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26 Mar 10 - 07:18 AM (#2872303) Subject: Upbeat songs about death From: ChillToad I'm putting together a short set (6 to 8 songs or so) with a common theme of death or dying. There's a huge number (thats one problem!)of tragic, poignant, pathetic etc songs to choose from , but I'd like to end on a more upbeat note. After we've all had a good cry over Barbara Allen or The Band played Waltzing Matilda, I'd like to "leave 'em laughing when I go". Suggestions please. |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:35 AM (#2872317) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: oldhippie "Send Me To Glory In A Glad Bag" |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:38 AM (#2872320) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Dave the Gnome How about John Prine's Please don't bury me Tickles me anyway:-) DeG |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:39 AM (#2872321) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: matt milton The Worms Crawl In |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:42 AM (#2872325) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Moses Embalming Tommy by Mike Sparks:- Chorus:- 'And he had a lovely finish like an Italian marble floor like the coach-work on a Rolls Royce, or an antique mahogany door like vaneer, like finest varnish, like an alabaster pot Yes, when we came to gaze on 'im, Uncle Tom had got the lot' Christine |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:44 AM (#2872329) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Will Fly Tom Lehrer's "We'll All Go Together When We Go". |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:45 AM (#2872330) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: AllisonA(Animaterra) I'll fly away Will the Circle be Unbroken Any number of "crossing over to Jordan" spirituals- Great idea, to leave them feeling good. The two songs I've suggested will also get them singing along, which will also feel good! |
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26 Mar 10 - 07:50 AM (#2872332) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: MGM·Lion The Bells of Hell go tingaling-a-ling For you but not for me: Oh Death, where is your stingaling-a-ling? Where grave your victory? ··· sung in O What A Lovely War; WWi soldiers' song, I take it == ~Michael~ |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:01 AM (#2872339) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Jack Campin Adam MacNaughtan's version of Shel Silverstein's "We're All Gonnae Die". Tom Lehrer's "We'll All Go Together When We Go". |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:11 AM (#2872342) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST, topsie On Ilkley Moor bah t'at |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:11 AM (#2872343) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: bubblyrat "Look at the Widow !- Bloody great female : Isn't it grand,boys, To be bloody well dead ? Let's not have a sniffle, Let's have a bloody good cry, And always remember the longer you live, The sooner you bloody well die !" Plus ; John Denver did a very amusing song about death & cemeteries,called "Forest Lawn" or something like that. |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:22 AM (#2872348) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Anne Neilson Was 'Forest Lawn' not an early Tom Paxton song? Great rhythms and opportunity for hamming it up. And the 'Still gonna die' song mentioned earlier has the added advantage of refrain lines for audience participation. |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:33 AM (#2872352) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: clueless don The Kips Bay Ceili Band recorded an upbeat song about death, called "The Place I am Bound". I can't remember the words at this point. I'll try to remember to give it a listen and try to get back to you. Don |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:45 AM (#2872363) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: bubblyrat Could well have been Tom Paxton or even Tom Lehrer (Forest Lawn); But I have only heard one person sing it,and that was Herr Deutschendorf,or whatever his name was--only called Denver 'cos he liked it there.(So what of Don Henley ?? Though I've never seen him here !!). |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:59 AM (#2872375) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: beeliner Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" is one of the more recent and certainly one of the highest-charting [upbeat songs about death] of all time. |
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26 Mar 10 - 09:20 AM (#2872393) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,HughM I can't remember the title, but there's a good one by Keith Marsden about someone who goes to his father's funeral and discovers that his father had several wives. |
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26 Mar 10 - 09:24 AM (#2872396) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST A good one for those "left behind" is "Give Me Just a Little More Time". Upbeat, good choral opportunities. I think Jean Redpath recorded it years ago. |
