Ever think what music you want playing at your funeral?

[rurallib]

I was talking with Mrs. Lib the other day.
For goodness sake I don't want any sappy funeral dirges, Amazing Grace or religious music of any kind.
I would like some good '60s protest songs like the Fixing To Die Rag. Some Beatles, certainly some of Paul Simon's wonderful poetry.
No doubt some Dylan.
Golden Slumbers - the song I sang my little girls to sleep with for years.
I could probably make a long list. I don't want folks to cry, but to remember the times I was deeply involved in.

For some reason, my FIL's funeral floats through my mind. The family had picked some religious number that I doubt he even had heard himself.

[William769]

1. Sorry but this is the kind & style I want.

[nolabear]

10. Oh yeah! I've seen them in the Quarter many times!

She freaking ROCKS. And the kids are talented and adorable. And I'm right there with you. Cremate me, give me a kick ass second line and dump me in the river at the foot of St. Ann.

[unionworks]

2. Darkness, Darkness

...The Youngbloods




...extended version.



...I want to hear the guitars crying. Cheaper than paying mourners.

[klook]

3. "Neptune, the Mystic"

from "The Planets" by Gustav Holst. It's ethereal and beautiful, one of the most mysterious pieces ever.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

4. .

Or maybe

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I'd kind of like Bach's B Minor Mass.

But I don't think that will happen.

Otherwise, the Prayer of St. Gregory by Alan Hovhaness:

or maybe something by Vaughan Williams, like The Lark Ascending

&feature=related

or, just for the hell of it, this:

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[ohiosmith]

6. No funeral. No music. No memorial service. No grave. No headstone.

When I'm done stick a bone in my bum and let the dog bury me.

[GoCubsGo]

29. Me, too.

Only, I want to be cremated, and have my and my kitties' ashes turned into a block that goes into an artificial reef. If somebody wants music, they should play whatever makes them happy. I won't be there to hear it.

[emilyg]

7. Cremation. Anything from Cats.

[Electric Monk]

8. Moxy Früvous - The Drinking Song

[MiddleFingerMom]

48. Thanks... I haven't thought of Moxy Fruvous in WAY too long.

.
.
.
My roommate outside of Philly turned me on to them after seeing them headline at the Philly FolkFest
one year.
.
Geniuses -- and very, very funny.... though I think Gulf War Song is my favorite.
.
.
.

[Broken_Hero]

9. Metallica

full cd's, starting with Killem All through Death Magnetic.

[zanana1]

26. Well that does it. I'm not going. nt

[jberryhill]

11. Inna Gadda Da Vida - album version

[RZM]

12. Bagpipes, no question. I'm going to go with 'Skyeboat Song'

[PassingFair]

28. "The Dark Isle"

[GreenPartyVoter]

40. Lovely! I want bagpipes too. See post 38.

[GreenPartyVoter]

39. Beautiful! I'm also opting for bagpipes. See post 38.

[Son of Gob]

13. Party Hard, on a loop

[Kaleva]

14. If I hear music at my own funeral, somebody is gong to die.

[guitar man]

15. This

&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[Arctic Dave]

16. Just put my iTunes music on random.

The soundtrack to my life.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

17. We played Little Wing by Hendrix at my Daughters memorial service

I still go to a very distant place every time I hear it.

All of my cats got very loud and long send offs to Wagner, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Orff, Delibes or bagpipes depending on their personalities.

Personally I don't really want any recognition of my passing, but if someone insisted, then I'd suggest "I can hear music" by the Beach boys.

[harmonicon]

18. I can only assume...

the air will be full of sweet laments composed and sung by many many beautiful women.

[Doc_Technical]

19. Procol Harum

[Kablooie]

20. Casper the friendly ghost.

[Codeine]

21. Cannibal Corpse. Whichever song most closely approximates my cause of death.

Will it be "Hammer-Smashed Face"?

"Meathook Sodomy"? (God I hope not!)

"Living Dissection"?

"Split Wide Open"? (Ewww.)

"Beheading and Burning"? (Honestly, this sounds quickest. Let it be this.)

[raccoon]

22. "Don't Worry, Baby," by the Beach Boys. nt

[Lastsongster]

23. My Last Song

Love this subject...and started a website called My Last Song to promote the music we want played, not that others choose. I mean, how many of my friends would understand if hymns were played at my parting when they knew I want a party!?
There's a fave five section where visitors send in their fave five farewell songs. Feel free, but you have to give a few words to explain why...

[zanana1]

24. Ripple. Definitely Ripple. nt

[rug]

25. Three Little Birds

[HappyMe]

30. Absolutely!

[av8rdave]

27. I want that Vera Lynn song, "We'll Meet Again"

It was used to great effect at the end of "Dr. Strangelove."

