Dancing at Her Funeral

damnit Fans write something!

I think this song is about the paramedic who found the girl. The first verse is the paramedic reporting the scene. A girl wrecked her car into a pole. The song on the radio was someone else's favorite song, not hers. The second verse is the ambulance ride back to the hospital, she is asking him to let her die at her home, not the hospital. Because the last verse says "sending out invitations to her friends 'back' home" I don't think she is asking him to take her to wherever she currently lives, but her home town. Something the paramedic can't do even if he wanted to. Then the bridge says 'and we'll be dancing at her funeral' I'm not sure if this means that the girl would rather them be happy than sad or that he is saying it sarcastically as in 'no one would be happy' . The last verse takes us through funeral prepping. Everyone is doing their part in putting it together. I think the chorus is the paramedic saying that nobody knows what he has gone through, maybe in this case or throughout his entire career. The song makes it feel like he is a stranger to the girl who had this accident, yet he went to her funeral leaving me to believe that he was the paramedic who she died on and he feels guilty for not being able to save her.

My theory to this song is that the person telling the story is the man/woman who called 911 to report the accident. "decorated in lights and surrounded by traffic cones there was a car crashed wrapped around a telephone pole" Notice at , "There was a car crash wrapped around a telephone pole" he changes the tone of his voice as if we were recalling what he said to the 911 phone operator. Now this line "the stranger's favorite song still playing on the radio" could either mean that the song playing in the car that crashed was playing or that he could hear someone who showed up at the wrecks music playing in their car. And notice that as soon as he says the stranger's favorite song still playing on the radio, he quickly jumps to "nobody knows the trouble I've seen" I think that is the song that was playing in the strangers car. But the whole first verse to me sounds like he is giving his witness report to a police officer. The next verse "and as the ambulance takes her to the hospital the only words she can say are can you take me home before her spirit escapes her as a soft blue glow oh no... " sounds to me as if he joined the ambulance and rode with her to the hospital so that she wouldn't be alone, even though he is a stranger to her.. he would't want her to feel alone so he rode with her and the whole time was scared that she would die and in the end she did on the way to the hospital... then he goes on to say "nobody knows the trouble i've seen the trouble i've been through" I think at this point, "the strangers favorite song" has become his new favorite song. He repeats it as if the song were stuck in his head and like a bad memory he can't escape it. Next comes the somewhat sad but happy line "and we'll be dancing at her funeral dancing at her funeral" I think he is saying that instead of mourning her death at her funeral that they will celebrate her life. Next he says "now they're digging a hole cutting her name in stone sending out invitations to her friends back home digging a hole, cutting her name in stone, oh no.." He is sad that her life has come to an end on his watch. He remembers being there with her and wishes that he could've done something to save her. Therefore when he hears about her funeral being planned out, it saddens him. then he repeats "nobody knows the trouble i've seen the trouble i've been through" again, he can't forget what happened and will stick with him through the rest of his entire life. Greatly written song!!

This song is dedicated to my sons mom! Saw them in august at outside lands in san fransisco, they had some technical difficultys but playd like champs!