Life is messy. One minute you’re laughing at a wedding, and the next, you’re hearing about a tragedy halfway across the world. It’s that weird, uncomfortable juxtaposition that makes funny the way it is by dave matthews such a gut-punch of a song. Released in 2009 as the lead single for Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King, it wasn't just another radio hit. It was a comeback. It was a eulogy. It was a massive, sprawling observation of how the world works in contradictions.
Honestly, if you were around for the DMB scene in the late 2000s, you know the stakes were high. The band had just lost their founding saxophonist, LeRoi Moore. People wondered if they could even continue. Then this track dropped. It had that signature Carter Beauford drive—that specific, syncopated snap—and a guitar riff that felt both urgent and strangely optimistic. But the lyrics? They were doing something much heavier.
The Brutal Dualities of Funny the Way It Is by Dave Matthews
The core of the song is built on "this vs. that." Dave writes about the kid who has too much to eat while another is starving. He talks about the beauty of a bright blue sky, then immediately reminds us that a jet plane is "cutting a white line" through it, which sounds peaceful until you think about where it might be going.
It’s not "funny" ha-ha. It’s "funny" as in "it’s strange and kind of messed up."
Most pop songs pick a lane. They are either happy or sad. Funny the way it is by dave matthews refuses to do that. It forces you to hold two conflicting thoughts at once. You’ve got the upbeat, almost pop-rock production handled by Rob Cavallo—the guy known for Green Day’s American Idiot—clashing with lyrics about a soldier's last breath. That’s the point. The music mirrors the chaos of the message.
Why the Production Shift Mattered
Before Big Whiskey, the band had been experimenting. They did the Stand Up sessions with Mark Batson, which were... divisive. Some fans loved the funk, others missed the acoustic complexity. With this track, they found a middle ground. Cavallo brought a "wall of sound" approach. You can hear Tim Reynolds’ electric guitar layering over Dave’s acoustic, creating this dense texture that feels much bigger than their 90s work.
It’s loud. It’s polished. Some purists thought it was too polished for a band that made its name on raw, jazzy jams. But listen to the drums. Carter Beauford is playing like his life depends on it. The percussion is the glue holding the contradictions together.
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Decoding the "GrooGrux" Context
You can’t talk about funny the way it is by dave matthews without talking about LeRoi Moore. He died during the making of the album. The "GrooGrux" in the title was a nickname for the band’s inner circle, particularly LeRoi and Tim Reynolds.
When you hear the line about "walking a mile to take a rest," it hits harder knowing the band was mourning. They were in the studio in New Orleans, a city that knows a thing or two about the line between celebration and sorrow. The song captures that New Orleans spirit—the second line funeral where people dance through the grief.
- The track hit #1 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.
- It marked a return to the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, a rarity for "jam bands" in 2009.
- The music video features stop-motion and gritty urban imagery that emphasizes the "man-made" vs. "natural" themes.
Is It Too Dark for a Summer Anthem?
Some critics at the time, like those at Rolling Stone, pointed out that Dave has a habit of "philosophizing." They weren't wrong. He’s always been the guy at the party who wants to talk about death while everyone else is drinking beer.
"Funny the way it is, not funny ha-ha, but funny strange," he sings.
That line is basically the Dave Matthews manifesto. He’s obsessed with the "Ants Marching" idea—that we’re all just tiny specks doing our thing while the universe spins on. In this song, he scales it up. He looks at global inequity. He looks at the way a phone call can change your life.
It’s a song about perspective. From where you’re sitting, the world might look great. Shift ten feet to the left, or ten thousand miles East, and it’s a horror show.
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The Live Evolution
If you’ve seen DMB live since 2009, you know this song usually shows up in the first half of the set. It’s a momentum builder. While the studio version is tight—clocking in at just under five minutes—the live version breathes.
Rashawn Ross and Jeff Coffin (who stepped in on sax) take those melodic lines and stretch them. The horn section on the live cuts of funny the way it is by dave matthews adds a layer of soul that the radio edit slightly mutes. It becomes less of a pop song and more of a celebration of survival.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Meaning
A common misconception is that the song is purely cynical. It’s easy to hear the lyrics about "the mountain that we climbed now stands filled with names" and think Dave is just being a bummer.
Actually, it's the opposite.
By acknowledging the darkness, the song makes the "sweet" moments feel more urgent. The line "Funny the way it is, if you think about it, one kid's got a snack and the other's got none" isn't just a complaint. It’s a call to notice. To be aware. To realize that your "blue sky" might be someone else's "storm."
There’s a deep empathy in the writing. It’s not a protest song in the traditional sense. It’s an observation song. It doesn't tell you how to fix the world; it just asks you to look at it without blinking.
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How the Song Aged
Looking back from 2026, the track feels almost prophetic. In a world of social media feeds where a tragic news story is sandwiched between a cat video and a luxury car ad, the "funny the way it is" sentiment is our daily reality.
We live in the juxtaposition now.
Musically, the song holds up because it doesn't rely on 2009-specific production tropes. There’s no heavy auto-tune or dated synth-pop elements. It’s a rock band playing instruments in a room. That's why it still sounds fresh when it pops up on a random shuffle. It’s timeless because the human condition—the weird mix of joy and pain—never actually changes.
Actionable Takeaways for DMB Fans and New Listeners
If you want to really "get" this era of the band, don't just stop at the radio single. To appreciate the depth of funny the way it is by dave matthews, you need to hear it in context.
- Listen to the full Big Whiskey album back-to-back. It’s a cohesive narrative about loss and rebirth. The transition from the "Grux" intro into "Shake Me Like a Monkey" and then eventually into "Funny" tells a specific story.
- Find a live version from the 2009 or 2010 tours. Specifically, look for recordings from the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) or Red Rocks. The energy during those first tours after LeRoi’s death was palpable.
- Watch the official music video. It helps visualize the "man-made" versus "nature" themes Dave is obsessing over in the lyrics.
- Pay attention to the bass line. Stefan Lessard’s work on this track is underrated. It’s the heartbeat that keeps the song from feeling too cerebral or floaty.
The song serves as a reminder that life doesn't have to be one thing. It's allowed to be complicated. It's allowed to be "funny." Next time you're having a great day while the world feels like it's falling apart, put this on. It won't give you answers, but it'll definitely give you company.