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26 Mar 10 - 09:42 AM (#2872402) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: ChillToad Wow, thanks everybody. I hadn't expected such a large, swift, and interesting response. I might just change the theme of the set to 'Dying can be fun'! Keep 'em coming! |
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26 Mar 10 - 09:44 AM (#2872404) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,Alex Never heard John Denver sing Forest Lawn - thank goodness - it was always one of Tom Paxton's most popular songs. Fixin' To Die Rag by Country Joe & the Fish would do the trick. |
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26 Mar 10 - 10:01 AM (#2872414) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,leeneia Not silly: Wayfaring Stranger, with its theme of meeting mother and father again. Bereite dir, Jesu, noch itzo die Bahn, from Anna Magdalena Bach's Notebook. It means Prepare the way, Jesus. My savior, choose the faithful soul and look on me with eyes of grace. |
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26 Mar 10 - 10:32 AM (#2872438) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Maryrrf Rosin the Bow comes to mind. |
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26 Mar 10 - 10:47 AM (#2872448) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: frogprince It may be a little presumptuous to bring up something of my own, but this , reset what is basically "The Water is Wide", came together a couple of years back. |
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26 Mar 10 - 10:48 AM (#2872449) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Dave the Gnome Keith Marsden's 'Funeral song' is here in the Mudcat if anyone wants it. Cheers DeG |
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26 Mar 10 - 11:29 AM (#2872483) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Les from Hull I was just going to say that, Dave. Heartily recommend this song. Also possible Loudon Wainwright's 'Suicide Song' When you get the blues and you want to shoot yourself in the head It's allright it's allright go ahead Do the monkey do the pony do the slop do the hulahoop twist Cut your throat cut your throat cut your wrists When your tire of worldy toil shuffle off this mortal coil Turn your body back to soil it's ok it's ok When you get hungup hang yourself up by your neck What the hell what the hell what the heck |
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26 Mar 10 - 11:43 AM (#2872507) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: bubblyrat What about the "M*A*S*H " theme ?? " Suicide is painless, It brings on many changes "......etc ?? Quite contemporary,so worthy of consideration,I would have thought ! |
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26 Mar 10 - 03:25 PM (#2872714) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Phil Cooper James Keelaghan's "Who Dies, Everyone Dies." Austin Lounge Lizards, "Can I have Your Stuff when you're Dead." Just a couple more. |
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26 Mar 10 - 06:02 PM (#2872839) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Melissa This Old House Yodel My Way to Heaven |
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26 Mar 10 - 06:13 PM (#2872849) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Joe_F You rascal you |
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26 Mar 10 - 06:17 PM (#2872852) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Melissa My Uncle Used to Love Me, But She Died |
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26 Mar 10 - 06:35 PM (#2872860) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Paul Davenport Try 'Next to Die' … wonderful Victorian gung-ho stuff. We recorded it on 'Songbooks' HATRCD02. Apparently written by a Captain Darling during the Indian Mutiny. |
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26 Mar 10 - 06:48 PM (#2872869) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: McGrath of Harlow Always look on the bright side. |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:31 PM (#2872932) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: oldhippie Here are the lyrics I didn't have handy this morning. "Send Me To Glory in a Glad Bag" - Don & Mim Carlson/Steve Mason People tell me I ought to save my money so that I could be layed away in style In a walnut box with all the fancy trimmin' Vacuum sealed to keep me fresh awhile But... (chorus:) Send me to glory in a Glad bag Don't waste a fancy coffin on my bones Just put me out on the curb next Tuesday Let the sanitation local bear me home Sell all my worldly possessions and buy yourself a case or two of Pabst Let the empties be my memorial tombstone Engraven with this epitaph (chorus) If I should die upon the eve of Christmas just place my baggie by the Christmas tree And when the children; they open all their goodies The big surprise would be the death of me (chorus) But maybe I am not bound for glory but to that other place I would not choose and if it seems that I'm headed in that direction then an oven bag would be the thing to use (chorus x 2) ©1979 Blue River Valley Publishing |
