Column: Funeral Songs

Tony Naylor on The Guardian talks about funeral songs following the publication of a list which showed the top ten most requested at a cemetery in Adelaide and the ten most unusual choices.

Topping the list, naturally, is ‘My Way’, a fairly predictable but solid choice, a decent two-fingers-to-death kind of song saying that I may be dying, but I don’t care because I did everything I wanted the way I wanted. You’ve also got ‘What a Wonderful World’, ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ and ‘Unforgettable’, the latter seeming maybe a little ego-filled but hell, it’s your funeral and if you can’t blow your own trumpet there without fear of consternation then this is indeed a dark world.

Outside of that, there are more modern staples in the UK, most notably ‘Goodbye My Lover’ by James Blunt. All seriousness, I lose it enough to have James Blunt playing at my funeral, kill me again. ‘Angels’ by Robbie is another popular one, as is ‘With or Without You’ by U2. The Robbie one is a little too life-affirming for me (‘I know that life won’t break me’ is pretty redundant when you’re in a box) and ‘With or Without You’, a paean to the difficulties of relationships, it’s a beautiful song but for a funeral… hmmm. ‘Tears in Heaven’ by Clapton is about the only one that makes sense and isn’t overly mawkish, a pretty lovely and heartfelt song about the devastating death of a loved one.