"Funeral" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Phoebe Bridgers Phoebe Lucille Bridgers (born August 17, 1994) is an American singer-songwriter. Her indie folk music typically centers on acoustic guitar and Electronic music, electronic production, with melancholic lyrical themes. She has won four Grammy Aw ...

. The song and its lyric video were released on September 12, 2017, as the fourth and final single from her debut studio album, ''

Stranger in the Alps ''Stranger in the Alps'' is the debut studio album by American musician Phoebe Bridgers, released on September 22, 2017 by Dead Oceans. Background and recording ''Stranger in the Alps'' was produced by Tony Berg and Ethan Gruska. Bridgers recor ...

'', through the

Dead Oceans Dead Oceans, Inc., is an American independent record label founded in 2006 and based in Bloomington, Indiana. History On June 30, 2006, Phil Waldorf founded Dead Oceans with Chris Swanson. Swanson suggested the name Dead Oceans, which came fro ...

label. The song follows a narrator describing the death of someone whose funeral she will be singing at, depicting the inescapable grief, anxiety, depression of everyday life. The track is emotional and melancholic, incorporating acoustic guitar patterns and string arrangements; Bridgers has said the song was inspired by the

heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to Hypoventilation, respiratory depression, a let ...

of her close friend.

Background and composition

"Funeral" is based on the funeral and death of Bridgers's close friend, who overdosed on

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

. She recalls the experience of speaking to her friend's father after his death, with the lyrics: "And I've been talking to his dad/ It makes me so sad/ When I think too much about it I can't breathe". Bridgers illustrates her struggle with depression and her ideation of death: "And I have this dream where I'm screaming under water/ While my friends are waving from the shore". Bridgers has said that much of her music is inspired by death: "I do think about dying a lot. I feel like a lot of my friends, especially artists, are consumed with this idea of the inevitability of death". Bridgers also has spoken about how intimate and emotional "Funeral" is for her: "Every time I sing that song, I get a little bit uncomfortable because it’s so personal". The song is a downbeat, acoustic track that begins and ends with the distortion of an electric guitar. Bridgers's gentle, feathery vocals and lamenting lyrics are accompanied by an acoustic guitar throughout, with string arrangements coming through on the chorus. The chorus's repeating lyrics—"Jesus Christ, I'm so blue all the time/ And that's just how I feel/ Always have and always will"—highlight the recurring cycle of depression. Along with the track, the accompanying lyric video for "Funeral" was released on September 12, 2017. The video depicts Bridgers in black and white, her face only partially lit, singing the song against a black background.

Critical reception

"Funeral" placed 2nd place on ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'''s list of "The 101 best songs of 2017", describing it as "brutally unabashed". Mikael Wood of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' lauded "Funeral" as a "a devastating portrait of depression" and called Bridgers "brilliant". ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' praised the song as "haunting", writing that "the delicate, emotive lilt in ridgers'ssoothing voice makes her brutally honest revelations enticing". The magazine ''

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'' opined that the song was one of the "highlights" of the album and exemplified Bridgers's ability "to make this song about a stranger’s overdose into a highly relatable moment".

References

{{Phoebe Bridgers 2017 singles 2017 songs Phoebe Bridgers songs Songs about death Songs about heroin Songs about cemeteries Songs written by Phoebe Bridgers Dead Oceans singles