Ray Stevens - Sitting up with the Dead | Metal / Rock Fans First Time Reaction with Stellum

[@clarrysmallwood9525]

I'm 61 and grew up in North Georgia, and I remember sitting up with the dead. In fact, I did it at my great-great grandmothers home while she was laying in state at her home. Sitting up with the dead was just something that was done where I grew up, whether they were laid out in the home or the funeral home.

[@terereynolds698]

Same here, I’m Native American and Scottish, I grew up on a reservation, like when my grandma died after her body was taken to the funeral home, when the sun is setting we burn all her belongings, the belief is she will need her things in her next life, the second day her body was taken to her house and we stayed up all night we had mourners there as well and we made sure there was plenty of food, coffee, soda, water, then on the third day she was taken to the church and she was buried.

[@jeannewallace5383]

Oh yea it's real my family did it when I was a kid , I got the heck out of there and stayed at someone else's house

[@johnwilliams5301]

I have sat up with the dead several times

[@Butterflyandhearts95]

Right. They were laid up in the “parlor” of the house. Then when funeral homes came along, they were called funeral parlors (still are in some parts).

[@mikelmcknight72]

I am in my 50s. My Mamaw’s body body was set in her living room, and there was sitting up with her body. That was in the 80s.

[@southernenigma3427]

Sitting up with the dead is a VERY real thing. I live in Tennessee and I remember when I was younger, sitting up with the family when my great grandmother died. I was terrified at first, but then lots of people came with food and sang songs. They literally had everything right there in the living room LOL

[@leslieking6259]

It sure is a real thing. The last time I participated in this tradition, it was 1989 when my husband's grandmother passed away. She was brought back to Kentucky to be buried next to her husband. As there was no "home" to bring her to, she was laid out in the church. It worked out well. There was plenty of room for family and friends to visit. Also, plenty of parking space. There was also a kitchen in the basement with lots of tables to hold all the delicious food folks brought. Granny was a lovely soul and she is deeply missed.

[@heff5452]

I am in the north Georgia mountains and I am 52 I remember doing this when I was 6 or 7 years old when my great great grandmother died 1976 or 1977 so yes this was real to have a Funeral in your home . They would also put out big road signs " slow funeral ahead "

[@mikewright256]

I'm from West Liberty KY, we stayed up with our kin who passed, it's a 3 day thing, food and family

[@CLynns]

The tradition of sitting up with the dead stopped in 1955 but in the deep south this practice still happened up until the early 80s. I'm from Indiana, (so glad y'all got those storms and not us 😂) and I remember going to a funeral at someone's house. Ray Steven's makes me smile, y'all make me giggle, Thank you! Great reaction!

[@scottyray8004]

Im 55 here from East Tennessee. This went on when I was a kid and still if a family prefers it can happen today. My Great Grand Grandparents were done this way.

[@TreshaVanNatter-zn8jk]

I live in southern WV and I have seen it a lot. I’m 54 and we sat up with my grandmother in her house for two nights and had her funeral at a church. My uncles wake was at his brothers house ( another uncle of mine) , and even his funeral was at the house. It was very common here in the 7O’s , 80’s and 90’s.

[@hayley_council]

Yes, sitting up the dead was real, from way back. Literally there is a thing called viewing tables, that doubled at kitchen work tables. Also, North Carolina is a in the South. I did see Ray Stevens in concert when I was a teenager. He and Glen Campbell were on tour together. Great reaction. I even got mom to watch it. Thanks guys.

[@brendaclark8344]

I had a co-worker who used to work for the State of Tennessee division that oversees funeral homes. In the Appalachain area in East Tennessee where bodies were set up in homes like in this song at least in the 1970's. This person got a call from a funeral home reporting that the body had been moved and wasn't in the casket correctly. He went to the home and finally got the story. It seems that "Bubba" was not the cleanest person when alive and he looked so good in that casket that they took him out, put him in a chair, gathered the family around him and took a family portrait!

