Monty Python’s “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” recently beat out Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as the song most people choose to have played at their funerals. I’m guessing that we Boomers can take credit for this. Inspired, I asked my Facebook pals to help me put together a play list. “What song,” I asked, “would YOU like to check out to?”
The first suggestion?
“Don’t Fear The Reaper.“
Quickly followed by:
“Only The Good Die Young.”
“Another One Bites The Dust.”
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
“Is That All There Is?”
After that, the suggestions came fast and furious:
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
“Knock Knock Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.”
“The End” by the Doors.
“You’re Going To Miss Me When I’m Gone.”
Some folks seemed to be okay with kicking the bucket:
“Who Wants To Live Forever?” by Queen.
“It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”
“Up, Up and Away!”
“The Best Is Yet To Come.“
Others were less eager to embrace the Sweet Hereafter:
“Stayin’ Alive.“
“Please Don’t Bury Me” by John Prine.
Pearl Jam’s “Just Breathe.”
Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Some wanted to take a last look back:
“In My Life.”
“Days” by the Kinks.
“What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been.”
And of course, there were the jokers who said:
I plan to be cremated, so my obvious choice is “Light My Fire.”
Or, if I can find a leisure suit, “Disco Inferno.”
I’ll be cremated too — I‘m going with Elvis Presley’s “Burning Love.”
Can we choose music for other people’s funerals? Because there are several for whom I’d choose “Dancin’ In The Streets.”
“The Hokey Pokey!” Because that’s what it’s all about.
And the hits just kept on coming:
“Hello, Goodbye.”
“Stairway to Heaven!”
“Highway to Hell!”
“Sympathy for the Devil.”
“Dust in the Wind.”
Loudon Wainwright III’s “Unrequited.”
Some friends, I learned, had actually given this topic serious thought. They reported:
I’ve already asked for Jimmy Buffet’s “It’s Been A Lovely Cruise.”
At my funeral? “In My Life.” The Sean Connery cover. Seriously!
“Queen of the Slipstream” by Van Morrison will play at mine.
My children have been instructed to play “Your Mother Should Know.”
I‘m going with “So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You.”
As for me? I plan to live to 100, after which you can play me out to “Instant Karma.“ Why? Because we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun.
And when I get to Heaven, I expect John Lennon to be there to greet me with “Good choice!”
Previously published on Zest Now
Don’t miss Roz Warren’s book, Our Bodies Our Shelves – a Collection of Library Humor. Available on Amazon.
Roz Warren
Roz Warren writes for the New York Times, the Funny Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Jewish Forward and the Huffington Post. And she‘s been featured on the Today Show. (Twice!) Her 13th humor book, ”Our Bodies, Our Shelves: A Collection Of Library Humor," is available on Amazon.
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Haralee
Friday 22nd of May 2015
Thought goes into these things! When a dear friend was dying she planned her memorial party. Who was invited, food and drink, where, and the music. She was a jazz fan so the background was all jazz but when it got down to the eulogies/stories to set the tone she played Ike and Tina Turner singing Proud Mary. It was perfect!