Funeral Tunes, songs that heal

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Susan A-R
Date: 21 May 00 - 10:58 AM

I'll also go with Hallowell. I also have always loved I Know that My Redeemer Liveth. When a young friend of mine committed suicide, I sang Oh Had I a Golden Thread. When my friend Harlan died last December, they had a jazz band doing Oh When the Saints Go Marching In, starting it slow and winding up rocking. It was amazing.

Sandy, what a list of songs and singers!

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Art Thieme
Date: 22 May 00 - 12:57 AM

I always hoped someone would do a rousing version of "IRENE GOODNIGHT" at my memorial.

Also "Done Laid Around This Old Town Too Long"

and "So Long It's Been Good To Know Ya"

Art

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 22 May 00 - 04:37 AM

I'll do it, Art, if I can manage to out-live you!

Sandy

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Pete Peterson at work
Date: 22 May 00 - 08:49 AM

If you keep staying up till 4:30 AM you might not! (or did you get up early?)

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: mactheturk
Date: 22 May 00 - 06:46 PM

"Give my stomach to Milwaukie, if they run out of beer. Put my socks in a cedar box, just get em' outa' here.

Venus D'milo can have my arms, look out!, I've got your nose. Give my heart to the junkman, but save my love for Rose."

John Prine

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 22 May 00 - 06:51 PM

I never get up early, Pete! Got home late from a surprise birthday party Sally gave for for Howie Bursen and just had to work my way through those fifty-one e-mails. Then to the 'Cat for a break. Got a bit later than I realized. This sportin' life is killin' me!

Sandy

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Ferrara
Date: 22 May 00 - 07:18 PM

For my mom's memorial service we sang "Whispering Hope," "Only Remembered (For What We Have Done)," and "Gathering Flowers for the Master's Bouquet." "Only Remembered" was especially appropriate, because she had probably helped every person in that room in some special way during her life. If a certain song brings the person to your mind, you're on the right track I guess.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: mactheturk
Date: 22 May 00 - 08:25 PM

side-thread, sorry...

The book "Tuesdays with Morrie" is a book that heals. It's been on The New York Bestsellers List for 115 weeks!

Is there something about these times that makes it so popular?

Mac

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Turtle
Date: 23 May 00 - 12:52 PM

How about "Pull for the Shore"?

"Pull for the shore, sailor, pull for the shore
Heed not the rolling waves but bend to the oar
Trust in the lifeboat sailor cling to self no more
Leave the poor old stranded wreck and pull for the shore"

And the last verse, my favorite:

"Bright gleams the morning sailor uplift the eye
Clouds and darkness disappearing glory is nigh
Safe in the lifeboat sailor sing forever more
Glory glory hallelujah pull for the shore"

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Croney
Date: 23 May 00 - 04:11 PM

I like "May the work I have done speak for me.." Jon Fromer, I believe. And I love "Who Will Sing for Me?"--especially the way Merritt Herring sings it.

I also have written a few--

"Credo" from The Long Way Home -

Oh, our lives are lived like a flash across the sky
Let us cherish one another 'til the moment that we die
It is oh, so simple, tho' I did not understand
It is love and forgiveness, and the reaching of a hand

or "Nothing's More Important Than Love" from Lay It Down: Images of the Sacred.

I went out walkin' with a friend yesterday
She was laughing and smiling all the way
I'd come to comfort, she had almost lost her life
But instead she had a few things to say
And she said
Nothing's more important than love in the world
Nothing's more important than love
When it's all said and done and there's no place to run
Nothing's more important than love

Cancer got my mother, and she almost got me
No way to know -- it might get me yet
But my body's been rockin' in the love of my friends
It's a lesson I'll never forget-- and she said
Chorus
What seemed important just a short time ago
Seems like nothin' - just dust in the wind
And I thank heaven for each new day of life,
It may seem simple, but I'll say it again
And she said, CHORUS

This next one has been used on at least two occasions that I've heard of to sing people down as they were dying. It's on my first album Circle Me, Sisters. The tune is very similar to Farther Along.

Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm free
Sometimes I can't break these chains around me
Circle me, sisters
Drink the cool waters
Sing me down softly
Let me go home

If I had the strength, Lord
If I had the time
I learn how to sing, oh, my,
And I'd learn how to fly
CHORUS
But I don't feel like singin'
Got no wings to fly
But if you circle me, sisters
I'll learn by and by
CHORUS

Here's the chorus of "Lay It Down" (on the CD of the same name)--song can be heard on my web site- www.lindasongs.com

Lay It down, lay it down
Let my breast be your pillow, lay it down
Lay it down, lay it down
There is comfort in my arms, lay it down.