Runners up would be "Happy Trails" or Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy"

[gratuitous]

31. Contact a local congregation

Most churches have bodies of Elders or Deacons, and they have little packets of "end of life" information. One of the forms in the packet is basically your wishes for your memorial/funeral. Who do you want to make some remarks? Are there any favorite readings you'd like to have read? What biographical information do you want in the order of service? And, of course, the music.

If you think you might die someday, it's good to take a couple of hours ahead of time to set out how you'd like to be remembered.

[hobbit709]

32. a little Blind Gary Davis

&feature=related
and my favorite 13th Floor Elevators song

a little Bob Marley

and the Doors

[HopeHoops]

33. FREEBIRD!!!

[kwassa]

34. Stairway to Heaven?

[SwissTony]

35. Tom Waits' entire catalogue

My kids hate Tom, so I think they should suffer. As soon as the service is over, they'll probably stick all the albums through a shredder.

Alternative: Thea Gilmore. Love the woman. With a fair bit of Mieka Pauley as well. (Thanks to the DUer who first mentioned this wonderful woman).

[hifiguy]

36. Yes' "To Be Over"

and Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending."

[TrogL]

37. Messaien

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. Same as what was played at my Dad's. (See videos inside.)

These are not from the actual funeral. Just bits I found on YouTube.

1) 25 seconds in on this one:

2)

[NightWatcher]

41. GD: Black Muddy River from their last show w/Jerry

And a version of I Will Take You Home with Brent on vocals.

[Glorfindel]

42. The Rolling Stones- "You Can't Always Get What You Want"

Of course.

[EastTennesseeDem]

59. That was played at my grandma's.

Supposedly there are several lines in that song that related to her life. A lot of the people there were laughing at quite a bit of the song, particularly the line "My favorite flavor cherry red." Of course me being 14, I didn't really get it. But it was sweet nonetheless.

[Chan790]

43. Frequently.

As an atheist that strongly believes in the importance of rites to the surviving, I've though about this extensively. Not only have I chosen the music, I wrote the proceedings and chose the speakers and readings for my secular funeral.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Can't find a YouTube video with sound quality that does justice to it, but

William Henry Harris's setting for double choir of John Donne's poem:

Bring us, o Lord God, at our last awakening
Into the house and gate of heaven.
To enter into that gate and dwell in that house
Where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling
But one equal light
No noise nor silence but one equal music
No fears nor hopes but one equal possession
No ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity
In the habitations of thy glory and dominion
World without end, amen.

It's one of our anthems for this coming Sunday.

Another favorite is the Domine Deus movement from Bach's Missa Brevis in A Major, BVW 234. I love the interplay between the violin and the bass soloist.

[unionworks]

45. '60s Funeral Song

[unionworks]

46. Lay Down

[femmocrat]

47. "Losing My Religion" (by Dia Frampton) if I had to choose one.

I don't even want a funeral though. Definitely NOT "Amazing Grace". I can't stand that song.

Tell my kids, OK? Thanks!

[Mendocino]

49. Peer Gynt-Edvard Grieg

Sweet Thing-Van Morrison

El Condor Pasa-Simon and Garfunkel

Mr. Tambourine Man-Dylan

I Wasn't Born To Follow-Byrds

I Shall Be Released- The Band

And not at a funeral, more like a Memorial service

[tjwmason]

50. Oh yes, very much so.

Organ Prelude - Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle, O. Messiaen

Mass setting - Requiem Mass of 1605, T.L. da Victoria

Plainchant setting of the Dies Irae as it's not included in the above

Coffin carried out to plainchant In Paradisum

Organ voluntary - The Last Judgment, N. Hakim

[DFW]

51. I want the option

....of changing it during my funeral if I suddenly decide I don't like what I selected beforehand.

[geardaddy]

52. This song

http://www.jukebo.com/toots-and-the-maytals/music-clip,sailing-on,q5rkfs.html

[geardaddy]

54. I had a girlfriend who had them play "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

for her mom's funeral.

[deutsey]

55. Little Martha by the Allman Brothers as an opener

I love acoustic guitar and this tune in particular always captures the way I feel when I'm glad to be alive on a nice, summery day.

In My Life by the Beatles

Dead Flowers (Big Lebowski version by Townes Van Zandt) as the closer

There'd be others in between but I can't think of them at the moment (heading out to lunch).

But I have thought about this ever since attending a friend's memorial service where his family selected and played music that he liked in between giving their spoken remembrances. It was very moving.

[CBGLuthier]

56. Terry Riley's In C

Followed by Reich's It's Gonna Rain

Finish with Tomita's version of Uranus from Holst's Planets

That should clear the room nicely.

