Putting the “fun” in funeral music

I want a soundtrack for my funeral and if I don’t compile it myself then I’ll end up with a bunch of mushy crap like Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World and a bagpipe version of Amazing Grace. Both songs are good -I like Louis Armstrong and if I have to hear wining bagpipes then it might as well be Amazing Grace- I just don’t want that cliché sap bringing down the guests at my funeral. So I put 30-minutes of research into a list of songs that I want played at my funeral. Of those 30-minutes, 15-minutes were spent looking up lyric urls.

~ Redemption Song, Bob Marley: It’s, like, about redemption and it’s, like, Marley doing a great Bob Dylan impression.

~ Tommorrow is a Long Time, Bob Dylan: A song about loss sung by Bob Dylan, himself.

~ Castles Made of Sand, Jimi Hendrix: Impermanence and tragedy packed into a nice electric guitar bong. At this point, I’m going to bring the guests to tears with three depressing songs in a row.

~ Beneath the Surface, GZA/Genius: A cool song about finding purpose within one’s life despite the overwhelm nature of the universe.

~ Astronomy Domine, Pink Floyd: Even though Wish You Were Here is my favorite Pink Floyd song ever, I just can’t put it on this list. The trippy Astronomy Domine steps in to pinch-hit for Wish You Were Here. Besides, all those acidheads attending my funeral will be peaking on LSD right about… now.

~ Ramble On, Led Zeppelin: Forget the whole “the journey is a destination in and of itself” theme and all those J.R.R. Tolkien references. I just dig the background beat that sounds like someone is beating sticks together.

~ For Whom the Bell Tolls, Metallica: Two lines in this song make it a mandatory addition to my funeral. “Take a look to the sky just before you die / It is the last time you will.” I love my self-evident prophecies of doom to come with a heaping side order of cheese and corn.

~ C is for Cookie, Cookie Monster: It just feels right to follow up Metallica with Cookie Monster.

~ Super Bad, James Brown: Even in death I’ll be a super bad brother!

~ Twelve Jewelz, Gravediggaz: Time to clear the house of close-minded anti-rappers. Those who stick around will be treated to the unparalleled free flow of the RZA as he succinctly dissects the multifaceted elements of existence and the 12 jewels of life.

~ Three Little Birds, Bob Marley: This is my fucking theme song for life, man.

~ It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, Bob Dylan: Citing precedent, I must follow Marley with Dylan. This song has it all, including orphans with guns and empty-handed armies.

~ White Room, Cream: I need someone to explain to me what the hell this random song is about. I will die an unfulfilled man if I don’t figure it out. As I lie there dead in my coffin and you stand there whispering the meaning of the song into my non-functioning ears, be sure to place my hand on your butt for one last ass-grab before the coffin closes.

~ Silent Lucidity, Queensryche: “I will be watching over you” …Yeah, especially when you’re in the shower. Heh-heh.

~ In My Life, The Beatles: A nice retrospective on life in general.

~ Restless Farewell, Bob Dylan: It’s like this: You gotta do what you gotta do in life and as long as you’re comfortable with yourself and your actions, then you’ll be all right.

I believe it took me more time to type this up than it did to come up with the play list, so hit me with the obvious funeral songs that I overlooked in my haste.
...and so it was written, shenry at 7/02/2003 03:19:00 PM.
...and so it was appended with .