I could go on, but I'll refrain. Thanks!

---

HTML line breaks added. -JoeClone 10-Jan-2001

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 May 00 - 05:48 PM

See Tavern 2 thread, I just posted a song there, IN JESUS' LAP. Guess it serves this topic too. I am working on getting a sogfile done so you can hear the tune.

~S~

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: mactheturk
Date: 23 May 00 - 08:58 PM

Hello Linda!

Really enjoyed your lyrics.

Please DO go on.

Thanks...Mac

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Ebbie
Date: 23 May 00 - 11:45 PM

Linda, great songs- moving lyrics. Especially Nothing More Important... Thanks for sharing. Ebbie

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Jon W.
Date: 24 May 00 - 07:44 PM

I was at my aunt's funeral yesterday - we did a great song which I'd never heard before, "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need." It was credited as a Southern Folk Hymn. The whole extended family practiced it on Monday and sang it in the funeral on Tuesday and it was beautiful. After the interment we got together for a family dinner and some of us did some songs - I did "Farther Along" which I learned from a Mississippi John Hurt recording and I like a lot.

Jon W.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Bill H
Date: 25 May 00 - 07:43 PM

Although I must say that to me AMAZING GRACE / TURN TURN TURN/ and Phil Ochs WHEN I'M GONE and NO MORE SONGS have always meant the most to me---I have to add another for the people who attend either a shiva or a wake---Kate Campbell's FUNERAL FOOD.

You know, I think I will have my funeral be a concert---wish I could attend.

Bill H

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 25 May 00 - 10:06 PM

Bill - don't make it on a Sunday when we have a show to do!!

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Bill H
Date: 25 May 00 - 10:46 PM

And, for the show I am risen as always.

Bill

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Utah
Date: 26 May 00 - 01:12 PM

A song sung often at funerals here starts out:"Because I have been given much I too must give." It's a beautiful song.

Subject: Lyr Add: If You Could See Me Now^^
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 11:51 AM

Finally found this. Heard it once late at night, driving across Indihio (or was it Ohdiana), on the radio years ago... looked high and low for it, heard it once more last year, finally this spring I called the local Christian radio station that played it, and they were kind enough to supply lyrics. Recorded by Russ Lee, from an album titled Truth, I believe on Integrity Music. Don't have author name, yet, sorry, but it sings beautifully....

~S~

IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW

Our prayers have all been answered;
I finally arrived.
The healing that had been delayed
Has now been realized.
No one's in a hurry--
There's no schedule to keep--
We're all enjoying Jesus,
Just sitting at His feet...

If you could see me now....
I'm walking streets of gold.
If you could see me now...
I'm standing tall and whole!
If you could see me now...
You'd know I'd seen His face.
If you could see me now--
You'd know the pain is erased.

You wouldn't want me
To ever leave this place.
If you could only see me, now.

My light and temporary trials
Have worked out for my good.
To know it brought Him glory
When I misunderstood!
Though we've had our sorrows
They can never compare--
What Jesus has in store for us
No language can share....

CHORUS, TWICE

You wouldn't want me
To ever leave this perfect place!
If you could only see me now...
If you could see me now--
If you could only see me now.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Bagpuss
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 12:05 PM

Here I am Lord, and On Eagles Wings are two different hymns, but they are both very beautiful.

My sister had "Always look on the bright side of Life" at her wedding - didn't Graham Chapman have it at his funeral?

I know you said no dirges, but I have always liked The Lyke Wake Dirge.

Bagpuss (just a saggy old cloth cat)

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Dragonfly
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 03:39 PM

I second the motion on Merritt Herring's version of "Who Will Sing for Me". For my mother's memorial service we used Forever Young by Bob Dylan, and for my father's memorial we used Across the Great Divide by Kate Wolfe. We used Amazing Grace at both services. Most people know it so even folks who do not usually sing in public join in. Another song I've always liked is Awake, Awake to Love and Work. It is in the UCC Hymnal and would sound great with Sacred Harp type harmony.

Subject: Lyr Add: I Will Meet You in the Morning^^
From: Ebbie
Date: 27 Jun 00 - 10:58 PM

At my brother's memorial service we played a bluegrass cut of a tape he had recorded. And he sang:

I will meet you in the morning on the bright river side
When all sorrows have drifted away
I'll be standing at the portal with the gates open wide
At the close of life's long , dreary day.

