Band of Horses: Funeral Meaning

Funeral Lyrics

I'm coming up only to hold you under
I'm coming up only to show you wrong
And to know you is hard and we wonder
To know you all wrong, we were

Really too late to call, so we wait for
Morning to wake you; it's all we got
To know me as...

1. anonymous

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   Apr 28th 2012 !⃝

   To the outside, the dead leaves, they all blow (alive is very poetic)
   For'e (before) they died had trees to hang their hope
   
   The above two lines are extremely cryptic in nature, but make a lot of sense when you break them down. I see this as a reflection on internal versus external vision. The duality is continued as a dichotomy between life and afterlife, happiness and unhappiness and reality versus perception. "To the outside" is a reference to the subjects internal versus external self he/she maintains an image for those around him/her that is not real on the inside. BoH paints a picture of dead leaves flowing freely in the wind but "For'[even] before they died had trees to hang their hope". This last phrase provides a juxtaposition and poetic irony to the idea that one can be more free in death than one who's living and figuratively handing themselves every day in realization that their hopes and dreams that will never come fruition (forgive the pun).
2. anonymous

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   Apr 16th 2012 !⃝

   i think this song is based on a suicide, its a friend that loves another friend and thought that he new him perfectly well, but one day he took his own life, "im coming up only to hold you under " is when he speaks at the guys funeral about who he was and how he REALLY WAS i comming up to show you wrong" tosay to the people and to you (his dead friend) that he was a beautiful person that cant have his name soiled by suicide.
   
   then the second paragraph is his dead friend talking the one who took his own life. he died so its to late to tell his friend, so he waits for mourning to come and for his friend to hear the news "to know me as hardly golden... to me means that he is made of pure gold of pure good... but to think of him as such a perfect being like his friend speaks of in his funeral is too know him all wrong because he isnt like that he isnt all good. and then he proceeds to say that when he died in any type of way he is ready for his funeral for death.
   
   then again his friend talks and repeats his words
   
   and then the dead friend says "to the outside the dead leaves their on the lawn for the dont have trees to hang there hopes. (here he tells us the real reason of why he killed himself. because he was a dead leaf with no more hopes.
   
   anyway that's what i take from it i find this song beautiful and i love reading what others think of it
3. anonymous

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   Feb 18th 2012 !⃝

   I think it addresses the fact that we can't control our own death. I think it's a song about realizing your own death and being comfortable with the fact that death is imminent and can happen at any age and place. Death is all around us and it can happen at any moment. It has a joyous approach to death somewhat, as if death is the process of being liberated.
4. anonymous

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   Oct 21st 2011 !⃝

   A world or religious leader/ politician coming up only to hold us under, so they are rising to drown or kill us. They are highly revered/worshipped, they see themselves as golden, so for us to know them as hardly golden ( not golden) is to know them wrong in their opinion. To show you wrong is pretty obvious with these types, they are hypocrites. Too late to call and waiting for morning, we are nearing the end. There's not much we can do now but wait.
5. anonymous

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   Oct 17th 2011 !⃝

   The song begins sad and slow with a repetitive riff but later continues into an explosion of loud, hectic-ness. Based on the strong beginning lyrics and the following explanation - it can parallel a suicide and the idea that a troubled someone is finally giving up on hiding their struggle from others.
   
   "I'm coming up only to hold you under," represents that I am coming to keep you stable (by not taking my own life), but the following lines express that even though I thought I knew you and you knew me, it's all just wonder so I will prove you and everyone wrong when I take my life. In this internal turmoil, everyday is just another day in waiting for my own funeral. Every occasion, I am ready for the funeral because I am always ready to leave this but I only stay here for others' sanity.
6. anonymous

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   Jan 17th 2011 !⃝

   “The Funeral” is the first single taken from Band of Horses’ debut album Everything All the Time. The album was released on March 21, 2006. The song was released as a radio and video single in May 2006 in the US. The single was released commercially over a year later in the UK on limited edition numbered 7” vinyl on May 21, 2007 to coincide with the band’s UK tour dates.
   
   An earlier version of the song appeared on the band’s self-titled EP, under the name ‘Billion Day Funeral’. The heavy subject meaning behind the song’s lyrics relate to the multiple abortions that various girlfriends of singer Ben Bridwell had to receive during his years living in Seattle.
   
   The Music Video for The Funeral seems to tell the story of a man whose dog has died, and saddened by this he drowns his sorrow in alcohol. Afterwards he drives under the influence and the end of the music video seems to suggest he crashes head on into another vehicle. Based on the style other cars and the elevated railroad overhead, the video appears to be set in 1970s New York or Chicago (more likely the latter as one scene in the video shows a sign for the Galway Bay Bar, an Irish pub located in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood)
7. anonymous

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   Nov 1st 2010 !⃝

   It is fairly basic in meaning, but complex in its story.
   
   First it is about perception in the media and how the grass is not as green as it looks on the other side. He makes the reference about a funeral but it is more of a figurative meaning.
   
   As fans we look up to them, as well as other artists, athletes, actors, etc. But if we would get to know them, then we would be disappointed in what we find out. They do not act or live the way we imagine.
   
   He talks about knowing this and still holding in the truth. Hiding behind the mask of happiness until that one brilliant day funeral when it all get revealed.
   
   hope this helps in your understanding

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