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iwombat - 2007-05-05 12:44:45
Bill Viola, speaking of Tristan and Isolde, said that it was a love story, a story of desire, but more so it is a story of a desire for death, the love being so great that only the transcendance of this mortal coil (he didn't say "mortal coil" but I can't resist) could allow for it's full expression and realization...
I'm not telling my personal date with the reaper...but it's closer, closer, Closer...
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Greg - 2007-05-05 21:08:55
A small circle of friends and I have in the last few years made a very serious "funeral song pact." For example, one friend, who has already had a rather serious bout of colon cancer is promised "In My Hour of Darkness" either played live or done karaoke style with the original. My personal choice is either Wall of Death or Fairport Convention's Meet On The Ledge (which I couldn't find a link for). We got fairly well slammed for being morbid, but it wasn't arranged in that light at all, but rather in the light of celebration of our friendships and all we've shared.
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Philip - 2007-05-05 22:36:11
I'm a little surprised that an open invitation to let the world know what songs you'd like played at your funeral hasn't turned into one of those 75-comment posts. Such possiblity! And so potentially revealing. (Jethro fucking Tull!)
At the moment, I'm personally torn between alive rendition of "To Sir, With Love" (not sure who should sing it...hmmm...) or just blasting the "Only the Lonely" version of Sinatra's "One More For the Road."
(I'm not torn at all, however, about what I think is the best song I know of, bar none, in the "ode to dead friends" category: "Back on the Chain Gang.")
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Baby Party - 2007-05-05 23:15:56
Laughing very hard here at "To Sir, With Love."
I'm partial to Shiver Me Timbers by Tom Waits. For the ode to dead friends category, I nominate Nick Drake's Fruit Tree.
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grigorss - 2007-05-06 03:09:39
Philip: please do not f**k w/ the Mighty J. Tull so brazenly -- personally I would have Ralph Vaughan Williams "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" on an endless loop at my own funeral; (St. Louis Symphony, Slatkin conducting, please); it kind of says it all, IMHO
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Philip - 2007-05-06 06:48:33
grigorss: Although you are right to surmise they are not exactly my cuppa tea, let me assure you, that was the "f**k" of happy surprise, not derision.
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Paula - 2007-05-06 09:04:46
Well, my funeral songs are not so much about death but about rebirth, and are all rather uplifting, cuz I want to have a happy wake.
And the Tull song, yesterday, after a lifetime of listening to it, sounded newly like a song about death and rebirth.
The CCR song is vague--it's hard to tell what the lyrics are really about but I've always thought it's about perspective and the complexity of love and emotions. But more importantly, it's a beautiful song and one of the first songs on earth I ever remember hearing on the radio, so there's a nice symmetry.
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Greg - 2007-05-06 21:38:02
Paula--first song you can recall hearing on the radio is a topic unto itself. I don't know if I can remember the first, but there are definitely a few from my elementary school years that stand out--riding in my stepdad's 65 Impala with the AM radio on--probably Nancy Sinatra, Jose Feliciano, Petula Clark, The Association. Re funerals and wakes: There seems to be a very formalized approach to loss and mourning that is often at odds with the way the deceased has lived. And of course it's my own vanity but I'd hope that my own will be at least a little goofy, very irreverent... but mostly, I'd like my friends and loved ones will all hoist at least one jar in celebration that they're still alive. There has to be music though, and lots of laughs... perhaps I should have chosen S.O.D.'s Ballad of Jimi Hendrix.
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Joe - 2007-05-07 13:37:44
Ian Anderson was all about death at that point of Tull's career. The preceding album A PASSION PLAY is about the tedium of the Afterlife. Heady stuff - not for the faint of heart (or ear).
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jon der neathica - 2007-05-08 09:25:08
My funeral playlist: "Loving Arms" by Etta James; "Whispering Pines" by the Band; and "Running from Mercy" by Rickie Lee Jones.
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amatt - 2007-05-08 12:47:14
Greg, Meet On The Ledge comes into my head virtually ever day of my life, and I haven't heard it in years.
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Dave - 2007-05-10 13:58:22
Family Reserve by Lyle Lovett is my fave funeral song, though I once played it at a wedding.
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Greg - 2007-05-11 15:33:45
Dave--Family Reserve makes me snort every time I hear it.
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