Inappropriate funeral songs

Subject: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Clontarf83
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 01:35 AM

A friend of mine went to England recently to arrange a funeral service for his aunt (yes, she was dead already). The Minister showed him a database of music to choose from. As they discussed options my friend asked the Minister what was the most unusual request he has seen. He replied that one family asked for "Smoke gets in your eyes". In the spirit of this wonderful choice can you think of any other dodgy funeral songs?

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Gweltas
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 02:51 AM

Ring Of Fire ?

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: sandinmyears
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:15 AM

How about "Finnegan's Wake?" ;)

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:32 AM

When my late father's second wife finally shuffled off this mortal coil in 1999, I could think of no more appropriate song than Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead, but her family never told me the damned old harridan had croaked - I found out after the fact through the Internet.

My other thoughts are unprintable.

Jay

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: BrooklynJay
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:39 AM

A minor correction to the above post: He passed in 1999, she descended to the Fiery Furnace in 2009.

Of course, there's always I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You.

J.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:48 AM

Keith Marsdens 'Funeral Song'

Dave H

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: JohnH
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:01 AM

An aunt of mine was dispatched to the strains of "Come Fly With Me."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:01 AM

For Mother in laws

" Always look on the bright side of life"

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Acorn4
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:02 AM

Queen: "Another One Bites the Dust".

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:30 AM

Really LTS on the sofa....

The Who singing 'I'm free'.... whether he wants it or not.

LTS

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 05:15 AM

"Isn't it Grand to be Bloody Well Dead"!

"Why Build a Wall Round a Graveyard, When Nobody's Trying to Get In" Leslie Sarony

Don T

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Splott Man
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 05:28 AM

Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye.

I believe Light My Fire is actually quite popular.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: TheSnail
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 07:09 AM

Not a funeral but an obituary on BBC Radio 4 for Alma Cogan. They decided to play one of her hits, "Dancing Cheek to Cheek". I couldn't find a recording of her doing it but here's Frank Sinatra giving it a go. You couldn't have a better opening line.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 07:49 AM

We were just discussing this last weekend (at a 100th birthday party) when my sister told us that she had been to a funeral where they played Elton John's "I'm Still Standing"

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 08:34 AM

I Got Life, Going Underground, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life (it's used regularly) Ring Of Fire

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Fred McCormick
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 09:46 AM

When Jim Peden, of Calton 3, Steampacket etc shuffled off this mortal coil it was to the tune of When You're Smiling.

I wonder how Natchez Burning would go down?

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: MartinRyan
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 09:50 AM

When Tom Munnelly, the great Irish song collector, was buried, his coffin left the (borrowed) church to the strains of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. Groucho Marx also had a bit part in the service, which Tom himself had planned.

Regards

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: autoharpbob
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:05 AM

I am going to my step-fathers funeral on Monday. We were not close but I will pay my respects. The music chosen has been nothing to do with me - and I don't know how I am going to keep a straight face.

We go in to the RAF March Past.
Then "What a wonderful World" - Louis Armstrong
Followed by "Going Home" sung by Andrew Johnson(??) Yes - the Hovis advert!
Then Hayley Westenra singing "Heaven"
And we leave to Kathryn Jenkins singing "Time to say Goodbye"

I kid you not.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Nicholas Waller
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:17 AM

"Grave New World" by the Strawbs? They also did songs called "Burn Baby Burn" and "Burning for Me".

"Autopsy" from Fairport Convention.

"The Unquiet Grave" ("a young man mourns his dead love too hard and prevents her from obtaining peace").

Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole".

Pink Floyd are good value, though often their titles are deliberately death-oriented rather than accidentally so, so probably a cheat for the purpose of this game. Still:

"Is There Anybody Out There?"
"Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up"
"Comfortably Numb"
"Absolutely Curtains"
"Waiting for the Worms".

Playing Alex Harvey's "Gang Bang" at a funeral might raise eyebrows, even though the lyric is clearly set after the loved-one's passing away and appears to have some of the characteristics of a heartfelt funeral oration.

LOOK AWAY NOW!

