Lyrics to
Forest Lawn

This version of Forest Lawn was released by John Denver in 1970.

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Oh, lay me down in Forest Lawn in a silver casket
with golden flowers over my head in a silver basket.
Let the drum and bugle corp play taps while cannons roar.
While sixteen liveried employees sell souvenirs from the funeral store.
I wanna go simply when I go. They’ll give me a simple funeral there, I know.
With a casket lined in fleece and the 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.
They have a heavenly choir in the military band there.
Just put me in their care, I’ll find my comfort there.
With sixteen planes in a last salute, they’ll drop a cross in a parachute.
I wanna go simply when I go, they’ll give me a simple funeral there I know
With a hundred strolling strings and topless dancers with golden wings,
Oh, take me when I’m gone to Forest Lawn.

Oh, come, come, come, come, come to the church in the wild wood,
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 hidden weights and springs tips it’s hat to the mourners filing past.

I wanna go simply when I go. 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.

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John Denver has released many songs over the years besides Forest Lawn. John Denver released songs from 1969 to 1998 spanning across albums like Rhymes And Reasons, Take Me To Tomorrow, Whose Garden Was This?, Poems, Prayers And Promises, Aerie, Rocky Mountain High, Farewell Andromeda, Back Home Again, Rocky Mountain Christmas, An Evening With John Denver, Windsong, Spirit, I Want To Live, A Christmas Together, John Denver, Autograph, Some Days Are Diamonds, Seasons Of The Heart, Rocky Mountain Holiday, It's About Time, Dreamland Express, One World, Higher Ground, The Flower That Shattered The Stone, Christmas, Like A Lullaby, Different Directions, All Aboard!, and Forever, John. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by John Denver.

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About Lyrics and Forest Lawn by John Denver

The lyrics to Forest Lawn are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that John Denver used when the song was created in 1970. The lyrics to Forest Lawn have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only John Denver and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Forest Lawn by John Denver. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Forest Lawn" means the words set to the music of Forest Lawn, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by John Denver. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Forest Lawn and the lyrics to Forest Lawn are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of John Denver who came here looking just for the lyrics to Forest Lawn, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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