[@Nana_Reads]

Oh my 😂😂😂

[@teganwoods4184]

😂😂😂😂

[@sassbrat]

@@Nana_Reads Taking pictures with dead family members wasn't unheard of in the 1890s to about 1910s

[@MrNiccholas]

my Great uncle was a mortician in southern Missouri. We have a lot of hysterical family stories. Some of which are not exactly internet friendly in this day and age, but one of my favorites was the funeral home was getting a load of caskets from the train station. My Great uncle and the hired help went to pick them up. Well my Great Uncle was quite the prankster and told his hired hand to get in one of the caskets and when the crew of VERY superstitious laborers went to move that casket from the loading dock to the moving truck my Great uncle informed the to "be careful this one has a stiff in it" the plan was once the had it in the truck just before they set it down my great uncle was supposed to say "let him down easy boys", then the guy in the casket was going to say "yeah, let me down easy boys" but being the prankster he was he decided to have a little more "fun" and said it when they were carrying it about waist height off the ground. Those laborers dropped that thing so fast and took off running, no one saw them for 3 days!!!! Great reaction as always!

[@tracysmith4210]

Yes it was most definitely a thing done. It was way back in the day. My parents and grandparents have done this but I have only been to funeral home services. But the stories from our elders are awesome. I envy you guys the great sleeping weather.

[@cyu5251]

Yes - this was a real thing back in the day. My grandpa passed in 1967 - he was laid out in his coffin in his and grandma's bedroom. Really common in the mountains of North Carolina.

[@Deletes.pixels]

Im 52 and though I never sat up with the dead in my lifetime, older people that I know do remember doing that when they were young.

[@carolyncostner9619]

Keith, it was an old southern thing. My great grandmother died and I remember movi g her coffin from the house into her yard. There was someone that sat with her all night. The reason was more practical than what wzs stated in this song. It was also for security. It was supposed to keep folks from stealing, both from the home, but also from the dead.

[@puddinparker7213]

I told my kids i want this song on my funeral Playlist. Lol

[@ArleneAdkinsZell]

Yall are hilarious, Dustin picking at you in the beginning had me laughing too hard to drink my coffee. Sitting up with the dead was a real thing here up until the late 70s, but it was mostly because we were not close to any cities that had a full service mortuary, when I was a kid, we had to have Aunt Frances' service at our house, that was a creepy experience that I am thankful is no longer needed.

[@lefty3141591]

Ray Stevens has some great stories. The Bricklayers song and the Haircut song are two of my favorites. This one is fun. A great reaction.

[@lindaartz3297]

Ray Stevens has a great voice but the comedy songs are what he is known for. The squirrel revival is one of my favorites.

[@TexasMagnolia]

I was very young when my PawPaw passed in the early 70’s in Lake Charles, La. Yes, we sat-up. Freaked me out!

[@greeneyelove2003]

Never set up with the dead. The viewings are bad enough. Every viewing I have been to, I've overheard at least one person look at the body and say with a sigh, "They've never looked better." And all I can think is, yes, they have looked better, back when they were alive. Ray Stevens is a blast. His delivery and expressions are always so spot on. I wonder if he ever made any movies? Seems like he could have had a good career in comedies. Be careful, guys. The weather can turn crazy on a dime.

