Band of Horses - Funeral

I must have been listening to Band of Horses for years before eventually learning the name and proper existence. It is a good name for a band, yet it slipped my long term memory for a long time. Time is belligerent in it’s efforts to make fools of us all, but in this hyper specific example the reward is that I will never forget Band of Horses after learning how many songs of theirs I have been casually listening too since 2006.

Band of Horses is from Seattle, Washington, and they released their debut album “Everything All the Time” in 2006. It is this album that I am most familiar with for this band. Given my habit to listen to a lot of current indie rock groups, Band of Horses, became a main stay in my playlist algorithms many years ago, by that point I could no longer not know their name. They have a sound I strongly enjoy strong on the guitars, acoustic feel throughout, my kind of rock and roll.

As is my heathen custom, I like to narrow in on a single song, and the Band of Horses song of the hour is “Funeral.” This is one of those times where I did not listen and fixate on the lyrics right away. Rather, it was the inviting acoustic guitar from the intro and the haunting ambience throughout that kept me listening. After dozens, maybe even a hundred listens, I decided it was time to learn the lyrics and what they meant.

A primary theme of “Funeral” is that celebrations, all, or at least most, are just funerals, either literally or metaphorically. Some events are just people gathering, waiting to see who does not show up next time. Some events are generational, seeing new faces replace the old over time. Conventional politeness may perhaps frown on this overly negative view, but there is enough truth to it that the theme is thought provoking. Furthermore, I completely concur. Death is a natural part of life. Death and life are unavoidable connected. Most celebrations are celebrations of life, and death is omnipresent wherever there is life.

The first two verses perhaps hint at the awkwardness of not knowing each other well enough, and that ties in with the holidays and gift commercial gift giving I believe:

“I'm coming up only to hold you under,
And coming up only to show you're wrong.
And to know you is hard, we wonder,
To know you all wrong, we won.

Really too late to call, so we wait for,
Morning to wake you, is all we got.
And to know me as hardly golden,
Is to know me all wrong, they warn.”

This dread being described about forthcoming holidays due to the stress is topical. Very relatable. However, the intensity in “Funeral” makes me wonder if there is more.

I love comment sections. Other people have problems with them, but I find every comment section tends to sort itself out if you allow the general public the freedom to engage in open discourse. Mostly, however, I love seeing everyday human beings share their thoughts, and their stories. When I was not having the best luck deciphering the lyrics I hopped online and found some very insightful comments at songmeangins.com

https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858583565/

Those comments really helped clear things up, however, the most popular one, go look for yourself, is quite the story. The anecdote shared matches the lyrics eerily well; a tragic story about a suicidal friend, and everyday, everyone is just waiting for the funeral. It is a great story, but at the same time it is a miserably sad tale. I believe it is a weird coincide how such a story matches the lyrics to this song so perfectly.

“At every occasion, I'll be ready for the funeral.
At every occasion, once more, it's called the funeral.
At every occasion, oh, I'm ready for the funeral.
At every occasion, oh, one billion day funeral.”

There are other great comments at that site as well, and several of them helped open my eyes to the song “Funeral” but also the band, Band of Horses. This is how I like to use the internet, strangers informing and educating me on beautiful music. My only hope is that I can reciprocate a little.

- King of Braves