# Top 10 Funeral Songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353 "2006-10-05T03:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/1 "2006-10-05T03:50:15Z")
Now, some of these songs I can see being played at a funeral. But others? (List snipped from a Reuter’s Oddly Enough story, available [here](http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-10-04T044025Z_01_L02365268_RTRUKOC_0_US-BRITAIN-FUNERALS-1.xml&WTmodLoc=OddNewsHome_C2_oddlyEnoughNews-3).) 1 - “Goodbye My Lover” - James Blunt 2 - “Angels” - Robbie Williams 3 - “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” - Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley. 4 - “Wind Beneath My Wings” - Bette Midler 5 - “Pie Jesu” - Requiem 6 - “Candle In The Wind” - Elton John 7 - “With Or Without You” - U2 8 - “Tears In Heaven” - Eric Clapton 9 - "Every Breath You Take - The Police 10 -“Unchained Melody” - Righteous Brothers. Numbers 7 and 9 are the two that make me go “Huh? Does no one listen to lyrics any more?” “With Or Without You”? I can’t help but see this initially as either a) you’re now dead so I’ll kill myself now or b) I’m dead and soon you will be as well. “Every Breath You Take”? Even Sting has said this is a song about stalking! (Braiiiiins…) :eek: (Or necrophilia, in which case it’s still :eek: ). Anyone else find anything odd about this list? Any songs that you wouldn’t be caught dead (sorry) listening to? * * * \<\< Cars can smell it when you have money–computers can smell it when you have time. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/2 "2006-10-05T04:14:20Z")
Well, I don’t know all these songs, but I want Sympathy for the Devil at mine, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/3 "2006-10-05T04:59:48Z")
Some of these choices really suck. Remind me not to die in Britain. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/4 "2006-10-05T09:32:49Z")
I heard that list the other day. How can “Every Breath You Take” fit in- they have stopped taking them. I went to a funeral a few months back. The deceased was a Barry Manilow fan. The music was appalling. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/5 "2006-10-05T09:34:44Z")
Wot? No “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”? _Heathens._ ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/6 "2006-10-05T11:58:28Z")
“Stairway to Heaven” and Sarah MacLachlan’s “In the Arms of the Angel” didn’t make it either? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/7 "2006-10-05T12:20:15Z")
Where is **Highway To Hell**? ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/8 "2006-10-05T12:21:06Z")
Almost all of those make my stomach turn. _3 - “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” - Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley._ NOBODY puts Baby in the casket. Errr, corner. _4 - “Wind Beneath My Wings” - Bette Midler_ For one thing I hate this song with passion unspeakable. Well, that’s the only thing, really. _6 - “Candle In The Wind” - Elton John_ Original = good. Remake = OMG TEH VOMIT!!!11! I might consider it if it were done like a comedy bit I’ve heard a few times. \: Goodbye \: my wife Susan!" _7 - “With Or Without You” - U2_ As soon as “And you give yourself away…and you give yourself awaaaay…” came on I would start laughing like an idiot. Even if I were the corpse. _8 - “Tears In Heaven” - Eric Clapton_ For no apparent reason, this song fills me with HATE and RAGE. _9 - "Every Breath You Take - The Police_ Okay, if they were showing, saw, “Dawn of the Dead” in the funeral parlor, I’d let them play this. I like that zombie angle. _10 -“Unchained Melody” - Righteous Brothers._ Eat a dick. You’re going to keep hungering for that touch for an infinitely long, lonely time. Get used to it. Now me, I’d like my service to start with “Dancin’ Fool” by Frank Zappa and end with “I’ll Be Mellow When I’m Dead” by Weird ASl Yankovic. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/9 "2006-10-05T12:44:48Z")
[QUOTE=FriarTed] “Stairway to Heaven” and Sarah MacLachlan’s “In the Arms of the Angel” didn’t make it either? [/QUOTE] I’ve never understood the use of Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel”, either. Unless, of course, the deceased is a rock star who died of a heroin overdose. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/10 "2006-10-05T14:15:33Z")
My dad wanted Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” played at his funeral. Mom declined. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/11 "2006-10-05T14:39:37Z")
_ **Freebird!** _ Would probably bad to stand next to your sister-in-law at your wife’s funeral while playing Love the One You’re With. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/12 "2006-10-05T14:44:12Z")
If your man died in a Camaro accident on his way to the state fair, it’d probably be appropriate to lay his satin jacket on the casket while they play Freebird. Would probably be a good test of things to come to stand next to your sister-in-law at your wife’s funeral while playing Love the One You’re With. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s That Smell wouldn’t be the best choice either. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/13 "2006-10-05T14:45:54Z")
Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/14 "2006-10-05T14:54:32Z")
[QUOTE=No Me Ayudes Compadre] If your man died in a Camaro accident on his way to the state fair, it’d probably be appropriate to lay his satin jacket on the casket while they play Freebird. Would probably be a good test of things to come to stand next to your sister-in-law at your wife’s funeral while playing Love the One You’re With. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s That Smell wouldn’t be the best choice either. [/QUOTE] Wonder if that’s what great-grandpa José did… nah, the song hadn’t been written yet! His second wife, my great-grandma, was the next-younger sister of his first. “Every breath you take” is also a favourite for weddings. People absolutely do NOT listen to lyrics. Many people have asked me to translate a favourite English-language song of theirs and been sadly dissapointed when they found out what it was about (things like upbeat-sounding songs that happen to be about beating the wife). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/15 "2006-10-05T15:08:56Z")
“The Party’s Over”? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/16 "2006-10-05T15:27:54Z")
“Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz? “Hell” by Squirrel Nut Zippers? “I’m Only Sleeping” by The Beatles? ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/17 "2006-10-05T18:03:29Z")
[QUOTE=flodnak] Wot? No “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”? _Heathens._ [/QUOTE] I am so tempted to make this the one they play at my funeral. Knowing my luck, by that time most people will go ‘Eh? Never heard of this song.’ ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/18 "2006-10-05T18:16:33Z")
I want _Judy Garland - Get Happy_. I think I take the largest issue with “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life”. I can just imagine planning out Aunt Betsy’s funeral when one of my socially-retarded cousins chimes in with, “Hey, remember Dirty Dancing? Lets use THAT song!” Considering my family’s taste in music, I’d better get on making my own funeral mix cd now. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/19 "2006-10-05T19:16:26Z")
When they say “Every Breath You Take” is there any chance they’re talking about the Sean Combs tribute song to Biggie Smalls based on “Every Breath You Take?” > [@Wikipedia](#): > > During the summer of 1997, Combs released his debut album, No Way Out, which featured Wallace on a number of songs, notably in the chorus of the single “Been Around the World” over a David Bowie sample (“Let’s Dance”). However, the single that carried this album to the top was “I’ll Be Missing You,” which was dedicated to Wallace’s memory. The song featured Puff Daddy, Wallace’s widow Faith Evans and 112. The song sampled The Police’s hit song “Every Breath You Take.” All these artists performed the song with former Police vocalist Sting during the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353/20 "2006-10-05T19:25:46Z")
_Knock three times - whoever it was_ Extra points if you can get a stonking great subwoofer _inside_ the casket. _Going underground - The Jam_ _Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown_ _Living in a box - Living in a Box_ For the Aunty who was always afraid of being buried alive. And finally the old soldiers melody _“I am H.A.P.P.Y”_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-10-funeral-songs/375353.md?page=2)