“The Funeral” by Band of Horses

"The Funeral" was Band of Horses' very first single and the lead-off from their 2006 debut album, Everything All the Time, out on Sub Pop, and it had already done time on their self-titled EP in a live take under its old name, "Billion Day Funeral". Ben Bridwell wrote the words out of pure dread of parties and holidays, the forced cheer of New Year's and Christmas togetherness, a feeling he likened to the one you get on the way to a funeral.

The music is a slow-building stunner: Mat Brooke's e-bow and guitars shimmer, Chris Early and Tim Meinig hold back until the whole thing crashes open, and Bridwell's high, keening voice rides the swell. Phil Ek produced, recorded and mixed it. Pitchfork later named it the 67th-greatest song of the 2000s.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.