The Funeral

"The Funeral"

Band of Horses 

I'm coming up only to hold you under

I'm coming up only to show you wrong

And to know you is hard; we wonder

To know you all wrong; we warn.

Really too late to call,

So we wait for morning to wake you

That's all we got

And to know me as hardly golden

Is to know me all wrong, they warn.

At every occasion, I'll be ready for the funeral

At every occasion, once more, is called the funeral

Every occasion, know I'm ready for the funeral

At every occasion, oh, one million day funeral

I'm coming up only to show you down,

For I'm coming up only to show you wrong.

To the outside: the dead leaves, they're on the lawn

For they don't have trees to hang their own. 

AZ lyrics

The first time that I heard this song I was watching the movie Stepfather with some of my friends. As weird and messed up as that movie was, I was drawn to the song when I heard it playing in the background of a scene. I love the instrumentals that the Band of Horses put into this song, it makes the lyrics all the more captivating. So, what's the song about? When you hear this song...what did you imagine the song was about?

At first I thought that obvious, that it was just about a funeral and about the emotions that arise during the funeral. But as a continued to hear it play on my itunes I began to think otherwise. I thought that maybe there was something deeper to the title. Then I began to read the lyrics of the song and then ideas came rushing to my head. 

The lyrics presented to me the idea that this song is about something that was going to tear people apart to the point that the conclusion of the event was going to be a funeral. The something in this song I thought was a secret. In my mind the secret has presented itself amongst a family, a secret that could potentially tear it apart. Perhaps even a teenager finding out that his parents are leaving each other. This secret is "coming up only to hold you under", to hold you under the amount of emotion that it has forced upon a person. "I'm coming up only to show you wrong", to show you that things really don't look good, there is unhappiness amidst the family. Maybe the father is leaving the teen and his mother, therefore "to know you is hard, we wonder". They no longer know who the father is, and wonder how their family has been torn apart. "To know you all wrong, we warn", the mother didn't know the father that well at all and so know they are warning their family of the situation at hand. "Really too later to call, so we wait for morning to wake you", could be alluding to the fact that the mother wants to get out of the house, so they are waiting to call a loved one with whom they can stay

Maybe I am way off base here...but that was the first image that came to my mind and is something that I always feel strongly when I hear this song. Divorce in a lot of teenagers minds is very much like a funeral. Their family is dead and they are left alone to struggle between what's real and what makes them happy. 

Does it make sense...

A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
~Psalms 84:10


I was reading a post by one of my former teachers on Facebook today about the Bible. He stated, “Why is it that our children can’t read a Bible in school, but they can read it in prison? Why do I have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed outside?”. Does it make sense for our country to be like that? Do they think that the Bible is some sort of repentance for those who have committed crimes, but it cannot serve as a teaching tool to those students in school? In our country’s legal system it is perfectly okay to swear on the Holy Bible, yet once one step out those court doors a Bible isn’t even allowed to be near public property. I honestly don’t believe that it makes any sense at all. Then again the whole separation of Church and State doesn’t really make sense to me either. I think that its kind of strange how much the country does not want to be connected to religion, yet in all of the important things like sending someone to prison or hosting a trial all basically depend on religion alone and the use of a Bible. 

Appearance vs. Reality

There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacles of our beliefs , attitudes, and values.
~David G. Myers


A sunrise is something that we all perceive to be beautiful. We interpret its meaning through many lenses. Some interpret it by its majestic colors, some interpret it by the time it rises, and some interpret it merely on what type of mood they woke up in. The appearance of the sunset to a person can mean life, the start of a good day, fire, or even some sense of caution. In reality though, it’s the Sun’s way of waking up and saying “good-morning”.  Why must we interpret it to say other wise? So many people go on and on about how their horoscope says that something is going to change their life if they don’t do something a proper way. Will people take away the beauty of a sunrise because its colors foreshadow danger. Why can people not see what’s really in front of their eye?