Cho: I'll meet you in the morning with a How do you do?
And we'll sit down by the river and with rapture auld acquaintance renew
You'll know me in the morning by the smile that I wear
When I meet you in the morning in that city that is built four-square.

I will meet you in the morning in the sweet by and by
And exchange the old cross for a crown
There will be no disappointments and no body shall die
In that land where life's sun goeth down.

Cho.

I will meet you in the morning at the end of the way
On the streets of that city of gold
Where we all can be together and be happy for aye
As the years of eternity roll...

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Jun 00 - 03:58 PM

Ebbie--

I have that in a songbook, chords too, if anyone wants it.

There is also one like it. THE EASTERN GATE-- "I... will meet you in the morning... just inside the Eastern Gate...."

And "IF WE NEVER MEET AGAIN THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN....."

And "I am going to a city WHERE THE ROSES NEVER FADE....."

~S~

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: mactheturk
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 08:20 AM

When Mom passed away we had a Bagpipe Player perform "Amazing Grace" at the funeral service.

Since then I've become a real fan of the Bagpipe, have one hanging on the wall, in fact, along with a map of Scotland, as we plan our first vacation there this September.

Mac

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,rainyweather
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 11:25 AM

If it is a Christian funeral, LOTS of songs from the Sacred Harp (Denson or Cooper) would be nice, especially "All is Well" (Denson, 122) "China" (Denson, 163) "Christian's Farewell" (Denson, 347) or "Parting Hand" (Denson, 64)- but those are just some of my favorites-! It would be better if you had about 100 howling singers, and put the bereaved in the center of the square, but a quartet could do OK.

There's also "Sweet Beulah Land" (AKA "Beulah Land") which I heard recently sung by a tenor-alto duo. It was shivery.

Subject: Lyr Add: Farewell Anthem^^
From: GUEST,Central NY
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 12:52 PM

If we're talking Sacred Harp, I want Funeral Anthem at my service. Wondrous Love for the non-SH singers. And a 2 day singing so they can do all 250 of my favorties :-) Better make that 3 so there's time for my regular hymn favorites as well.

Words for these & the earlier message can be found at the Fasola.org web site http://fasola.org/index/0Index.html

Farewell Anthem:

My friends, I am going a long and tedious journey,
Never to return. Fare you well my friends,
And God grant we may meet together in that world above,
Where trouble shall cease and harmony shall abound.

Hark! Hark! my dear friends, for death hath called me,
And I must go, and lie down in the cold and silent grave,
Where the mourners cease from mourning and the pris'ner is set free:
Where the rich and poor are both alike.
Fare you well, my friends.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Jon W.
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 01:08 PM

Here's a link to the hymn mentioned by my fellow Utahn above. I we all, including especially myself, applied the philosophy expressed in this hymn, better in our lives.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,DW guest
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 02:20 PM

When my friend Joan lost her daughter to suicide I sent her a tape of Gordon Bok's Turning Toward the Morning. When Bok sings the chorus, "Oh my Joanie don't you know..." in that rich mellow voice of his it is like soothing honey to the heart. My friend Henry sang at my husband's funeral in 1982, "If I were a Troubador." Another song which could be just right for someone is "Fiddler's Green." There is a new recording called "Before Their Time" (CD and Casette) with many of the songs listed here on it. Heard about it on Traditions (WFDU 89.1). Ron Olesko might know the source of the recording. I've sent for it and lost the URL on which it is featured.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 02:33 PM

Central NY, where you at? Husband and I are in N Central PA, an hour south of Elmira. There are Mudcatters in the Finger Lakes and Syracuse. Jam in Syracuse may happen in late July.

Or, are you anywhere near the Amsterdam Deli?

~S~

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE^^^
From: GUEST,open mike
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 06:59 PM

I had such a good reply composed and then it vanished. I will try to recall it: Last fall a friend died in a car wreck. I sang Eric Clapton's No Tears in Heaven for her. (I don't know how I managed--strength from above, I guess!) Also did Poor Wayfaring stranger. Sang this for my elderly uncle last week as well. (Funeral) It can be adapted to fit the person by adding or subtracting verses regarding family members 9 (bro, sis, father, mother) if the person still has these family members surviving, you can put in "I'm goin' there no more to wander, I'm goin' there no more to roam" it rhymes with home.... I also have found a couple of gems regarding the subject of death, but they are better sung before death, as the subject is sort of a "be here now" type deal thus: Give Me the Roses--apparently an old Carter family tune originally composed by a Welsh miner around the turn of the century (from Cornwall)

GIVE ME THE ROSES WHILE I LIVE
------------------------------
Heard on Prairie Home Companion
As sung by
Greg Brown and Kate Mackenzie

  D
  Wonderful things of folks are said,
   A
  When they have passed away.
    D
  Flowers adorn the narrow bed,
  A                      A  A7
  And over the sleeping lay.
  
