When he was a kid he’d visit his grandpa a lot.
He was a funny old man who was always playing the old six inch vinyls on his equally old machine. He was a great fan of Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Buddy was a popular rock and roll singer from the fifties. His favourite song was ‘That’ll Be The Day’. Unfortunately, because it had been played so often it ended up getting scratched. Every time it got to the part where he sings, ‘Cause that’ll be the day, when I die’, the needle started jumping, and the phrase, ‘when I die’, just keeps repeating over and over. Whenever this happened, the old man would pretend to jump, as though he wasn’t expecting it. He’d say, “Oh! No!” and go over to it and give the needle a tap. The boy would laugh at this performance and the old man would laugh with him.
That was a good while ago now, and his grandpa has long since passed away.
As for the whole phrase, it just doesn’t bring happiness any more.