Choosing A Pop Record for Funerals and Memorial Services by Alexis Andrews - November 25, 2008 Choosing pop music for a funeral is an interesting debate My friend George didn’t mean to be morbid when, during a coffee shop get-together with me and three other friends, he raised the subject of what pop record we would like to be played at our respective funerals. We were, after all, talking about deaths, and George’s favorite comedy actor Reg Varney – of the On the Buses fame – had just passed away. “My man Reg had probably chosen beforehand something like Come On and Tickle My Fancy,” George thought out loud. “Or something obscenely sarcastic, since he is after all British.” I didn’t nod my head in agreement but I was indeed very much aware that more and more funerals and memorial services were being conducted to the soundtrack of pop records – you know, secular songs. These days, hummed hymns and ceremonious, ambient sounds just don’t cut it anymore. After that conversation, absurd as it was, I began to think seriously about what kind of music I would like played at my funeral, even though I obviously won’t be alive to witness and hear it. Most probably it will be either of the two songs below (if my final wishes are to be honored): Someday We’ll All Be Free by Donny Hathaway. Released in 1973 from the Donny Hathaway album Extension of A Man under the Atco record label, this single is perhaps the soul singer’s most important song. Taking into account the circumstances in which the song was written, other people may talk about it being about freedom and the rights of black people in America. But that doesn’t bother me. Moving, soulful, passionate, Someday We’ll All Be Free is one song that gladdens my heart and takes me to a sort of higher ground whenever I listen to it. In My Life, but not the original done by the Beatles. Being that I am from a newer generation, I prefer the cover of bicoastal Canadian musician Allison Crowe. Her truly heartfelt version, which appears in the 2004 expanded version of the Tidings album, brings me to tears, with its almost percussive piano playing and the raw emotion that characterizes Crowe’s magnificent vocals. This of course is subject to change; I’ve got the rest of my life to finalize my decision. Certainly it won’t be any of the ones that many dying people these days are requesting, no matter how meaningful the song might be in expressing grief and loss and the end of a fulfilling life. Take George, for example: he chose Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers. My other friends were similar in making the popular choices. Michael selected Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler; Stephanie chose Candle in the Wind by Elton John (“But this song has been played to death after many deaths!” I had protested); and Wade was torn between With or Without You by U2 and Angel by Sarah McLachlan. Other pop records that came up in the conversation were: Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, "One Sweet Day" by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban, and every or any Enya record from every or any Enya album. What about you? What pop records would you request to be played at your funeral or memorial service?  Subscribe to Latest Articles

1 Response

Mark Leam March 11, 2009 11:51 PM I think I would go for Pink Floyd's "Time" as an opportunity for those present to reflect on the short time we have and how we might continually use it wisely and not waste the small amount we have.

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