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26 Mar 10 - 08:44 PM (#2872936) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: oldhippie "One Less Mouth To Feed" - Peter Alsop Well Livvy, lately life's been lousy And I know that you're upset But life won't get no better If you can't learn to forget Cryin' won't bring John-Boy back, He's out there on his own And I hope that he is happy, And I hope he don't come home, . . Chorus 'Cause that's one less mouth to feed One less mouth to feed When your bluebird of happiness Eats a poisen seed Just look on the bright side, That's one less mouth to feed! Accidents will happen It's sad the way things change Mary Ellen fell into the well And the water's tasting strange Ben burned with the chicked coop And ruined all the eggs And Grandpa's headed toward the lake With his moustache all ablaze, . . Chorus When the apple of your eye Has a worm you didn't need Jim-Bob sank in the river Tryin' t'catch a frog Lis'beth ate the dog's food And got eaten by the dog Erin's joined a convent, Jason's guzzlin' gin Grandma hitchiked to the city To live a life of sin, . . Chorus When your bunny with the lucky feet Gets flattened in the street And now you say you're leavin' me To find a better life I hope Ike Godsey loves you I hope he don't leave me his wife The sun is shining somewhere This house is cold as stone And I miss you so my darling, . . But it's great to be alone!! Chorus When your milk-cow of contentment Falls asleep in the stampede When your flower of life Gets mowed down with the weeds When you little lamb of innocence Gets terminal V.D. Written by Peter Alsop, ©1979, Moose School Music (BMI) |
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26 Mar 10 - 09:02 PM (#2872938) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Bert Here's one of mine 'Plastic Flower seeds' |
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27 Mar 10 - 08:45 AM (#2873179) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,johnp have a look at this one by furry lewis great stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCqbKdnHZTs |
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27 Mar 10 - 09:22 AM (#2873198) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Bobert A resounding 2nd on Animaterra's suggestion of "I'll Fly Away"... When my late wife, Judy, was dieing she picked out all the music for the funeral and wanted the end of the church service portion to end with that song... It was very uplifting... BTW, that song is an old hymm but was covered by alot of country/folk bands in the 70s... The Byrds have a great version... B~ |
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27 Mar 10 - 04:09 PM (#2873473) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: cptsnapper There's A Light by Beth Neilsen Chapman |
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27 Mar 10 - 05:45 PM (#2873514) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Suegorgeous The night before Larry was stretched Famous flower of serving men (the way Martin sings it anyway) |
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27 Mar 10 - 06:11 PM (#2873525) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Leadfingers Having found my two first choices already mentioned ( All Go Together When we Go and Tom Paxton's Forest Lawn ) my third choice would be Shel Silverstein - Twenty Five Minutes To Go ! |
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27 Mar 10 - 06:45 PM (#2873543) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Ebbie I don't remember who wrote it nor the title but I like the song where the chorus goes: All my life I've been your lover Through good and bad we've both stayed true Now I'm gone and you're still living Just get up and start your life anew Or my own: Golden Rockin' Chair? :) Mama worked so hard all the days of her life From sunrise to sundown, as mother and wife And many a nighttime she spent on our care But I know she is resting up there I dreamed I saw Mama rockin' in a golden rockin' chair Mama built the fire at the crack of each dawn And never stopped working 'til daylight was gone When kids cried in the nighttime she always was there But at last Mama hasn't a care I dreamed I aaw Mama rockin' in a golden rockin' chair Rockin' chair. Rockin' chair. Didn't know there'd be a rockin' chair But I know that I'll find it up there I dreamed I saw Mama rockin' in a golden rockin' chair Now the years have gone by and I in my turn Am facing my end time and what rest I have earned I believe there is nothing my mama won't share - and I know that I'll find her up there - So I'll join my mama rockin' in her golden rockin' chair It is without shame, I am. :) |
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28 Mar 10 - 04:17 PM (#2874098) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,Ebor_fiddler Teenage Cremation? |
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29 Mar 10 - 06:26 AM (#2874511) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: pavane Ballad of Suzie Grapevine & Pusher Joe? Mike Absalom c 1968 Goes some thing like this (after she jumped out of the window) "Down down she went, bouncing off the little concrete gargolyes put there by the Notting Hill Housing trust For the first time in her life, Suzie Grapevine was going down... SPLAT" "Kill yourselves with Benzedrine, bullets or with Scotch But tell me when you do it, so that I can come and watch" |