  CHORUS:
                G                   D                   D
  Give me the roses while I live, trying to cheer me on,
             D                                  A               
  Useless the flowers that you give, after the soul is gone.
  
  
   D                                  A
  Folks are forgiven when folks lie, cold in the narrow bed.
   D                                 A
  Let us forgive them ere they die, now should the words be said.
  
  CHORUS
    D                                 A
  Praises are heard not by the dead, roses they cannot see.
   D                                     A
  Let us not wait till souls have fled, tenderest friends to be.
  
  CHORUS, REPEAT CHORUS

This sort of reflects the sentiments of a tune categorized as an old gospel tune sung by Terry Allen which states:

If you can't give me flowers while I'm living,
Don't stick any lilies in my hands
(Or something like that)

And lastly, the song which is appropriate for so many purposes, an all-purpose song good for weddings, lullabies, birthdays, as well as funerals is Bob Dylan's Forever Young. I once sang it a teen-age suicide victim's funeral---whew!

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Central NY
Date: 29 Jun 00 - 07:33 PM

Praise, I'm a bit new here & not quite ready to join up. Could you take a look at my request in the Song Circle Locations thread & give me dates for July in Syracuse? Thanks.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: bflat
Date: 30 Jun 00 - 07:17 PM

Guest DW,guest,

The URL you referred to is www.beforetheirtime.com

I too, heard it from the Traditions broadcast.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Chris
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 06:26 PM

I'll be there by Escape Club is one of the best songs to help in dealing with death or to play at a funeral in my oppinion. It's important to remember Jesus Christ loves us all very much and will help us in dealing with the death of a loved one and in every day life. All we have to do is pray. The Lord knows our hearts and our every need and desire and will comfort us in our time of need especially!

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 18 Mar 04 - 06:45 PM

I can't believe no-one's mentioned 'Isn't it Grand, Boys' by the Clancy Brothers.

To remind you:

'Let's not have a sniffle,
let's have a bloody good cry,
and always remember the longer you live,
the sooner you'll bloody well die.'

Either that or Sarah Vaughan singing 'I'll be seeing you'.

But do I have to make up my mind now?

Subject: Lyr Add: FOR A DANCER
From: PaulBobbyBuzz
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 12:18 AM

Jackson Browne's "For A Dancer" I've told my wife I want this one for my memorial, and a party it shall be!    pbb

FOR A DANCER

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don't remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you'd always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found

I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can't sing
I can't help listening
And I can't help feeling stupid standing 'round
Crying as they ease you down
'Cause I know that you'd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(Right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(There's nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
(The world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you'll never know

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Bobert
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 06:58 PM

Well, I weren't 'round here when this thread was started but I'd do a couple weepy ones, "Amazing Grace", which I do in open G tuning on a steel bodied resonator, then "Will the Circle be Unbroken" on the Martin in E with satndard tuning and then use "I'll Fly Away" as the song to play as folks file out of the church which ig done in C in standard tuning everyone in the joint can sing along...

If you only have two songs, leave out "Amazing Grace" since it is a tad threadworn...

Bobert

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 19 Mar 04 - 09:25 PM

At my mother's funeral we had "Now thank we all our God": the words are so appropriate for celebrating someone's life rather than mourning their death. The organist also played a selection of her favourite Scottish tunes, including some that had rather hilarious personal stories attached, which some of the congregation wouldn't have known, but we as the family did. My dad requested "Highland Cathedral" which is another amazing pipe tune, now usually played at any public occasion where there are pipe bands.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 12:49 AM

This afternoon I attended a funeral where a soloist sang "On Eagles Wings". It was very beautiful, but the singer had pipes far better than mine. I would think it a very hard song to sing.
This evening at a concert a friend of mine sang " Far Side Bank Of Jordan". One of the songs that I sang was "The Wreck of The Old '97".
I was born in 1947. Perhaps Henry Whitter will forgive me if I change that to "Wreck Of The Old '47" and if my friend outlives me perhaps he will sing both songs for me. :-}
                Sandy

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: breezy
Date: 20 Mar 04 - 01:08 PM

Keith Marsden's 'Funeral Song' for afterwards when we gather.