Warning: 70s sensibilities at play!:

There once was a woman with wings
Happy with the simple things
She had silk suspenders and high, heeled, stocking thighs
Helping me in my need
She was a friend, indeed
She was my baby until the day she died

Ain't nothin' like a gang bang
Ain't nothin' like a gang bang
Ain't nothin' like a gang bang to blow away the blues.

She was a woman who was twice my size
She looked into my eyes
She said "Only you can blow my blues away"
She said "I'll tell you what to do
Bring all your friends with you
And you can come up and see me any ol' time of day"

Ain't nothin' like a gang bang
Ain't nothin' like a gang bang
Ain't nothin' like a gang bang to blow away the blues.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: mauvepink
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:20 AM

When Obit: Martin Baker R.I.P (3 June 2010) died suddenly last June the local folk world went into meltdown. All those who knew Martin were really hit hard. This was a man who was adopted by folkies but only generally played country and let us all know it too! He was irreverent, controversial, witty, but also quietly very kind and very loved.

Right to the end Martin loved to shock...

You should have seen the Priest's face as the curtains were falling over Martin's coffin at the crematorium...

People started clapping, slapping hands and stamping feet. Not a dry eye in the house, mostly coupled with laughter and smiles... as we all joined in with Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"

It was Martin all over...

I hate funerals. They are necessary for us to be able to say goodbye BUT, as funerals go, Martin's is memorable not just because of sad memories but also because it was the only one I have been to where there was so much smiling and laughter. He had us laughing right up to the last second...

Hope you do not mind me sharing that

mp

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,Jonny Sunshine
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:27 AM

I heard a friend-of-a-friend tale of "The Wicked Witch Is Dead" being played accidentally when the deceased had requested "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" (also from The Wizard of Oz..) and the person cuing the CD had got the track number wrong.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:51 AM

When I go I think this would be good!

John Prine

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: goatfell
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 11:03 AM

my way

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: ClaireBear
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 11:20 AM

Hmmm...how about "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road," or maybe "How Can I Miss You if You Won't Go Away?!"

Or perhaps, "Hit the Road, Jack."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 11:48 AM

Whiter Shade of Pale.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Bernard
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 02:45 PM

I'm having John Kirkpatrick playing 'Blaze Away' at mine...!

I remember a funeral where they were playing songs by Gracie Fields... by an amazing coincidence, the song that started as the curtains closed in the crematorium was 'Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye'!

It was a cassette tape started from the beginning, so I doubt someone did it on purpose, especially as it had only been handed to the staff as the mourners were arriving.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: ClaireBear
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 02:53 PM

Ooh, I've just thought of another one:

Eric Bogle's "(You've been a) Bloody Rotten Audience."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: ClaireBear
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 02:57 PM

Mea culpa -- Tony Miles' "(You've been a) Bloody Rotten Audience," as recorded by Eric Bogle.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Amergin
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:04 PM

Bugger Off

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: ClaireBear
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:04 PM

"Take This Job and Shove It"

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,Arthur_itus
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:09 PM

When my father passed away, I decided that "The Carnival Is Over" was very appropriate and got my mother's OK
We didn't let the curtains close and everybody put a rose on my dad's coffin to the sound of "The Carnival Is Over"


Fire by Arthur Brown seems very appropriate for a cremation.

Fire (Pointer Sisters)

Fire Brigade (Move)

Fire In the Hole (Steely Dan)

It isn't the cough that carries you off
It's the coffin they carry you off in.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Art Thieme
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 03:19 PM

I once sang Froggy Went a-Courtin' at a funeral----also at a wedding. Everybody is dead after all is sung and done. Some thought it just fine---but others didn't.
I loved it!
Art

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Weasel
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:40 PM

At the opening of the funeral service, a friend of mine's coffin was carried down the aisle to the strains of the intermezzo from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet - the effect was truly pythonesque. She left the church to Mendelssohn's Wedding March having endured "Come Back to Sorrento" and Joplin's "The Entertainer Rag" along the way.

She was 17 years old. The point was, that she was a dancer and these were all pieces to which she had danced professionally in her final year of life.

As for my own funeral - it is already down in writing that I should be carried out to "Nellie the Elephant" and my closest friends all have copies of the music.

All the best,

Weasel.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,Kate ward
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 04:40 PM

As a funeral director, I've been asked for, "Burn, Baby, Burn", "Fire!", by Alice Cooper, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", to name but a few!!!! Horses for courses, I say!!

