It's Your Funeral
Pete Yorn

The New Jersey singer/songwriter recalls his run-ins with the Grim Reaper and tells us what would make his funeral a day to remember.

What's the closest you've come to dying?

I was 15 years old and this kid who I'd known for years said he had to collect something from his house so we borrowed his parents' 4X4 truck. We were driving and he's like, "Dude put your seat belt on." And literally eight seconds later he lost control of the car, we flipped over and a tree smashed right through the hood. A few feet closer and that tree would have landed where my head was. If that kid hadn't told me to put my seat belt on, I'd definitely be dead.

How often do you think about death?

A lot because I've only been to two funerals - my grandmother's and my sister-in-law's father - so I still find the finality of it all pretty creepy. Last January, a friend of mine who was only 38 suddenly died on the basketball court from a heart attack. He was one of the funniest people I've ever met but I couldn't go to the funeral because I was touring. It was just really frustrating to have someone you know who's so full of life have a freak thing like that happen to him because there's nothing sadder than when a young person is taken out in their prime. Especially when they've got so much more left to do.

Have you ever seen a man die?

Not in the flesh, but I rented this old movie called Faces Of Death when I was 14 that had real video footage of people getting killed. The most horrific scene showed a man getting mauled by a bear. It started off with him thinking nothing was going to happen to the point where you could actually see the veins being ripped out of his arm. It was really graphic and sad, actually, It was no Caddyshack, that's for sure.

How would you react if you knew you only had a short time to live?

In moments like that I become a great believer in God. Saying that, my most terrifying death experience was actually pretty stupid. I was flying with my band from Dallas to California and they were complaining about this horrible smell in the back. I mean, my guitar player was freaking out. So I go to the back to look at the engines and I notice the front fan on the left engine isn't moving at all. And I'm like, "What the fuck?" But the pilots haven't said anything and I'm on a couple of Valium as it is. I didn't even want to see whether the other one was turning, so I just went back to my seat and meditated. It was only after we landed that the captain explained that the turbines at the back aren't supposed to turn.

How would you hate to go?

Being buried alive because you'd have so much time to think about it. This one time when I was in Monte Carlo, it was about a hundred degrees out and we all packed into this really small elevator to get to this restaurant at the top. But it got stuck and we were so crowded in there I was so close to having one of those panic attacks where you think you can't breathe. I had to stare at my feet so I wouldn't freak out. Thankfully, ten minutes later they got it open and it turned out we were only about two feet from the ground.

What would be the ideal way to go?

In my sleep. There have been nights where I've taken some pills or whatever, had a blackout and woken up in strange places with no recollection of how I've gotten there. And I guess that if I'd taken it that little bit further it could have been one of those nights where you go to sleep and you never wake up. So if you manage to knock yourself out in that state, you're probably having a good time, even if you don't know about it.

Do you believe in the afterlife?

I'm kind of skeptical. Although I recently stayed at this bed and breakfast in Portland, in an old part of town. The bed was on the upper-tier of this room with weird gothic wallpaper and there was this really long staircase going downstairs. And something about it kept me up all night. Every time I hear a noise I'd be looking around. I was sure that someone had died in there and all I could think about was what must have gone down.

Where are you heading: Heaven or Hell?

I'd like to think that I could go to Heaven, but have all the benefits of Hell thrown in as well. Actually there was this festival going on down the road from that hotel that me and my band visited. We were standing in this large tent of fortune-tellers and right before we left, I see this kid sitting at the last booth at the end with a sign behind him that says: Are you going to Heaven or Hell? Answer this questionnaire to find out. But when we came back 20 minutes later, both him and the sign were gone. And I'm like, "What the hell happened to that kid with the sign? It was really bizarre. O mean, we laughed it off, but what if that was our one chance to find out the truth and we blew it?

Pete Yorn's album, The Day I Forgot, is out on September 1.