'The Leaf'

- What is the life of a man any more than a leaf

A man has his seasons, so why should he grieve...

All through this life we appear fine and gay

like a leaf we must wither, and soon fade away

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Donna
Date: 05 Dec 04 - 03:08 PM

My son died June 18,2004.
He picked the music he wanted played at the funeral home and during his service.
The songs he choose were Free Bird by Lynard Skynard
Turn The Page by Metallica, Blackbird by Beatles, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, Forever Young by Rod Stewart, Hurt by Johnny Cash, When Angels Cry by Janis Ian and Dust In The Wind by Kansas

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,mel
Date: 15 May 05 - 08:51 PM

does anyone have the chords to On eagles wings?

Subject: ADD Chords: On Eagles' Wings (Michael Joncas)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 May 05 - 03:56 PM

ON EAGLES' WINGS
(Michael Joncas)

  G                     Dmj7
  You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
        G                       Dmj7
  Who abide in His shadow for life,
   F                      Dm
  Say to the Lord:"My refuge,
       F      Gm      Asus4
  My rock in whom I trust!"
  
  
       A7           D
      And he will raise you up on eagle's wings,
       Em               A7
      Bear you on the breath of dawn,
       D            D7            G   Em 
      Make you to shine like the sun,
       A   Bm      F#m     EmA7        D
      And hold you in the palm of His hand.
  
  (last chorus)
           Bm  F#m           Em7      A          D
      And hold you, hold you in the palm of His hand.

The is from the Yohann Anderson songbook titled Songs. I don't know what they mean by EmA7 - is a misprint for Em7???

-Joe Offer, not a guitarist-

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 19 May 05 - 02:16 AM

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.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: GUEST,Bob998
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 01:19 PM

EmA7 isn't a misprint for Em7, it's just Em A7.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: rich-joy
Date: 15 Jun 05 - 08:05 PM

I used a recording of Rob Whitesides-Woo's "Miracles" ("Music of the Spirit for Harp, Strings and Wind") at my father's 1987 funeral and many people, including the Minister, wanted a copy ...


Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From:
Date: 18 Jul 05 - 08:22 PM

My Mother is very sick and in the final stages of breast cancer. she is not expected to live much longer. Maybe a few weeks or so. She is 61 years old. My biggest fear is that she will not have the funeral she deserves. When the time comes I would love to sing a song at her funeral. I am not a professional singer but I have sung in a few choirs and can carry a tune. I have been practicing a few of your suggestions and I am okay when I don't think about anything, but the second I think of my Mom, my voice cracks and it takes me a whole line to get back on track. I am planning on making a recording of whatever I decide to sing as a backup in case I'm feeling too fragile to get throught the song. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for keeping it together to get through a song? Or song suggestions that might fit my situation? She is a devoted Catholic. I am not, but I am happy to sing a song from her tradition. I grew up singing "On Eagle's Wings" and "Here I am Lord" in school so I know them by heart, but I have also heard them so many times that I might liike to sing something else. She is a positive extremely loving and kind person who has been fighting cancer for 2 1/2 years. Her funeral will be crowded as she belongs to a big, very supportive Church and has a very big extended family.

My Mom is thinking about what she might want so of course I'll sing whatever she wants, but we are both open to suggestions.

Thanks much for any help.

Caitlin

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Amos
Date: 18 Jul 05 - 08:31 PM

I would recommend perhaopps an abridged version of "Abide With Me", one of the most beautiful of religous songs:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.



For my own mother, I sang at her funeral "I SIngs BEcause I'se Happy", and one of her favorite pieces "Finnegan's Wake". But I was busting up pretty bad and left a whole verse out of the latter. No-one seemed to mind, though. I think weeping over the loss of your mother will not be held against you, quite the contrary.

Keep breathing, pal. This is a rough passage. My sympathy goes with you.

Amos

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From:
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 05:59 PM

I am trying to find the name of a song that was sung at a Baptist funeral.

The lyrics had these words

...not too long you'll look for me but I'll be gone.


Please help me find this song.

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 09:53 PM

Dont Mourn the death - Celebrate the life !!

Subject: RE: Funeral Tunes, songs that heal
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Aug 05 - 09:53 PM

And collect 100th posts