The Livin; & The Dyin'

The Livin' & The Dyin', also known as I Keep Looking, is a former mysterious song. It was written by Jim Dawson and recorded in 1974, and released in 1975. It is the first track on Dawson's 1975 album Elephants In The Rain.

Internet Resurfacing and Solving
The first known mention of the hunt is from December 30, 2006 when user ottertrack asked for the identification on inthe00s.com. This post didn't have a sound clip and didn't get much attention.A 30-second snippet of the end of the track was uploaded to WatZatSong by the same user on July 8th, 2017. Ottertrack recorded the song on a Chicago-area radio station, probably WBBM or WXRT. After realizing that WatZatSong limits clips to 30 seconds, ottertrack provided a longer, 38-second clip on November 2nd 2020. Another breakthrough was reached when ottertrack then provided a digital version of the whole tape, including a higher quality copy of the snippet.

The song gained legendary status when it was identified by Steve Hoffman Forums user SteelyNJ on January 2nd, 2021.

This song's solving was very similar to On The Roof, by Johan Lindell. After the artist name was discovered, it was also discovered that the song was available in full online the whole time, on Dawson's website. The website's lyrics section is broken, so there was no way to find it without knowing who the song was by.

When contacted about the mystery regarding his song after it had been solved, Jim was very gracious and delighted that his song had attracted many listeners.

Lyrics
[Verse 1]

I keep lookin' for that sunset

I don't know where it will be

And I don't even know if I will ever get to see

If I have spent my time here right or wrong

I do not know

I just keep on

[Verse 2]

Keep right on a-tryin'

'Cause it seems there's nothin' more

I keep right on a-hopin'

That my ship will reach the shore

And find the land we were supposed to be

I do not know

We'll have to see

[Chorus]

'Cause it's all a part of the livin'

And it's all a part of the dyin'

And it's all a part of the meanin' of it all

Sometimes we can hear the laughin'

And sometimes we can hеar the cryin'

'Cause we arе a part of it all

[Verse 3]

There's a feelin' that's inside of me

That is hard to understand

I don't know where it came from

But I love this weary land

And everything that you and I could be

(Part of it all, part of it all)

I do not know

We'll have to see

[Chorus]

'Cause it's all a part of the livin'

And it's all a part of the dyin'

And it's all a part of the meanin' of it all

Sometimes we're a part of the laughin'

And sometimes we're a part of the cryin'

'Cause we are a part of it all

[Bridge]

Where is the land we were supposed to be?

(Where is the land we were supposed to be?)

I do not know

But I wanna see

[Chorus]

'Cause it's all a part of the livin'

And it's all a part of the dyin'

And it's all a part of the meanin' of it all

Sometimes we're a part of the laughin'

And sometimes we're a part of the cryin'

We are a part of it all

[Outro]

I keep lookin' for that sunset

I don't know where it will be