"Oh,lay me down in Forest Lawn in a silver casket, Put golden flowers over my head in a silver basket. Let the drum and bugle corps blow Taps while cannons roar, and sixteen liveried employees pass out souveniers from the funeral store. I want to go simply when I go. And they'll give me a simple funeral there, I know. With a casket lined in fleece, and fireworks spelling out "Rest in Peace" Oh, take me when I'm gone to Forest Lawn.

Oh lay me down in Forest Lawn, they understand there. And they have a heavenly choir and a military band there. Just put me in their care and I'll find my comfort there, With sixteen planes in a last salute, they'll drop a cross in a parachute. I want to go simply when I go. And they'll give me a simple funeral there, I know. With a hundred strolling strings, and topless dancers in golden wings, Oh, take me when I'm gone to Forest Lawn.

Oh, come to the church in the wildwood, Kindly leave a contribution in the pail. Be as simple and as trusting as a child would, and we'll sell you the church in the dale.

To find a simple resting place is my desire. To lay me down with a smiling face comes a little bit higher. My likeness cast in brass will stand in plastic grass, while weights and hidden springs will tip its hat to the mourners filing past. I want to go simply when I go. And they'll give me a simple funeral there, I know. I'll lie beneath the sand with piped-in tapes of Billy Graham. Oh, take me when I'm gone to Forest Lawn.

Rock of Ages cleft for me, for a slightly higher fee. Oh, take me when I'm gone to Forest Lawn."

Thanks, Doctor Z, for reminding me of that one. Paxton has written some clever songs but this has got to be one of his funniest. There's another one called "A Dying Business" that begins, "It was a helluva funeral" where they "gave away a Chevrolet to the person who cried the most" (and the funeral director was a shoo-in for the prize). "It was all done up deluxe and I made forty-thousand bucks" he brags at the end of the song. (Actually it was four thousand when I first heard the song in the 60s but that's been adjusted for inflation.)

Ray