!
Bert Convy's dead!
Glenn Gould is dead!
And so are you!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
Your mama's dead!
Your daddy's dead!
They’re all just dead!
And so are you!
Look at them, dead!
Look at me, dead!
Look at you, dead!
And so are you, and so are you, oh!
You're born with nothin'
Your cheeks are apple dumplings
The air, the water
There's somethin' more you're wantin'
The milk, the sugar
Outside you, there's a name, and
You came with nothin'
You'll leave here just the same, but
[ERIK]
Between the dark and the dark is
The voice you're always hearin'
Some crazy auctioneer is yellin' at you, and
You walk, you run
You flee the dark, you see the sun
And every brick you ever laid will crumble away
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Your daddy's dead!
[ERIK]
Your brother's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
And so are you!
[ERIK]
Abe Lincoln's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Frank James, dead!
[ERIK]
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
And so are you, and so are you, woo!
[BANDLEADER]
Your adolescence
Was just unopened presents
You drank the liquor
That made it all go quicker
Those dead ancestors
You had to make an exit
You went and found a bottle
And now your face reflects it
[ERIK]
And so you fail with failures
And you confront your rivals
Who stand there, armed with bibles, pointin' at you, and
You plot, you scheme
You had a chance, had a dream
Couldn't get a witness, now you stand here today
Your mama's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
John Gotti's dead!
[ERIK]
Dillinger's dead!
[BANDLEADER]
And so are you!
[ERIK]
Balzac is dead!
[BANDLEADER]
Tupac is dead!
[ERIK]
Anne Frank is dead!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
And so are you, and so are you!
I've been a pilgrim on the road from coast to coast
I look around and all I seen was hungry ghosts
Dead-end and spinnin' on the gravel road to hell
I know the drill, cause I'm one of them as well
[ERIK]
Your wild desire
And all you must acquire
More love, more money
But don't you find it funny
[BANDLEADER]
That still, you're hungry?
In fact, you're really famished
The craving and the panic
Until the day you've vanished
[ERIK]
You just keep pushing pushers
You just keep cheating cheaters
Like those religious leaders tell you to do
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
So you kick, you scream
You hear the graduation theme
Jehovah calls your name and then she takes you away
[ERIK]
Babe Ruth is dead!
George Custer's dead!
Black Elk is dead!
And so are you!
[BANDLEADER]
Joe Young is dead!
Bert Convy's dead!
Glenn Gould is dead!
And so are you!
[BANDLEADER & ERIK]
Your mama's dead!
Your daddy's dead!
They’re all just dead!
And so are you!
Look at them, dead!
Look at me, dead!
Look at you, dead!
And so are you, and so are you, oh!
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Featuring: Jeb Brown & Erik Della Penna
- Producers: David Yazbek & Dean Sharenow
- Writers: David Yazbek & Erik Della Penna
- Release Date: May 2, 2025
- Album: Dead Outlaw (Original Broadway Cast Recording, Part 1)
- Track #: 2
- Genre: Country, Musical Theatre
- Language: English
- Style: Satirical Western hymn, punk-country blend
Song Meaning and Annotations
Graveyard Gospel for a Nation of Ghosts
Where "Ballad" whispered to the heavens, "Dead" smashes a tambourine against your ribcage and shouts into the void. A savage spiritual with banjo bones and gallows humor, this song is the hoedown at your own funeral — and the preacher's drunk.You're born with nothin' / Your cheeks are apple dumplingsThis opening yanks you from the womb with a wink. There’s tenderness here, sure, but it's laced with sarcasm. You arrive pure, empty, sweet — but that won’t last.
Outside you, there's a name, and / You came with nothin' / You'll leave here just the sameThis cyclical fatalism becomes the skeleton key of the song. Life is an interlude between two silences. And everyone — from Tupac to Anne Frank, Balzac to your mom — ends up under the same dirt. The chorus is a chant, a dirge, and a listicle of death:
Your mama's dead! / Your daddy's dead! / And so are you!It’s morbid, sure, but laced with gleeful chaos. Like a gospel choir at a zombie apocalypse.
Your adolescence / Was just unopened presentsNow that's a metaphor. A bitter gift of missed potential. The past is full of boxes you'll never unwrap — innocence lost not in violence, but in neglect.
You drank the liquor / That made it all go quickerThe outlaw's descent is fast and furious, fueled by trauma and temptation. It paints addiction not as rebellion, but as routine — like brushing your teeth with whiskey.
So you kick, you scream / You hear the graduation themeGraduation as death’s soundtrack? That’s biting. It mocks our societal rituals while placing them side-by-side with oblivion.
Look at them, dead! / Look at me, dead! / Look at you, dead!The final crescendo collapses into madness. The song text stops trying to be clever — it just shouts the truth. We’re all ghosts. Some just don’t know it yet.
Similar Songs
- "Hellfire" – *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (Disney)
Both songs externalize internal torment with theatrical bombast. "Dead" might wear cowboy boots, but its soul is just as haunted and theatrical as Frollo’s biblical flame-licked aria. - "Bitch of Living" – *Spring Awakening*
Teenage angst meets philosophical doom. These songs both turn hormonal chaos into existential crises, though “Dead” adds more tombstones and less mascara. - "Dead Man’s Curve" – Jan & Dean
This 1960s cautionary tale has the same obsession with fatalism. Swap the drag race for a bullet-ridden past, and the thematic bones align: speed, danger, inevitable demise.
Questions and Answers
- What is the message of “Dead”?
- It’s a darkly comic anthem about mortality, futility, and the equalizing power of death — delivered with country grit and theatrical punch.
- Who are the people named in the song?
- From Anne Frank to Tupac to George Custer, they span history, politics, art, and crime — reinforcing the idea that fame or infamy can’t outlive mortality.
- Is this song sad or funny?
- Both. It's gallows humor turned into a hootenanny. You’re laughing at how bleak it is — and maybe crying a little, too.
- How does this song fit in the musical?
- It introduces the show’s core theme — that death is inescapable, but also strangely liberating. It sets the tone for a musical that’s as morbid as it is irreverent.
- Why repeat “your mama’s dead” so often?
- It’s both personal and universal — a gut-punch reminder that everyone loses someone. It creates a rhythm of grief that’s shared by the living and the dead alike.
Fan and Media Reactions
"This is like if Johnny Cash and Tom Waits wrote a musical while trapped in a haunted saloon." — TheatreGhostTown
"I didn’t know I needed a gospel-punk elegy until this track grabbed me by the throat." — YouTube User: GraveGroover95
"‘Your mama’s dead’ hit me like a slap — then I was laughing. Then crying. Then dancing?" — Viewer: HarmonicaJones
"The most upbeat song about death I’ve ever heard. Wildly original." — BroadwayBarbecue
"It’s raw, raucous, and totally irreverent. I already want to stage it in a graveyard." — MusicalTheatreMayhem
Music video
Dead Outlaw Lyrics: Song List
- Ballad
- Dead
- Normal
- Killed a Man in Maine
- Dead (reprise)
- Nobody Knows Your Name
- Blowin' It Up
- Indian Train
- Leave Me Be
- A Stranger
- Something From Nothing
- Our Dear Brother
- Somethin' 'Bout a Mummy
- Andy Payne
- Somethin' 'Bout a Mummy (reprise)
- Millicent's Song
- Nobody Knows Your Name (reprise)
- Up to the Stars
- Our Dear Brother (reprise)
- Crimson Thread
- Dead (Finale)