# What song would you want played at your funeral? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905 "2002-07-14T08:25:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/41 "2002-07-15T00:22:16Z")
“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell. I think it accurately portrays my take on life, how I’ve lived, and what mattered most to me. “Smile” by whoever sings that song (I usually sing it myself in the shower.) The one that goes, “Smile, though your heart us aching, smile even though it’s breaking. When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by, if you just smiiiiiiilllle.” Definitely a message I believe in. And finally, “Expression” by Salt N Pepa. Hell yeah. “Life is all about expression. You only live once and you’re not coming back, so express yourself.” ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/42 "2002-07-15T01:09:24Z")
“Brokedown Palace” by the Dead for the service. “Baby Elephant Walk” for the recessional. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/43 "2002-07-15T03:24:44Z")
_Get Over It_ by The Eagles ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/44 "2002-07-15T03:37:14Z")
No specific song preferences, but I definitely want bagpipes at my funeral. No other instrument on Earth has quite the solemnity that bagpipes do. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/45 "2002-07-15T03:48:28Z")
“What about “Naughty Girls Need Love Too”? I forget which artist sang it. But I like the title.” I believe that gem’s by Samantha Fox. And it’s true! ---
**Author:** ![hegel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hegel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hegel)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/46 "2002-07-15T04:14:31Z")
the bagpipe song. i want that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/47 "2002-07-15T04:47:23Z")
"No More I Love Yous’ by Annie Lennox ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/48 "2002-07-15T04:52:20Z")
The theme from **The Flintstones**. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/49 "2002-07-15T21:35:59Z")
Eleanor Rigby. The Long and Winding Road. Imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/50 "2002-07-15T21:44:09Z")
I want “This Party Sucks” by the Slickee Boys played at my wake. As for the funeral itself I would like my pallbearers (while carrying the coffin) to do some synchronized fancy footwork to the tune of “Soul Man” by The Blues Brothers. Then I want the guy who announces stuff on M_A_S\*H to say “That is all” just before everybody starts to walk back to their cars. ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/51 "2002-07-15T22:37:08Z")
I’d like it to be a song that won’t even be written for another 50 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/52 "2002-07-15T22:38:58Z")
“Under the Ivy” by Kate Bush… unless I think of something else. But that’s been my song of choice for many years now. After that song, something uplifting, perhaps one of my own songs. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![scott\_evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@scott\_evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scott_evil)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/53 "2002-07-15T22:43:20Z")
Actually, after “Under the Ivy,” maybe “Seasons of Love” from RENT. Followed by one of my own songs… I’m so vain. I probably think this funeral’s about me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/54 "2002-07-15T23:09:14Z")
I’d like a large choir (or recording of a large choir) singing only the first and last verses of my church choir director’s extremely stirring arrangement of “Amazing Grace” and a gospel song called “God Is” that was also performed at my father’s funeral. In fact, that’s all I want my funeral to be – those two songs performed, and statements from anyone who wants to speak. No formal eulogies, no reading of my obituary, none of the maudlin stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/55 "2002-07-15T23:39:48Z")
_Believe_ by **Savatage** (It’s not so much about believing in a God, as it is about believing in yourself. Well, it’s a mix… kinda like me) > [@](#): > > I never wanted to know > Never wanted to see > I wasted my time > Till time wasted me > Never wanted to go > Always wanted to stay > 'Cause the person I am > Are the parts that I play > So I plot and I plan > Hope and I scheme > To the lure of a night > Filled with unfinished dreams > And I’m holding on tight > To a world gone astray > As they charge me for years > I can’t pay _Bravado_ by **Rush** > [@](#): > > And if the music stops > There’s only the sound of the rain > All the hope and glory > All the sacrifice in vain > And if love remains > Though everything is lost > We will pay the price, > But we will not count the cost 'Nuff said. And to top it all off, _Ode an die Freude_ from **Beethoven** ’s **Ninth**. Not a dry eye in the house, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/56 "2002-07-16T04:28:54Z")
“I Like Beer” by Tom T. Hall. "Last night I dreamed That I’d passed from the scene And I went to a place so sublime All the water was clear And tasted like beer" ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/57 "2002-07-16T04:38:06Z")
Assuming I’d be leaving behind a broken-hearted husband or boyfriend, I’d want " Gone Away" by The Offspring. Otherwise maybe “When we pretend that we’re dead” by L7. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/58 "2002-07-16T07:14:45Z")
Since somebody already mentioned “Always Look On the Bright Side of Life,” how about “The Universe Song” or whatever that one is called? “Watermelon in Easter Hay” by Frank Zappa. Probably also “What’s New in Baltimore?” and maybe “Sofa #2.” “Across the Universe” by the Beatles. “Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight?” by Lonnie Donegan and his Skiffle Group. “Holiday For Strings” by Spike Jones and his City Slickers. And maybe Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.” ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/59 "2002-07-16T08:11:44Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Coldfire_ > **Believe by Savatage > (It’s not so much about believing in a God, as it is about believing in yourself. Well, it’s a mix… kinda like me)** I love those lyrics, Coldy, but aren’t they from _When The Crowds Are Gone_? As for my choice, I have a few I think would be nice. _In My Hour Of Darkness_ by **Gram Parsons** ; _Exodus_ by **Fates Warning** ; _Transcendental Blues_ by **Steve Earle** ; and _Afterhours_ by **The Velvet Underground**. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905/60 "2002-07-16T08:27:02Z")
Tango Till They’re Sore - Tom Waits Hmmm…Afterhours is a good choice too- haven’t I complimented you’re musical taste before, Henry? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-song-would-you-want-played-at-your-funeral/118905.md?page=4)