Funeral music - competition winners

Here are the other four Funeral Music competition winners:



Johan writes about Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles:

I was singing/whispering it to my mother a lot in the last months before she passed away (..it's all right...) so we decided to end her funeral with this song. While everybody was following the coffin at the end of the 2hr ceremony this song played and because it was an exceptional beautiful day in Belgium, everybody was walking into a very hot sun, clear skies.. a very, very beautiful moment how weird that might sound...
I wouldn't mind having a funeral ceremony like that ending on a positive note.

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Ken writes about Find the River by REM:

It’s funny, but when the subject of funeral songs comes up in conversation, the first response you get is usually along the lines of “I’ve actually thought about this quite a bit.” – And since it’s your last chance to make a statement of sorts, it should be carefully chosen…and it’ll probably change from time to time.

For me, right now, I’d choose “Find the River” by rem, taken from their album Automatic for the People (the whole album deals with issues of life and death, its very good).

The song is a quiet and reflective, but it’s ultimately more hopeful than melancholy. It uses a flowing river as a metaphor for the passing of life. The image is one of a solitary soul floating down a river watching his life pass before his eyes, throwing aromatic fruit and spices as if he was sowing seeds. The river flows toward its inexorable but natural end at the ocean, just as life flows toward inevitable death.

"The river to the ocean goes, a fortune for the undertow. None of this is going my way. There is nothing left to throw of Ginger, lemon, indigo, coriander stem and rose of hay. Strength and courage overrides the privileged and weary eyes of river poet search naivete. Pick up here and chase the ride. The river empties to the tide. All of this is coming your way."

The repeated use of the phrase "nothing is going my way" is a reminder that the journey of life, especially at the end, is one that everyone takes alone.

A final brilliant aspect of "Find the River" is the way that it ends ... unexpectedly ... almost suddenly ... with all the loose ends left untied..,just like life...
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Almie wants Bowie's Oh! You Pretty Things on her funeral:

I would want "Oh! You Pretty Things" by David Bowie to be played at my funeral because I think it's important to remind people how pretty I was. Sure, the song has a beautiful melody and inspired lyrics ("Homo sapiens have outgrown their use") but ultimately it's really rubbing it in that my friends and family have lost someone really, really ridiculously good looking.

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Gary wants Richard Harris' McArthur Park:

I've already chosen the song - and told my wife who keeps conveniently forgetting: Jimmy Webb's magnum opus "McArthur's Park" as sung by Richard Harris. No words, no tears just the full seven minutes 31 seconds. And if anyone asks "what does he mean by 'someone left the cake out in the rain' " I may return briefly :)

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Niagara - La fin des étoiles


And finally, the only French entry, La Fin des Etoiles by Niagara, requested by Anna Maria:

I want Niagara’s ”La Fin des Étoiles" played because it’s a very sombre and moving song. The lyrics are a bit vague but poetically speaks of being gone when the stars go out. It’s a reverie for the end of time itself in my interpretation. Muriel Morenos’s sense of drama really should make stones weep. I want weeping stones and grand gestures for my funeral song so that’s apt.
If I’m allowed one more song it can be Frank Sinatra’s “My way”, it has its origins in a French song and the words are suitable since it is a great song to exit on. It was played at my father’s funeral and really suited him. It does suit my goals to at least try to do things my way if possible, so it should fit me as well.