[DutchLiberal]

57. 'Trying To Get To Heaven' by Bob Dylan

Nobody better pick 'Knocking On Heaven's Door'; that is so cliché! Unless they use his 1994 MTV Unplugged version, that's cool.

&ob=av2e

[Danmel]

58. I love Doreen

My daughter goes to Tulane & I've seen Doreen a number of times. I would want her to play I'll Fly Away. But I am Jewish & we really don't do music at funerals.

[The empressof all]

60. If It Be Your Will and Closing Time

Both by Leonard Cohen

[Capt. Obvious]

61. Going Out In Style by Dropkick Murphys

[rppper]

62. norwegian death metal.....

that way only my true friends and family will stay......open dish dinner and drinks at the end.....with normal music of course...i want a celebration not 100 or so depressed, drunken irish hoodlums moping around...

[BrendaBrick]

63. Not really...but good question!

...Though I think I'd like to start it out with this: (cranked up to the MAX, btw)

&ob=av2e

...Given that - Kind of, sort of, begs the question:

Uh hum - with all THAT said: I'd Follow that up by this little quirky number:

Followed by a somber instrumental:

Re-energized with this: (another one to FULLY CRANK UP!!!)

(On edit - everybody - on your feet!...nobody watchin' )

OK. Settle it down a notch or two: Prelude to the end: (So this IS love?)

Finally, the bottom line...what it all really and truly all boils down to is nothing more/less than basically this:

http://vimeo.com/8189067

Embrace these precious, few *moments* before you and I are really...(welp) all of us are basically (let's face it...in
the end) worm food ~

NO REGRETS Ya'll....while the blood still runs warm in your veins...after that? Guess what? (shrug)

Too late.

Love somebody? - right here? - right now? - tell 'em. Because, ya know - tomorrow just might be too late.

Bottom fricking line, ya'll


no regrets...

[Throckmorton]

64. Mike and the Mechanics N/T

[erinlough]

65. My List

here is my list in this order:

Secret of Life, James Taylor
Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen
Carry me on My Way, James Taylor
Bye Bye Blackbird, Joe Cocker
Lullaby, Billy Joel
What a Wonderful World, BB King
Dance Me to the End of Love, Leonard Cohen
Simple Kind of Man, by my son
Mad World, Michael Andrews
Lose Yourself, Selected of God Choir
Here and Heaven, from the Goat Rodeo with Yo Yo Ma
Danny Boy, The Chieftains
Put on a Happy Face, James Taylor and Tony Bennett
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Cat Stevens
Golden Slumbers, The Beatles
In My Life, The Beatles
See That My Grave is Kept Clean, BB King

Its not that I’m weird, I recently lost three family members in two years and was asked to pick out music for their funerals. It got me to thinking about what I would like.

[Zorro]

66. Nature Boy

Nat King Cole

[applegrove]

67. I love the Beatles "Golden Slumbers". I think of my grandmother and cry when I hear it. She was so

strong and so frustrated when she hit 90. And so ready to die. And she lived for another 13 years. Lived in 3 different centuries she did. I was devoted to her as a kid, teen, young adult. When i hit 25 I realized I had been not living my life for myself and started to pull away from her. Then I had to move away. I regret so much that I didn't stay focused on her. She has helped me out in my life immeasurably.

[sakabatou]

68. "Blue" - Yoko Kanno

[MrSlayer]

69. Slayer - Hell Awaits

For obvious reasons.

[Ship of Fools]

70. Ricard Strauss' Metamorphosis (23 solo strings)

First saw it performed as a student at Aspen Music Festival
in my teens -- has been my all-time favorite ever since.

[LeftishBrit]

71. I don't want a funeral at all

Donate my organs, cremate the rest of my body, register the death with the necessary authorities, and that's that.

My family including me are a bit odd about not wanting our deaths ceremonialized.

But, to be a bit flippant, if I did have a funeral, I think I might want this traditional song:

ISN'T IT GRAND TO BE BLOODY WELL DEAD?

Look at the coffin, with golden handles
Isn't it grand to be bloody-well dead?

Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody-good cry
And always remember: The longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody-well die

Look at the flowers, all bloody withered
Isn't it grand to be bloody-well dead?

Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody-good cry
And always remember: The longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody-well die

Look at the mourners, bloody-great hypocrites
Isn't it grand to be bloody-well dead?

Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody-good cry
And always remember: The longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody-well die

Look at the preacher, bloody sanctimonious,
Isn't it grand to be bloody-well dead?

Let's not have a sniffle, let's have a bloody-good cry
And always remember: The longer you live
The sooner you'll bloody-well die

[Major Nikon]

72. I want everyone to pass a blunt around and play this song...