@468 Sorry, your question might be closed as off-topic. The fact is that lyricists don't follow the conventional grammar rules and sometimes they use archaic language. All they think about is "How to make it sound good?" not grammar.

@user178049, let's be constructive, there are acceptable ranges which permit certain violations, what are they?

I think the situation is more complex. There is grammar happening here, it just isn't standard English. There are some rules about which rules can be broken. Or how far they can be broken before the lyrics become gibberish. Learners should not use lyrics as models of spoken English, because they do bend and break the "rules"

@JamesK looks like you know a better place for questions like this one, what are they?

No, here is on topic. On Linguistics or ELU it might be too broad.

@user178049 the main help page doesn't mention that ell.stackexchange.com/help/search?q=lyrics, besides it's a place for learners to ask questions, so here we are

@468 I understand your frustration. But I don't think lyrics are best reference for studying English. They don't follow the correct grammar. I suggest you read a lot of academic books; that might help.

@user178049 english like every other language is a living entity that goes beyond what's written in academic books, you should know that better than me

I don't get it why this is off-topic. The OP (468) needs help and he has stated his difficulty in understanding "ti I'm dead" in the question. If you don't like questions like this, you can skip them. Voting to close them won't help. New users can feel frustrated when they see their questions get closed.

@468 I agree that the language goes beyond the grammar books. But we aren't native speakers of English. You need to practice your ears with the 'correct grammar' till you get used to it. Imagine if you are really accustomed to the wrong grammar in lyrics—that would be dangerous.

@user178049 do you imply there is a better place for a question like this one, what are they? please be specific

I consider this a perfectly valid question. I've asked questions about lyrics in my non-native languages too that have been well received. Sometimes you encounter a term and you're not sure whether you're supposed to dismiss it as artistic licence or whether it represents a gap in your knowledge. That's a legitimate question. Lyrics do break the rules sometimes, but they also give very direct access to idiomatic expressions and cultural norms that make up an indispensable part of language education. The very idea of ruling out music-related questions is absurd.

Do you clearly understand that there is no such thing as a "violation", and that there are no "acceptable ranges" In English? We have no authority which can "permit" or "prohibit" any such violations. Lyrics, poetry, and prose in English are written just as the writer pleases.

By a violation I meant something outside of an academic book.

@P.E.Dant Indeed, as is every sentence "from the mouths of babes" — and adults. :) One might as well say there should be no questions about the English used at work, at school, in politics, between siblings, or anywhere else because the particular constraints of the genre of discourse would contaminate your understanding of "standard" English. As if there were such a thing as an English, or any other languages, divorced from its real-life uses. And music enters people's lives and influences their speech habits perhaps more than any other art.

@468 And that's a good way of putting it, unambiguously identifying where you expect or don't expect to see it. "Does this English belong to genre X, or does it belong to genre Y?" The answer is that it's certainly not academic. (Even if the explanation in my answer is correct, it's a rare contraction due to the music.) But it is used by some people in everyday life. And how could you have known that without asking? :)

I can write whatever I please in an academic book. The marketplace alone, and not any other authority, will determine the validity of the language I choose to employ. "'til I's dead" is just fine in a lyric or in an academic book.

@P.E.Dant Or an editor. ;) But you have a point, of course. Even the genres we can delineate are established by usage first and foremost.

I would like to remind folks that comments are for clarifying the question, not answering it. @468 you should edit your question to add some of the things you've explained in your comments.

468: The frustration you've sensed here stems from the fact that song lyrics don't follow conventional grammar rules. We should expect to see deviations. And if you keep asking questions that say, "What am I missing?" the answer is always going to be, "It's a song lyric." If you want less resistance and more help, be more specific with your questions, as @ColleenV suggests.