Funeral Blues and piano in a collection of settings of Auden poems under the title "Cabaret Songs". "Funeral Blues" is copyrighted by the Estate of W. H. Auden. According to The W. H. Auden Society, only Random House, Faber & Faber, and Curtis Brown Ltd. can give permission to reprint the text. It is the English contribution to the statue commemorating the Heysel Stadium disaster, where a retaining wall collapsed, resulting in 39 deaths on 29 May 1985, when Liverpool F.C. played Juventus FC in the European Cup final. The poem is read in its entirety in the 1994 British romantic comedy
Blues Funeral announcing that "Blues Funeral" was due to be released worldwide on February 6, 2012. The album was made available for pre-order on iTunes and domestic versions of the album on CD and double LP were made available through the 4AD Store and Amazon. Physical versions of the album were released a day later than the digital release. On January 21, 2012, Amazon previewed thirty-second clips of each songs on the album and on January 31, "MOJO" made the album available for stream in its entirety. A two-leg tour was planned to accompany the release of "Blues Funeral" throughout spring 2012.