[@stevebournite184]

Lmao, glad you guys enjoyed both

[@stevebournite184]

@Deborah George no no email yet, send it to Lonewolf184 at yahoo dot com

[@BelleDede01]

I grew up in Canada and still living here but in my grandparents' days, yes, you did sit with the dead. As a matter of fact, the expression 'saved by the bell' was exactly about this video. There was no embalming fluid or anything, so yes, sometimes the 'dead' was in a coma or something but people thought that they were dead. They'd bury them, but for some reason or another, the dead had to be exhumed and found scratch marks on the inside of the coffin, so they devised a plan to put a string in the 'dead' person's hand, through the coffin and up the 'hole' with a bell attached to it. If the 'dead' woke up, they'd be able to pull on the string/rope and thus the person who had to be there during the day or night would hear that bell and unbury the person. The expression 'graveyard shift' came from that as well, because they'd have to have a person watch the graveyard at night too, in case. The 'wake' was also from the time where you'd sit with the dead and had to stay awake, in case the 'dead' wasn't dead and would move a limb or wake up. Check them out and you'll see what I mean. Same as throwing the baby with the bath water and other famous expressions. Thanks for the reaction.

[@Floridad25]

'saved by the bell' is not what this video is about by any stretch. You got the practice of tying the bell on, but it came from the Victorian fear of being buried alive and inventing "safety coffins" Sitting up with the dead (called a 'wake') was to guard the body through the first night in case evil spirits tried to take over it while it was fresh and not in the ground yet.

[@stevebournite184]

I think Keith and Dustin get excited on all the bourbons I send, giddy like little kids waiting to open a Christmas present 😂😂

[@stevebournite184]

@@deborahgeorge9170 no email yet

[@stevebournite184]

@@deborahgeorge9170 got it

[@nataliespiker4656]

I grew up listening to ray Stevens

[@janieirby173]

My cousins sat with my sister when she passed away at a funeral home in 1976. It didn't necessarily have to be at home. Funeral homes did let you stay up with family years ago.

[@sandrafryer4425]

My dad's uncle died in the sixties . Lived in Kentucky. They had his funeral at home. I was about 12 I think. The casket was in the living room. First time going to a funeral for me

[@kailyns8159]

Love this song! Oh the stories I’ve heard from the nurses in my family! Bodies do fascinating things. Sitting up with the deceased is an old tradition. Especially in rural areas where, as Ray states here, they didn’t have a local funeral home or priest and the body was often left in the house till burial. It was also a sign of respect for the deceased and served as a way to keep people from stealing from the body. My family is very familiar with the tradition, though I don’t think it’s been done for anyone since my family generations started living in crowded areas and had immediate access to coroners, funeral homes, and priests. I’m pretty sure my great-grandmother was the last person in the family to honor the tradition. As she grew up super isolated with the nearest neighbor being a day away and the nearest doctor being in the next town. When she passed, I did sit with my great-grandmother until the funeral home came for her, I would have stayed longer with her but she had to be prepped for flight. I believe I sat with her body about 2 1/2 or 3 hrs. It felt familiar, quiet, and a little sad. But not creepy. I think it’s a respectful tradition that should continue. But I also think it’s not something someone should be forced to do if they know it’s not something they can handle. And definitely never let a child sit up with the deceased.

[@cyndib511]

Yes. It's a thing, at least in Appalachia and apparently southern Mississippi. Although, I haven't experienced it since childhood, but back in the day, the dead were laid out at home for visitation before being taken to the cemetery for burial. I believe all my great grandparents but one had visitation at home.

[@kathylivedinthe80s14]

Yea this was a real thing. I had a cousin pass away in 86 and we had her visitation at her house and we sat up with the body all night.this was in Tennessee.

[@WJC981]

My mother grew up in Tennessee in the 60s, and has confirmed she too had to sit up with the dead.

[@dustinstephens7321]

Always loved Ray Stevens

[@jerricocke987]

I love the reaction, as always. Sitting up with the dead was definitely a southern tradition. It still happens in some places. And I can see this happening in the right circumstances.

[@crazgirl80]

When i was a little girl , my granddaddy died in 1963 and he was brought back to the house and people stayed in the living room all night. My bedroom had a door that lead into the living room and i remember there was chairs in the doorway of my room. I live in NC. It was just what they did.

[@gladyswashington5171]

Yes they did sit up with the dead back in the old days.

