I Didn't Know I Was Dead

In celebration/memory of Negativland co-founder Richard Lyons' April 19th birthday/death anniversary, we present a short new film by Alan Resnick (Adult Swim, Unedited Footage of a Bear, This House Has People In It) made to the Negativland track "I Didn't Know I Was Dead." The short stars Conner O’Malley (Late Night With Seth Myers) and Robby Rackleff (Adult Swim), and was produced by James Trevor.

The vocals for this track were recorded by Richard as he was dying from nodular melanoma, and were discovered by us after his death. Since the cancer affected his ability to speak, there was take after take of him reading his text as he tried to get through each sentence without slurring the words. The vocals were edited together posthumously by Negativland, and blended with our electronic sounds and The Weatherman's stomach noises. The words are from the point of view of a frightened Christian boy having a terrible dream, and reflect both Richard's own upbringing, his typically darker than dark sense of humor, and that he knew that he didn't have much longer to live. He died on his birthday, April 19, 2016.