I agree with PaulBobbyBuzz - I want 'For a Dancer' at my funeral too. That and 'Homeward Bound'

Of course, I frequently change my mind which ticks off my Husband, who is not Davetnova. He says I should keep a list posted on the refrigerator door and cross songs out or add new ones as the spirit moves me, sort of like a Grocery List. There is a "Songs I want at my Funeral' Thread somehwere here on Mudcat and I believe I posted this there too.

For A Dancer is just so perfect because it addresses both the finality and mystery of Death whilst encouraging those left behind to dance their sorrows away, to 'cast some seeds of their own' and to make a 'joyful sound.'

I really wish I had known that song when I was younger. We lost a number of dear friends in a tragic accident when I was a teen and I was asked to perform at the Memorial. We had a rough time getting through the songs chosen because they were so overwhelmingly sad. It was hard on the congregated mourners to see the kids leading the service break down during the songs. Of course, I doubt any Funeral for 16 year olds can be anything less than profoundly sad. Even so, I would have liked to have left them at the end of the service with a song like "For a Dancer' that exhorted them to go and DO something besides cry.

I think that's what the OP was referring to when they posted this thread - songs that cause the mourners to find some useful outlet for their grief or songs that can simply comfort them and make them feel less alone in their loss.

If you've never heard 'For a Dancer' or if it's been a very long time since you've heard it, seek it out. It's on Jackson Brownes CD LATE FOR THE SKY and Linda Ronstadt does a decent cover of it on THE WESTERN WALL CD. You never know when you might need a song like this.