Time to Say Goodbye, by Sarah Brightman
(I prefer the solo version to the duet with Andrea Bocelli)
Well, I’m religious, and will have a by the book funeral out of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. So it will be hymns, Praise to the Lord the Almighty, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Thine is the Glory, and A Mighty Fortress is Our God(Hey, I was raised Lutheran, so having* that* one is almost a requirement!).
But if there would be secular music I think I would second Orual’s earlier suggestion of (Don’t Fear) The Reaper. Maybe for a wake afterwards, although kids these days(and you get off of my lawn!) might not recognize the classics. 
Seeing as I’m just as happy to be chucked into a ditch as anything else, I’ve not really given any thought to what I’d like played at my funeral. I suppose whatever anyone I’ve left behind wants would be what’s played. However, I always thought that slipping finally out of consciousness would be infinitely cool if done to R.E.M.'s “You Are The Everything.”
At my funeral, I want my surviving relatives to play “China Roses” by Enya, followed by “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. But, for the love of Og, let them stay away from “Amor Eterno,” which seems to be almost required at the funerals of Latinos I’ve attended. I hate that damn song!
Yes, I’m serious. My parents are religious and they’ll (hopefully) preceed me to death, but everyone else who knows me would smile at it.
John Rutter’s Requiem
What did you have in mind, gladiatorial combat? Now that’s old school.
As far as tunes, I’d like to see a funeral service incorporate this.
Australia by The Shins. What it lacks in sombre, it makes up for in how much it’s meant to me over the last year or so. Generally, the sombre supplies itself at funerals anyway.
I’m so serious about this that I’ve told a couple of people and am thinking of writing a note and slipping it in with my will. It’s not that I intend to die anytime soon, but it’s one of those things that’s a little difficult to arrange after the fact should the unexpected happen.
Thanks Moderators.
If I Ever Leave This World Alive by Flogging Molly.
Oooh! Oooh! Me, too!
I have a thing for Requiems. I guess it’s not realistic for me to expect everyone to sit through the ENTIRE Rutter, Brahms, Fauré and Mozart Requiems. So if I have to limit it to one piece from each, it would be:
“The Lord is My Shepherd” from Rutter
“Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras” from Brahms
“Libera me” from Fauré
“Lachrymosa” from Mozart
I also want “The Long Day Closes” by Arthur Sullivan. In 2007, I had the opportunity to sing a really wonderful American folk hymn arranged by Alice Parker for the Robert Shaw Chorale, “Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal.” I’d like that, too, please.
Why Me? Johnny Cash on the American IV CD.
On Funerals–Richard M Nixon–suggestions for:
Kathy’s Song, Simon and Garfunkel.
And Schubert’s Ave Maria. My sister sang it at our grandmother’s funeral-and you could hear her voice trembling. She said she’ll never do another family funeral again.
(Hey, want me to ask my dad about any odd music he gets at funerals?)
I agree, but bagpipes were designed to strike terror in the hearts of your enemy.
I wonder if The Mutineer could be played on the bagpipes?
I think I’d like “O Death” by Ralph Stanley. My snarkiness wants “You Make Me Wanna Die” by Soft mp3 here or “People Who Died” by the Jim Carroll band mp3 here, but I think I’ll be able to resist. Though I probably wouldn’t mind terribly if someone else (a male someone else, of course) requested “I’m Stretched On Your Grave” by Sinéad O’Connor. You know, unless it’s a stalker.
Benedictus from Mozart’s Coronation Mass . It’s not really funeral music but hey, it’s “classical” and sounds suitably sombre.
[bagpipe nerd] or El Alamein played as a lament [/bn]
REM’s Everybody Hurts.
I attended a funeral where they played Don’t Worry, Be Happy, I may stick that on the wish list just to mess with people’s heads. I knew the guy quite well and could laugh without guilt - it was what he wanted.
“Anywhere I Lay My Head” by Tom Waits.
I don’t know if I’d actually do that though. I just went to my first funeral a few weeks ago and we all sang Amazing Grace. It was comforting. That might be nice at my funeral, and maybe even with bagpipes.
Dead Man’s Party by Oingo Boingo