This is apparently one of the, if not THE, most requested pop song at British funerals. It’s a great choice.
I’m saving “Wish You Were Here” for my tombstone, but for the service itself I may take a page from the Andy Kaufman biopic and request “This Friendly World.” Or if enough of my goth friends are still around, I’ll request a singalong to the Nick Cave arrangement of “Death Is Not The End.”
This, so much this. “Amazing Grace” for a start.
“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? [Well] it ain’t over now. . . 'Cause when the going gets tought, the tough get going!” - John Blutarski, Animal House
Tripler
“I’m not dead yet!” - Monty Python
Thank you, that is a decent suggestion that might work.
I cannot use many of my go to lines like:
“You talkin’ to me?” or
“I’m your huckleberry.” Anything that sounds confrontational would be counterproductive and hurt the feelings of any survivors.
Although it is not quite a quote I thought about one that was often quoted years ago that would make any survivors chuckle:
“Rewiring the den - 220, 221, whatever it takes” ~ Jack Butler and perhaps on the same card:
“.38, .39, whatever it took.” ~Caroline Butler
Maybe a few from Dr. Rumack:
“I am serious . . . and please don’t call me Shirley.”
“You can tell me, I am a doctor”
“Steak or Fish? Oh yes, I remember- I had the lasagna.”
One that I really want to put in is a card that says:
“Smokey, my friend, you are entering a world of pain.” ~Walter Sobchak
“I am perfectly calm, Dude . . . . calmer than you are” ~Also Walter Sobchak (A different very stable genius from The United States)
I was really hoping for some words of wisdom, life philosophies that I could interject with an occasional bit of comic relief. Like the line from It’s A Wonderful Life where the angel says: “No one is a failure who has friends.” (I have actually said that about two others during their funeral so I cannot very well use it for myself too.)
There must be a thousand lines I know well that explain the human condition or a significant part of it, but by damn, I cannot think of a single one. For all this time contemplating it, the only line that comes close to meeting the requirement is one I hate: "Life is like a box . . . " (Could not even bring myself to quote the whole thing.)
That however, made me think of one that would be true, AND funny:
“… I’m not sure where I’ll be then Doc, but I probably won’t smell too good.” ~ (again) Dr. Rumack
Wow did I have to scroll to find this thread (turns out I had killed with a stupid hijack).
I remembered one song that always brings a tear to my eye:
I know I want it as part of the loop playing during the wake after the funeral. I wonder if I can find a place to stick it into the funeral service too? I have more than a few older, mildly obscure, secular tunes that would be a good choice for a postlude as folks meander out of the service-- but I am not sure they would fit into a liturgical event otherwise.
For me, two from Alan Parsons: “Old and Wise” and “As Lights Fall.”
Great choices! I’m still dithering.
I know I’m old when I react to the notion that a Kris Kristofferson song is “an old song”.
If it was good enough for George Jones, it’s probably good enough for me.
You better get busy upgradin’ or get busy diein’!
On Angels Wings
See you again - Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth
Ava Maria
“love shack” i think. then, i’m gonna rickroll them.
“Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and this one:
It has a very long instrumental section, but the lyrics that follow (a couple minutes in) are why I want it. It’s kind of a link with my parents and, I hope, my kids.
The theme song of my life, Everything Is Broken. A Dylan song originally but I like the KWS version.
Seeing what a fan I am, find it hard to believe this is new to me.
(One of the comments is “Want this played at my funeral.”)
As you push off from the shore
Won’t you turn your head once more
And make your peace with everyone
For those who choose to stay
Will live just one more day
To do the things they should have done
Either Sid’s version of “My Way”
or E.M.'s “Two Tickets to Paradise”