[@lindasmith-kr4qq]

Yep! They did in Tennessee

[@rachelginter3616]

Yes this used to happen..sitting up with dead At Home..lol...I'm from Kentucky..lol

[@blakemcelrath54]

I'm from North Georgia and this was very real in the backwoods towns that didn't have funeral homes

[@dogsoldiertoo1099]

100% real thing here where I grew up in rural SC. I'm 70 now and I started setting up with the other grown men folk when I was 12. It was just friends and some extended relatives of the deceased. Jerry Clower also has a bit about sitting up with the dead.

[@saklee1777]

5:18 yes, it is a real thing. Sitting up with the dead is a real thing that people do. For some reason certain religions say that it’s not right to leave a dead body by itself before it is buried. I think it’s a Catholic or Methodist thing

[@Llandraa]

Sitting up with the dead is an old tradition, like an Irish wake.

[@aislynnG]

Honey I'm from the boonies in NC and this was most definitely done, I'm just a little to young to have ever done it but I have heard stories I have an aunt who was in California when her dad died and they had to drive home so the family was sitting with him for 6 days waiting for her And yes NC is in the south and we wouldn't want it any other way

[@dustyhead3126]

Being from SC, I agree NC has northern tendencies specially in certain cities that will remain nameless. Just stay to the mountains or the coast and your fine.

[@MichelleACrowell]

I’m in NE Tennessee and I know exactly what city you’re talking about! 😂

[@jayhank5838]

This was common in Eastern Kentucky when I was a boy. My grandfather's last request was to not leave him at the undertakers but bring him home for a few days before burial out back.

[@LJsReactions]

Thats why we have the living room .

[@CelestialKitsune13]

Definitely a thing. I remember my family having all night funeral visuals at the church by my house for people when I was younger (late 80's really early 90's), before there was a funeral home built in our town. Taking pictures of the dead was also apparently a thing. But my grandma's family album has pictures of people in their coffin. Something which I always found weird, but apparently it was something that was just done. 🤷

[@wcwindom56]

Jerry Clower recorded a story about sitting up with the dead. Absolutley hilarious

[@lindaharris1892]

I loved your reactions to this. Yes, sitting up with the dead is a real thing. In addition there are still some cemeteries where you have to hand dig the graves. My family cemetery is one of them, yes, in West Virginia.

[@robincridelich5179]

I love you guys! You're a hoot! Love Ray Stevens! He has a bunch of great songs.

[@margaretsimmons1598]

He does have a serious side. Check out his song “Everything Is Beautiful”

[@sassbrat]

Hey guys also another reason why they had the sitting up the dead from the family friends was do to at the time when my friends grandparents and their parents were kids was that they didn't have much knowledge on a dead person and quite a few people had been buried alive but in coma like states but doctors couldn't find a pulse as it was so slow or weak as well as sicknesses were everywhere. Hence this was part of the ring the bell in the graveyard hing that i heard. So the sitting up with the dead was so that one out of respect but also in the man really was dead but for me i would be freaking out if a dead person sat upright and out of the room or out of the car like the EMT did

[@ladyred56]

Leave it to Ray he’s always entertaining and gives us a good laugh 👏👏👏

[@sheliaspringer7389]

Ray Stevens actually wrote some beautiful, well known songs! Do your research!

[@lisaray9944]

I am in my late 50’s and have sit up with the dead back in the 60’-70’s with relatives. Back in the day we didn’t take our family members to a funeral home . We just kept them home and then the funeral home would come get them and take ‘em to the graveyard .

[@nathanmeece9794]

Im from North Carolina. We are definitely in the South. South Carolina used to be part of North Carolina.

[@beappleby]

Along this line, I have to recommend the great Joe Diffie song, "Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox (If I Die)"!

[@stevebournite184]

I second that choice as well.

[@bobbiperkins1009]

Yes please

[@danjenkins9427]

This song follows the story that columnist Lewis Gizzard's in his comedy album back in the 80s. My grandparents talked about sitting up with the dead back in the dead.

