Buffalo Road / Travel Stories

Crow’s Funeral

Continuing on with the theme of the last blog regarding Crow’s Funeral, I though it might be appropriate to explain the story behind the album title.

As told to me by a friend:

One morning there was a loud symphony of cawing in my back alley. My partner and I went to investigate at the window and found the dead body of a crow lying there, while dozens of others gathered together in the surrounding trees. They seemed to be acknowledging the death of a member of their family.

This continued on for another week and the noise in the morning became too much, so my partner finally removed the body. Even though the physical body had disappeared, the crows continued to gather at the same spot of the loved ones death. This carried on throughout the weeks to come. Slowly, the numbers continually diminished until all that was left was one lone crow, mourning.

After hearing this story I was in tears. They were having a funeral, just like we would if someone we love had passed. The last crow to keep visiting was the partner. Yes, crows mate for life. They are highly intelligent and have very complex social structures. It made me open my eyes to an entire world of life out there.

We can learn so much by observing what is around us by truly opening our eyes to what we don’t understand. We are not so different from the plants and animals around us. We are all connected, and that’s what really important. When we finally realize this universal truth, we can start healing. There are really no differences between us, only judgment. My hope is that I can learn to trust more, and judge less.