“Perfect Way to Die” by Alicia Keys

In “Perfect Way to Die,” classically trained pianist and award-winning songwriter Alicia Keys laments the culture of police violence responsible for killing young Black men and women around the country. The video, which debuted at the BET Awards on June 28, opens to Keys playing piano at the center of a dark, empty cityscape, setting a somber tone for the first verse:

Simple walk to the corner store
Momma never thought she would be getting a call from the coroner
Said her son’s been gunned down, been gunned down
“Can you come now?”
Tears in her eyes, “Can you calm down?
Please, ma’am, can you calm down?”

What makes this story so devastating is the fact that it’s not unique. Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in central Florida in 2012, on his way home from the 7-Eleven with a bag of Skittles. Eighteen-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, after leaving a convenience store in 2014. And Elijah McClain, 23, died after being placed in a carotid hold by police in Aurora, Colorado and injected with a lethal dose of ketamine last year, following a visit to a corner store to pick up an iced tea for his brother. In the chorus, Keys, herself a mother of two, employs her throaty vocals to express the grief experienced by Black women who’ve lost their sons to such systemic violence:

Baby, don’t you close your eyes
This could be our final time
And you know I’m horrible at saying goodbye
And I think of all you could’ve done
At least you’ll stay forever young
I guess you’ve picked the perfect way to die
Ooh, I guess you picked the perfect way to die

No Perfect Way to Die

While the title may create some cognitive dissonance, Keys explained in a statement that it’s not meant to be taken literally, but rather as a powerful indictment of the injustice faced by those “murdered because of the system of racism that looks at Black life as unworthy.”

Credit: aliciakeys.com

Keys, who began studying piano at age 7 and signed to Columbia Records at 15, later negotiated her way out of the contract to forge her own path and honor her artistic integrity. Since then, she’s become one of the Recording Industry Association of America’s bestselling artists and has won 15 Grammy Awards. Even so, the R&B legend says that for her, this song marks a new turn: “I have felt called by music like I never have before,” Keys wrote on the YouTube page for the official video. “I have been following its lead. It has led me to the song ‘Perfect Way to Die.'”

Interspersed between her haunting vocals and jazz-inspired piano, Keys gazes up at colorful murals of those killed by police, including Sandra Bland and George Floyd. The bright yellows, reds and blues of their portraits contrast sharply with the shadowy nature of her surroundings — as though she’s bringing them back to life, if only for a moment.

You can watch the official music video for “Perfect Way To Die” below.