[@Renovion]

yeah sitting up with the dead was a real thing, especially in smaller rural areas where there wasn't a morgue or funeral parlor to store the body before burial.

[@bandit252-]

Recommend you listen to "Sittin up with the dead" by Jerry Clower. It isn't a song, but it is a funny story.

[@bonniewilhelm8295]

I’m from NC and yes they did sit up with the dead in the living room

[@amykienitz6311]

Another weird occurance was family members would take photos of the dead in the casket, and put them in family albums. I can across a lot of black and white photos of dead relatives in caskets in living rooms in the hills of Kentucky when looking at family albums.

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

I don't think I ever saw pics like that in family albums on my NC side or my WV side. - Keith

[@cricketpitts3744]

Another good song

[@margaretsimmons1598]

Another good one “I’m My Own Grandpa”

[@stevebournite184]

They have reacted to that song on the channel already

[@marshacaperton5315]

It was common practice until the late 60s. Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia. Alabama, & Mississippi were very rural areas.

[@evelyncarter6040]

We did this in southern WV! You guys are sooo young! 😂

[@tracylamb2971]

Great reaction.. the song IS funny as Hail.. AND sitting with the dead was (IS) I tradition in some cultures. I know doing it in the home might just a Southern tradition or just because of the lack of close mortuaries.

[@brianbridges7150]

Love the channel guys. Great song and artist to react to. Unfortunately that type of music isn't around much anymore. But I know how much you loved Randy Travis and he had a song kind of in the same vein called "Pray for the Fish". You'll love it.

[@d.t.r.8036]

In my genealogy hobby, I've seen many an obit/death notice from ages ago where the deceased are stated as being laid out at the family home and even some points when the funeral is held at the home, before burial in the family plot/cemetery (usually very near by if not actually on the same family property) --- and not just in southern states either. I don't know about staying up all night, but I don't think I'd be able to sleep knowing there was a corpse in another part of the house, so it would make some sense to me.

[@amandareeves7797]

Maybe the face in the window was Uncle Fred 🤣🤣🤣💀🪦🧟‍♂️

[@stevebournite184]

So Keith and Dustin were sitting up with Dead Fred

[@amandareeves7797]

@@stevebournite184 🤣

[@stevebournite184]

@@amandareeves7797 lol

[@stevebournite184]

@@amandareeves7797 at least they didn't run from the house and fall in a grave lol

[@amandareeves7797]

@@stevebournite184 they ain’t skeered 😂

[@bidwell13]

Uncle Fred acted in a lot of the Ernest movies. Around Christmas time you should check out Ray Stevens “Santa Claus is Watching You”

[@jasonk.3182]

Now we got a song reaction, whiskey reaction, and an potential intruder reaction. Seems fitting to me. Kinda surprised you didn't bring one for Dustin though.

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

Dustin suffered no lack of suitable equipment. - Keith

[@stevebournite184]

Lol I think the song got them jumpy and scared a little lol

[@Kat._Blue]

LOL I wouldn’t want to be the potential intruder. Even though I guess it was just the storm that made you a little jumpy. 😂

[@stevebournite184]

​@@BourbonCountryReacts I am surprised you didn't come out in flak vest and Kevlar helmet lmao😅

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

@@Kat._Blue That was a minor reaction. A serious reaction involves all the lights going off, night vision going on, and "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" blaring at carrier deck jet operations decibel levels. - Keith

[@aaroncoffman88]

Another great song of his, "The Bricklayer's Song," was based on an urban legend so popular the Mythbusters tested it

[@mcmneverreadsreplys7318]

Yes. sitting up with the dead was (and in some areas still is) a real thing; it's where the term "a wake" came from.