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: oldhippie
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 09:24 PM

We're A Long Time Dead - Jim Haynes

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Rapparee
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 09:39 PM

"Reveille" would be interesting when played at the grave site....

How about "There's A Place For Us" from West Side Story?

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Effsee
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 10:51 PM

How about "So long, it's been good to know you" from Woody?

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Oremus
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 11:03 PM

I was thinking "Cold as Ice" by Foreigner, or maybe the Stones doing "She's So Cold".

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Clontarf83
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 11:43 PM

Thanks gang--lots of great ideas there... Whiter Shade of Pale --pure genius, as is ring of fire, and and...cheered me up tonight.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,van
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 02:32 AM

Alex Harvey: There's no lights on the Christmas tree mother. They're burning big Louie tonight.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST,Guest Betsy
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 06:24 AM

I would have thought Chris Rea singing " Road to Hell" might slot into this thread

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: BobKnight
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 08:13 AM

At my aunts funeral we were all standing round the graveside. Finally the piper started to play - not some sad lament like "Land O' The Leal" - it was, "Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye,' yes on the bagpipes, then seamlessly into "I'm Nae Awa Tae Bide Awa."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: bruceCMR
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 10:05 AM

A friend of mine is organist at a crematorium. She regularly gets asked for music which seems OK on the surface, but when you look more closely, it's not particularly appropriate.

One common request is the hymn "Colours of Day". Seems OK, until you reach the chorus, which begins "So light up the fire and let the flame burn, Open the door..."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: bruceCMR
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 10:13 AM

She also tells the story of the former Air Force pilot who went out to the strains of the Dambusters March.


Or (jumping from funerals to weddings!) the bride who wanted to walk down the aisle to "the theme from Robin Hood". The bride meant the Bryan Adams "Everything I do" track from the movie. The organist assumed it was the TV theme tune, "Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding Through The Glen..."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 10:19 AM

The story as I heard it was worse than that. The wedding was in the Caribbean, and when the video came back, the substitution had been made.

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: bruceCMR
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 10:44 AM

True Story. Allegedly. The scene is a crematorium in the West of Scotland.


Just before the funeral started, the Son of the Deceased came over to the organist and asked "I was wondering, would it be appropriate if I was to sing at some part of the ceremony?"

The Organist replied that if the son and the rest of the family felt it was appropriate, then of course it was appropriate.

The Son of the Deceased thanked the Organist profusely, saying "It was my mother's favourite song".

"What song is it?"
"The Old Rugged Cross"


The music was found, and at a suitably solemn part of the ceremony the organist played the intro, and the Son of the Deceased started to sing:

"On a hill far away..."

(family all very emotional. Tears in the front row)

"... stood an old rugged cross..."

We don't know whether the singer was nervous, or over-emotional, or perhaps had had a light refreshment beforehand. But within a few bars, he was singing

"..Where the deer and the antelope play..."

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 04:59 PM

How about a few rounds of "Death, Oh Death" by Dock Boggs:

What is this that I can see
With icy hands taking hold on me?

Should cheer every one up!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: HuwG
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 05:09 PM

Howling Wolf, "Smokestack Lightning"!

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: JennieG
Date: 29 Jan 11 - 07:01 PM

This week I attended a family funeral - the woman whose final farewell it was had been a leading light in local amateur musical theatre for a very very long time, among other achievements. There were no hymns or congregational singing - a bit of a surprise, as she had a very good voice and loved to sing - but a cobbled-together choir combined from a few local choirs sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" from "Carousel", and "Wind Beneath My Wings". When the coffin was leaving the church followed by family members and friends a song by The Seekers was played, "It's Hard to Leave". Only problem was, that isn't a very long song.....and the church was packed.......so it wasn't long before the music ended and the rest of the assembled multitude was standing in silence as they slowly shuffled out of the church. Would have been much better had a longer song been played, or had that particular song been padded out with other music.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Inappropriate funeral songs
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 04:33 PM

mentioned above is Going Home
At my brother in law's relation funeral   the tune was played and he (brother in law ) asked his dad why they were playin the Hovis tune.
Because he's Brown Bread was the sarky reply