Despite the achievements accrued during their life, the profundity of someone's last spoken words is not guaranteed. The final utterances of Nostradamus ("Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here." Well, duh!) and Winston Churchill ("I'm bored with it all") both lack the gravitas for which they were known. For a lucky few, however, their final words become an apt summation of their personalities (Steve Jobs: "Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow"; Oscar Wilde: "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do"; Archimedes: "Don't disturb my circles!").

There is an expectation that rock stars, many of whom have spent their lives penning couplets that eloquently describe the wealth of human experience, will expel a nugget of wise poeticism in their final breaths. But, as Jeremy Simmonds writes in the recently reissued Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns and Ham Sandwiches: "When the final moment does arrive, even the most articulate can struggle to find the right words."

Clinical psychologist Dr Linda Blair believes circumstance is a dictating factor in how deep and meaningful one gets. "It's about whether you know you're going to go or not. If you do, your last words are more likely to impart something with perspective and serenity. If you don't, they are more likely to be a random snapshot of where you are at that moment and time."

So while George Harrison, Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain may have left us with something atypically thoughtful, others, such as Adam Faith and Amy Winehouse, were less inspired.

Bo Diddley: "I'm goin' to heaven! I'm comin' home."

Amy Winehouse (on Twitter): "Oinka Oinka Oinka why you awake."

Terry Kath (Chicago guitarist who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound): "Don't worry – it's not loaded, see?"

Michael Jackson: "I'd like to have some milk. Please, please give me some more."

Cozy Powell (rock drummer who died in a car crash while on the phone to his girlfriend): "Oh shit …"

Kurt Cobain: "I don't have the passion any more, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away. Peace, love, empathy."

Barry White (to his nurse): "Leave me alone, I'm fine."

George Harrison: "Love one another."

Bob Marley: "Money can't buy life."

Layne Staley (Alice in Chains singer): "Don't leave me like this."

Bing Crosby: "That was a great game of golf fellas!"

Marvin Gaye: "Father hates me and I'm never coming back."

"Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (shot onstage in Ohio): "Van Halen!"

Whitney Houston: "I'm going to go and see Jesus."

Tupac Shakur: "Me? You're the one shot in the motherfuckin' head!"

Jimi Hendrix: "I need help bad, man."

James Brown: "I'm going away tonight."

Adam Faith: "Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there."