# Your funeral song **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827 "2015-02-04T18:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/61 "2015-02-06T03:32:52Z")
I’ve always thought the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony would be a great a funeral song. But not for me. I don’t want a funeral. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/62 "2015-02-06T04:07:16Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > “How Can I Keep From Singing” That’s one of mine too! Love Divine, All Loves Excelling How Can I Keep From Singing the aforementioned Sing With All the Saints in Glory ---
**Author:** ![ch51](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ch51/32/3111_2.png) [@ch51](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ch51)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/63 "2015-02-06T04:20:09Z")
John Prine - Please Don’t Bury Me Woke up this morning Put on my slippers Walked in the kitchen and died And oh what a feeling! When my soul Went thru the ceiling And on up into heaven I did ride When I got there they did say John, it happened this way You slipped upon the floor And hit your head And all the angels say Just before you passed away ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/64 "2015-02-06T11:32:48Z")
I won’t be having a funeral, just a cremation and ash scattering, and probably there won’t be anyone there except my nephew and his wife…but I would like them and, if there’s anyone else there, to raise a glass or two afterwards. I’ll probably steal some of the lovely pieces of music mentioned upthread, if they’d like to play something that sums me up and sends me on my way, but I’ll add this bit of fun: Chandler Travis Philharmonic [Chandler Travis Philharmonic / Bob What's-His-Name - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuPOi-BvmR0) ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/65 "2015-02-06T11:38:27Z")
> [@bunyupp](#): > > [Shirakuen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAO9fTK2KGU)(Corpse Paradise) by Shiki∞Project. Do you have a translation for the lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/66 "2015-02-06T11:39:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I did one of those doofus surveys, it told me my dirge was written by Mr. Idle: _Always Look on the Bright Side of Life_ That’s what I told my (now ex-) wife to play at mine. She said she wouldn’t do it. My idea is to have that song played as I’m lowered into the ground. As far as funeral services, I’ve said many, many times that I want everyone to have a Comedy Central-type Roast, where everyone is fair game, including myself. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/67 "2015-02-06T11:47:36Z")
D’oh! Forgot to add George Harrison, All Things Must Pass. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_N.Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Guy\_N.Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_N.Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/68 "2015-02-06T15:16:18Z")
I choose “It’s a Small World (after all)”. Serves everybody right. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/69 "2015-02-06T15:28:39Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’d like to have [Ripple](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUIjh8j_aDI) by the Grateful Dead. Love that song. I may have to add it to my funeral list. I’m having “More Than This”. I prefer[the Roxy Music version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9PAuWV-Vn0), but the 10,000 Maniacs version is fine, too. > [@](#): > > I could feel at the time > There was no way of knowing > Fallen leaves in the night > Who can say where they’re blowing Followed by “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, which will horrify some family and to which my friends will sing along. ---
**Author:** ![bunyupp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@bunyupp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bunyupp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/70 "2015-02-06T16:48:31Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Do you have a translation for the lyrics? Lyrics to “Shirakuen” (from this [website](http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/shikiproject/rasakura/shirakuen.html)) “Don’t leave me”, you whispered in my ear Your sigh drips on my neck as if you’re licking me On the windowsill is an abandoned, candy-coloured spider lily now dead When I touch it it feels like my dried up heart Now, without a sound…" ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/71 "2015-02-06T17:09:01Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > Followed by “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”, which will horrify some family and to which my friends will sing along. In a chart compiled by a recent survey of UK funeral directors, this was #1 > **[Monty Python tune tops funeral songs](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-30143250)** > > Monty Python's Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life has become the most popular tune to play a UK funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/72 "2015-02-06T17:41:01Z")
It’s gotta be something by Nick Cave, with [_Lay Me Low_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhPU6jEwUl4) being the obvious choice. Or maybe I’ll get cremated, and have my friends and family sit through the full 15 minutes of [_Babe, I’m on Fire_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsBJ62jSCl0)? Or I’ll really make them feel it with Diamanda Galás version of [_Gloomy Sunday_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qu7wdUPnas) (aka the _Hungarian Suicide Song_). > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Or _Hell Broke Luce_. Or _Singapore_. > > Okay, fuggit. Just play the entire Waits catalog and serve a hell of an endless buffet. Or, hell, that’d work too. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/73 "2015-02-06T20:54:59Z")
**DO NOT POST FULL LYRICS TO SONGS,** this is against the rules. I have taken out many of the full lyrics posted in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/74 "2015-02-06T21:14:56Z")
Wake me up before you go go. It’s ironic and I don’t want people to linger so it would clear them out fast. Or people can dance. I don’t care. I would be dead and don’t have to listen to it. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/75 "2015-02-06T21:43:05Z")
As a first stab at trying to come up with a funeral song for myself, I came up with this one. It’s mostly because I think the song is beautiful. It’s more about life than about death, but I think that’s a good thing. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6RHTb-WE4zo/hqdefault.jpg "Van Morrison - Into The Mystic") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RHTb-WE4zo) ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/76 "2015-02-06T23:08:36Z")
I have argued with my husband about this! I want a marching band playing Rock & Roll Part 2 - or some other 70s rock anthem. He thinks I am kidding. I am not. Just donate a few hundred to a local high school with a decent marching band and have them show up at the cemetery in full regalia. If the cemetery objects, spot them another few hundred. It shouldn’t be that hard! I have promised to haunt him if he doesn’t. You all are my witnesses. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/77 "2015-02-07T01:23:24Z")
Burn by John Wesley Harding off his Awake album. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/78 "2015-02-07T01:44:26Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > “Amazing Grace” sung to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun.” I’ve got you _so_ beat. “Amazing Grace,” sure, but with the wealth of tunes in ballad meter (8.6.8.6), it would be a shame to settle for just one. First two verses: to the tune of the “Leave It To Beaver” theme. Second two verses: to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel.” Last verse: to the tune of the “Gilligan’s Island” theme. My survivors will be talking about that one for as long as they survive. 😃 On a related, um, _note_, during the Christmas season, I have a fondness for singing “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” - to each other’s tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/79 "2015-02-07T02:22:00Z")
Until just recently, I had never heard a song that said to me “This is what I want people to hear and think of me after I die.” Because, as it turns out, the song had not existed until just recently. I wish to go out to OneRepublic’s “[I Lived](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KINfQbfZwik)”. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827/80 "2015-02-07T02:56:22Z")
**Going Home** , the end theme from _Local Hero_ Simply a perfect piece of music. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-funeral-song/711827.md?page=5)