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29 Mar 10 - 06:32 AM (#2874516) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: pavane Lyric can be found here - though there are some errors if I remember right (should be "Suzie Grape is SO POOR NOW they call her Grape Suzette") Ballad of Suzie Grapvine |
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29 Mar 10 - 09:09 AM (#2874618) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: clueless don The words to "The Place I am Bound" are given in the liner notes for The Kips Bay Ceili Band's "Digging In" CD. They call it "The Happiest song about death we've ever heard". The words: As my father before me, so now I give pause to reflect on the day that I will die. As they lay me down in the cold of the ground remember I am closer to the place I am bound. A few final words will be spoken, I trust. Be kind as you can, and lie if you must. And remember me when I was at my best instead of used up lying with these flowers on my chest. Sometimes death is like a thief in the night. He steals every treasure that is hidden in plain sight. But I do not flatter my own memory for I will miss you every bit as much as you'll be missing me. I wish I could be there to brighten the mood with friends and family and mountains of food. Stories and memories and tales all around but it's late and I must travel to the place I am bound. I hope that the spirit of the Lord will not mind if you toast me with spirits of the Irish kind. Raise your glass as the blessing is said "May you be in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." A very brief snippet of the song may be heard at Amazon. The liner notes list the author credit as "(Bennett) copyright 1991 Bright Avenue Songs (ASCAP)". That's all I have. Don |
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29 Mar 10 - 09:13 AM (#2874621) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: mrmoe I once heard Patrick Sky do "chamber's caskets".....a poem/advertisement from "the american way of death"....to the tune of "rock of ages" |
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29 Mar 10 - 07:39 PM (#2875151) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Herga Kitty Under the Lilacs? Only Remembered? When the Roll is called up yonder. And definitely Embalming Tommy, as mentioned by Moses earlier in the thread. And while we're on the subject of Mike Sparks, there's his Jack Hamble song, about grave digging - Oh me name it is Jack Hamble a gravedigger to my trade Just tell me where you want it dug and leave me with me spade And if you let me on me own and don't get in the way I'll dig a standard eight by six in less than half a day Kitty |
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29 Mar 10 - 08:42 PM (#2875200) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,Michele Callaghan How about "I'm on My Way to Canaan Land"? |
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29 Mar 10 - 09:03 PM (#2875205) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST "if it be your will" --lenny cohen (of course) ---can't begin to say how powerful this song is.... |
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29 Mar 10 - 10:44 PM (#2875247) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: olddude Wayfaring Stranger |
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30 Mar 10 - 02:13 PM (#2875799) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Steve Gardham I'm with Bubblyrat. Leslie Sarony's 'Ain't it grand to be blooming well dead'. Used to get sung a lot in the 60s. |
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30 Mar 10 - 02:50 PM (#2875830) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Herga Kitty Alanww sang the Leslie Sarony song as the winning (?) entry at the Doom, Gloom and Despondency workshop at Sidmouth a few years ago. Kitty |
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31 Mar 10 - 08:33 AM (#2876409) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Snuffy Leslie Sarony's version does not have the "Let's not have a sniffle, Let's have a bloody good cry..." chorus which is apparently mandatory nowadays. This new version was popularised in the 1960s by the Clancys, and I don't recall hearing anyone else sing the Sarony version. |
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31 Mar 10 - 04:39 PM (#2876789) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: deepdoc1 Reincarnation is a poem, not a song, but is right humorous. |
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29 Sep 10 - 02:57 PM (#2996281) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: GUEST,conomal Die, Die, Die. The Avett Brothers. Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying. Belle & Sebastian. Radio Song. The Felice Brothers. |
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29 Sep 10 - 03:11 PM (#2996294) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: jennyr The Wilsons finished their set last week with a song called 'When I die' - not sure where it comes from but apparently it's on their latest CD, and was mighty uplifting! |
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29 Sep 10 - 05:36 PM (#2996376) Subject: RE: Upbeat songs about death From: Suegorgeous There's also a very humorous song I remember Martin Carthy singing once about gravediggers or a funeral or something? must be on one of the albums. Anyone know the one? |