Death & what remains

If you had only one day left to live, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid doing?

54 answers answered between 2008 and 2026

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Alex Paterson Musician; co-founder of the Orb
I’d look for the mad amusement park on the base of Mount Fuji and take a few rides in there, and then whisk myself off very, very, very quickly on a jet cos it’s gonna be a long day. I’m thinking of getting stuck up in the Himalayas, but then that just gives me another mountain and you’re gonna think I’m a bit of a mountain freak. Where would I go? Not the pyramids! I’d like to get a plane from Japan to Petra in Syria, which is a little city that’s in the desert; it’s quite famous, it’s all made out of sand, like carved out of the desert. While I’m flying I’d like to catch up on the last few books of Philip K. Dick, then I’d come to my flat in London for lunch, say my goodbyes to my dear friends and family, pick up my two children and leave. I’d steal a tank and drive it up to Heathrow. I wouldn’t mind giving my girlfriend one in the middle of Parliament Square whilst shouting out, ‘It’s in the name of art!’ Then I’d nick a Concorde and fly to Arizona whilst having a wet shave and a top massage.

Recorded Clash, Swan Song, 9 September 2009 source ↗

Jean-Jacques Burnel Bass guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Stranglers
I would like to tie up all my loose ends – whatever they may be – and to wreak revenge on all of the people that I still need to wreak revenge on. It’s not very nice I know, but it’s my last day so I can do what I want! Revenge is a dish best served cold so it can sometimes take on a physical form, but I’ll see how the mood takes me..

Recorded Clash, Last Day On Earth, 15 March 2010 source ↗

Gary Kemp Songwriter, musician and actor; guitarist of Spandau Ballet
There’s always a lyric to finish. They hang around, and I think it would be awful to go without tidying those up.

Recorded Clash, Last Day On Earth, 28 January 2011 source ↗

Philip Oakey Singer and songwriter; frontman of the Human League
I would like to have read all the novels of Charles Dickens. My dad always said he was the best novelist in the English language, and I think I should work out if he was right or not. He usually was right about those things.

Recorded Clash, Last Day On Earth, 26 April 2011 source ↗

Rick Astley Singer, songwriter and radio presenter
I think I’d just like to be chilling out really, so it’s like real summer family holidays where the most important things to decide are what are you going to have for breakfast, what are you going to have for lunch, what beach are you going to, and what are you going to have for dinner.

Recorded Clash, Swan Song, 21 December 2016 source ↗

David Guetta French DJ
I guess I would wake up, have breakfast with my children. Then I’d go to the studio and make the best record of my life, and then have a lot of sex! That sounds pretty balanced, I think!

Recorded Clash, Swan Song, 9 March 2018 source ↗

No, I’m completely out of reading scripts. This has become a surreal experience. My days are unpredictable. I used to think my life would be like that, but I could never practice unpredictability and spontaneity. That has happened now. I don’t plan. I go for breakfast and then I don’t have a plan. I take things as they come. That has been really helping me a lot. I don’t make plans. I’m just spontaneous. And I’m loving this experience. There was something missing in my life. I was feeling a little manipulated by myself, by my own mind. There was a kind of disharmony in myself. It was bothering me. And I think this is what I was missing, this spontaneity. I know because we live in a world that is packed with plans, it sounds unrealistic. How could you live your life like that? But life is so mysterious and has so much to offer, we don’t really try things. And I’m trying and I’m loving it. I’m in a really fortunate state.

Recorded Lindsey Bahr, Telephone interview from hospital in London, The Associated Press, 1 August 2018 source ↗

Shaggy Reggae musician
I would like to achieve a sense of happiness. My life is so full right now, and so fast-paced – and it always had – so that day would be a day of doing nothing. Just messing around with my daughters, and my wife, and my sons. Just fun.

Recorded Clash, Swan Song, 27 May 2020 source ↗

Cate Blanchett Actor and producer
I guess dancing up a storm in the living room with my husband and children, and the farmer from across the way. Man, that farmer can dance.

Recorded Catherine Shoard, Don't Look Up press questionnaire, The Guardian, 9 December 2021 source ↗

Tyler Perry Filmmaker, actor and playwright
I would stop working out right away. I wouldn’t lift another weight, I wouldn’t run another mile. I would sit on my ass and eat as many cookies as I could find.

Recorded Catherine Shoard, Don't Look Up press questionnaire, The Guardian, 9 December 2021 source ↗

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