"In the Arms of an Angel" meaning/help?

[Pianoman]

Anyone familar with Sarah McLachlan's song
"In the Arms of an Angel"?

I was asked to put music together for a
funeral tomorrow & this was one the wife
of the deceased asked for. I've downloaded &
listened to it - have never been one good
at symbolism - and as such - not understanding
what the song is talking about.

The wife of the deceased said she had only
heard a few lines (actually - I believe she only
heard the first 2 of the chorus) & really liked it.
Lyrics for chorus go:

In the arms of an angel
Fly away from here
From this dark cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort there

I've never seen a video or the movie that
the song was used in? It's a beautiful
arrangement - but I feel a little odd using
it when I don't entirely understand the context
it was written for? One of the google searches
I did mentioned possibly drug addiction?

[Mike Vande]

the lyrics go like this;

Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always one reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight

in the arms of the angels
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angels
may you find some comfort there

so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lie
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

I think it's about escaping from all the pressures of daily life. I guess it's up to the listener to decide what to escape into. There was a time when the line "it's easier to believe in this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees" seemed to me about depression, and having it drive you to pray for solace and comfort.

[Pianoman]

Lucked out (I think?). Funeral home director caught
the family before I got there & questioned the song.
He said it was his understanding the song was about
a drug addict? The family decided to drop that one &
use something else.

It was a beautiful song - but I just didn't think it was
appropriate for this guy. I think the wife just heard
the "In the Arms of an angel" line & thought it was
pretty.

Funny thing - I didn't know what song they had picked
for it's place until the funeral director started playing
it. They just said it was some kind of cowboy song -
so I was expecting some redneck tune (pallbearers
were all in jeans & white shirts).

Turned out to be Steven Curtis Chapman's
"The Great Adventure"???? Didn't realize that
qualified for a cowboy ballad?

I got stuck singing "Go Rest High" - kind
of a let down after that!.

[soulsearcher]

Too late now, I guess, but you can never go wrong with the old classic, "O Come, Angel Band."

[dolfan]

I got stuck singing "Go Rest High" - kind
of a let down after that!.

My niece sang that song at my mother's funeral. I can't listen to it now without bawling. Great song, though.

[Paully_44]

He said it was his understanding the song was about
a drug addict?

I was watching Storytellers on VH1 a long time back. If I remember correctly, she wrote it while remembering the Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin, who overdosed on heroin and died in 1996. McLachlan explained that there's nothing constant when you are on the road; everything becomes the same.

[Pianoman]

My niece sang that song at my mother's funeral. I can't listen to it now without bawling. Great song, though.

Dolfan - I wasn't certain if I could make it through the song
myself. They played it at my Grandmother's funeral & 5 of
her brother's & sister's. They all went to my home church &
all but one passed before my Grandmother. Every time another
one would die it got harder & harder to hear it (kept thinking -
who is going to be the next one to drop). Several of them had
asked me to sing it at theirs & at the time I refused & insisted
on the CD as I knew I couldn't make it through the entire song.
They're all gone & it actually brings tears of joy when I hear it
now. (The last one to pass was the most difficult - it was like an
entire generation had come to an end). They all knew the Lord
& I know where they're at.

This was actually for one of their son's who came to know the
Lord 2 weeks before he passed away. It was a sad, yet happy
occasion if you can believe it as he had lived a VERY rough
life. He said from his deathbed that he deeply regretted not
having accepted the Lord years earlier.

[scooter]

She never mentions the word addiction
In certain company
Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan
After you meet her family

She paints her eyes as black as night now
She pulls those shades down tight
She gives a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna' make everything alright

Says she talks to angels
They call her out by her name
Oh yeah, she talks to angels
Says they call her out by her name

She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
Yes the hair is from a little boy
And the cross from someone she has not met
Not yet

(Repeat Chorus)

She don't know no lovers
None that I've ever seen
And to her that means nothing
But to me it means, means everything

[scooter]

Hey maybe they should have a revival in Lakeland!

[soulsearcher]

Hey maybe they should have a revival in Lakeland!

Yeah, bro, and then we could all go over there and "get us some."

[Pastor Gary]

Turned out to be Steven Curtis Chapman's
"The Great Adventure"???? Didn't realize that
qualified for a cowboy ballad?

"Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze..." has a kind of western/cowboy ring to it.

[crispfin]

Turned out to be Steven Curtis Chapman's
"The Great Adventure"???? Didn't realize that
qualified for a cowboy ballad?

"Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze..." has a kind of western/cowboy ring to it.

I once worked a VBS where we had to do that song every night with puppets. Don't want to hear it again.