[@cheyanne8706]

I've never heard this Ray Stevens song before. It was pretty funny. I hope you all stayed safe during the storms. I'm an hour away from Carmel. We had a tornado on the ground that was heading straight towards my city last Friday. They classified it as an F2. They say it lifted right before it hit the city but we had quite a bit of damage.

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

Yeah, that was the night this was recorded. At least one town was leveled. - Keith

[@I_give_up_already]

Have the you heard the term wake? They used to have wakes before funeral!

[@karensantiago5183]

I can say that sitting up with the dead still exists in Louisiana

[@scook5193]

Absolutely a real thing a few years back, not so much anymore.

[@Paulaisaacs.]

I live in ky and my mom said she did that as a kid

[@timeforchange3786]

Yes! People sat with the dead because they used to find scratches under the lids of coffins where people were buried alive and tried to get out.

[@Gangster456777]

You two should react to three more songs from Ray Stevens.... the first one is "Shriners Convention" it sets the scene for the next two songs then the next one is "dudley dorite(of the highway patrol)" then "bubba changed his name to Charlene" thanks that's all I really enjoyed his music

[@lisaray9944]

Yes it was disrespectful to leave the dead alone …. That’s what we where taught .

[@terereynolds698]

As a retired Funeral Director I’ve taken the deceased to the homes for religious reasons, traditions, our industry is very conservative, but I found this video hilarious

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

I'm sure you've seen your share of oddities over the years. - Keith

[@terereynolds698]

@@BourbonCountryReacts yes sometimes you can mistake grief for happiness. I’ll explain, an older man had just lost his wife, he was inconsolable, he had been married for 60 years, finally through his tears he said you don’t understand, I put up with that woman for 60 years now I’m free and now God can put up with her for an eternity. We didn’t know what to say.

[@BourbonCountryReacts]

@@terereynolds698 OMG that made my morning. Hilarious! - Keith

[@revonakers9232]

Ray Steven's was great you should check out Jerry Clower

[@cindyphifer970]

Love Ray. You used to be able to sit up all night at the funeral home here. I don't know if it still occurs or is allowed

[@1lthrnk]

Well they did do this but they also had morticians or undertakers prepare the body because it was too far to take the body in to town. Sitting up with the dead is done in some places in the south and appellations

[@janihensley5306]

In Ky it was done

[@generichardson4771]

If you haven't yet check out the streak and everything is beautiful

[@sandralorenz1796]

You need to check out Hudson & Laudry's "Ajax Liquor Store".

[@lindatuttamore8676]

I grew up in Northern Ohio and my family was from Appalachia and we sat up with dead up here. We brought my dad home in 97 and my grandparents were laid out in their church and we sat up with them. No one thought anything of it, because in my area of Ohio it was full of hillbillies that followed rt 23 north for jobs.

[@davidpressley3451]

East Tennessee here my granny told me about how they used to sit up with their dead kin folk.

[@sandilar]

Wow... thunder outside now as I listen to a few month oollfid

[@rhondaserges5136]

Ojibwe sit with their deceased until the funeral. I sat with my cousin Valerie the night before her funeral.

[@ladyred56]

It definitely can happen after working in Long term care for 30 years I’ve seen some crazy shit especially on night shift 😂

[@ilovemyboyfriend5425]

im from N C now living in arkansas nc is the south well were i was from we were mt people lol

[@jeffrolfes7938]

It was totally normal back in the day. 😮😂

[@carlprince2866]

Good call Keith

[@taz598]

LOL you don't see this much anymore but yes sitting up with the dead was a normal thing at one time because in rural areas there wasn't a funeral home to send them to.

[@lauramyers7926]

That's where the term "going to a wake" came from.

[@dianewillson1289]

Ray Stevens had some songs that were funny as hell. The subjects are all weird, streaking, etc. Yup southern all the way!

[@jessebaggs3694]

I'm 62 and I know they used to do it back in the day, I don't know about now, I went to one when my aunt died when I was 10, it was not something I enjoyed.