Please, not Tripping Up the Stairs as they lug me out! I'm being silly with that one.
Seriously, there’s a song I would like to have sung over my boxed, waxen self, and a great, fine song so it is. It’s a bittersweet song, a heart dissolver that our uniformly red-haired, plaid clad trad Hibernian ancestors called Danny Boy, and if ye haven’t heared it moaned out by a large man, all I can say is you ought not turn waxen before ye do.
Aye, it’s a grand piece suitable for even your gold-toothed tuxedo-clad tenors. And a harp, as like only the most sympathetic angels play, should accompany that shiny shoed song man as his voice swoops and quavers, bravely climbing the melodic heights: “Yes I’ll be therrrrrrrrre, in sun dress or in shaaaaackles...”
And then, after my hastily varnished box is nailed water-tight and pushed past the breakers, I’d think the living would enjoy light snacks, dry cleaning, games of chance, and the sweet, sweet flirtations of the assembled peasantry.
I disagree Steve, what about the classic Leonard Rossiter as the sewage worker? I think it's a great and noble thing to bury oneself and come back a fresh and changed.
Shaddap You Face
Imagine
The Ride Of The Valkyries
Anything by Satie / Ravel / Bidet
Anything by Queen / Michael Jackson
Pretty well anything which is played backwards
The King Of The Fairies and The Horse's Brawl
Helter Skelter / Hava Nagila / The East Is Red
All songs in praise of the Dear Leader
ANY bloody version of the Ode To Joy
World music of the kind one has to make allowances for, which is nearly all of it
I haven't decided just exactly which pieces I want played at my funeral but I do know that whatever is played, must be played live by living musicians. If they even dare to play any recorded music at my funeral service, I will sit up temporarily and cuss out everybody in the worst way possible before I go back to the permanent sleep of death in my coffin. And, no, it won't do any good to seal up my coffin because then my ghost will float out of the coffin and haunt everybody who was dumb enough and stupid enough to actually play recorded music at my funeral instead of live music.
I want a Dixieland Band marching in front of my cortege playing 'Just a closer walk with thee' Then a brass band to take over with The dead march from Saul, followed by a pipe band playing The Flowers of the Forest. In the church I would like a violinist to play Massenet's Meditation and at the grave side, following the oration I'd like..............hang on.........I'm not finished yet..........Oh all right then, I'll settle for a chorus of 'Goodbye from the White Horse Inn'.
Tommy peoples reels Altan ,Isnt it Grand boys, Clancy Bros, Mozarts piano concerto 21 in g minor and before they cart me out of the church The Parting Glass by the Clancy's..
At my dad's funeral, I played Far Away and Kid on the Mountain. For a lifelong traveller, climber and mountaineer, I like to think they were appropriate.
Greg, I played Taps over my father's grave as well. The Army sent two young troopers to present the flag to my mother, with a boom box and CD for Taps. As he was a lifelong trumpet player, and so were most of his sons, we couldn't let that happen--the poor man would have rolled over in his coffin before he was even properly placed in his grave.
We lost a good friend about three years ago, a founder member of our small Sacred Harp group, and and had 16 current and original members to sing at her funeral - it was a fine, high-ceilinged brick building with excellent acoustics, and I hope we did her proud.
Also had a fine lady who my wife had worked with,and she insisted that there were no religious moments of any sort at her funeral, so it was run by a member of the Humanist Society, that was well done too.
Sometimes all you can do at a funeral is to be there, sometimes you can make a contribution, and to be able to do that feels an honour as well.
I haven't yet decided what music I would like at my funeral, I do hope it's still quite a few years off, but I DO know I want a party and a dance afterwards, and no-one is allowed to wear black unless they look drop-dead gorgeous in it.
Some months ago I played in a friend's funeral. The tune was "stolen apples". I didn't play it for six months before it. It's bad yuyu to practice a funeral tune before dead happen's.
We had tunes at my Dad's funeral. Had a piper-he requested it. He also wanted me to stand guard against ghosts for the first night after he died. Crazy bstrd he was! Hope the ghosts didn't get ya Dad! He requested Amazing Grace(Gads!) but I think he related to that, as I guess many people do, because of the lyrics. The guy played some other tunes too. I wouldn't want Amazing Grace at my funeral. Probably Some old Coleman 78's, Ramones and the Stooges. They better not put me in a suit either!
I do know that I want my funeral service to be a celebration of my life and of all the hundreds of times when I had the opportunity to play music with my friends. I do want it to be a party with lots of good stuff to drink ( such as Shiner Bock) and lots of good food. And, most especially, a lot of live music. Even though I will be gone, I want my friends and family to remember all of the good times and fun we had while I was still alive.
I always thought it profoundly and utterly pointlessly selfish to offer any opinion on what should happen at "one's" funeral party. I say "one's" only because that's the convention, but it's not your party is it. By definition, you are the one person who ain't gonna be there.
It's your friend's and family's party. Let them do what ever the feck they want. Imagine trying to still want to be in charge after you're feckin dead?
Agree with llig: Do your best to arrange for the people you are fond of to be present (especially if you are paying for it!) and let them entertain themselves as they see fit.
"after my hastily varnished box is nailed water-tight and pushed past the breakers"
Please don't allow that, NPDECO, as some careless sailor like myself might crash into it, sinking both. Much more appropriate (and "green") to go with the traditional stitching up in hammock, with a cannon ball included, to take you straight to the bottom where the wee fishies can recycle you.
A brief, respectful tootle on a whistle may then be appropriate, and no harm done if you call that tune in advance, as long as you leave drinking money behind.
Steve, though I am reluctant to raise something that may cause discomfort, I was a bit puzzled about the " I am the life that'll never, never die, I'll live in you if you'll live in me " stuff
on C&F. Isn't that religous ? The ' jested, quaffed and swore' bit I could follow.
I once attended a friend's "going away party". He was dying of cancer, and was on his feet but only had a few days left.
A New Orleans Funeral type of party took place, complete with jazz band playing his favourite tunes. It was ...weird.
which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
here is my choice.
3 part dingle regatta, old irish waserwoman, masons apron,egans polka,pinch of snuff.
# Posted on June 21st 2010 by Dick Miles
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Why would I care? I'm not gonna be there...
# Posted on June 21st 2010 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Why should he care, neither's he
# Posted on June 21st 2010 by ...
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Please, not Tripping Up the Stairs as they lug me out! I'm being silly with that one.
Seriously, there’s a song I would like to have sung over my boxed, waxen self, and a great, fine song so it is. It’s a bittersweet song, a heart dissolver that our uniformly red-haired, plaid clad trad Hibernian ancestors called Danny Boy, and if ye haven’t heared it moaned out by a large man, all I can say is you ought not turn waxen before ye do.
Aye, it’s a grand piece suitable for even your gold-toothed tuxedo-clad tenors. And a harp, as like only the most sympathetic angels play, should accompany that shiny shoed song man as his voice swoops and quavers, bravely climbing the melodic heights: “Yes I’ll be therrrrrrrrre, in sun dress or in shaaaaackles...”
And then, after my hastily varnished box is nailed water-tight and pushed past the breakers, I’d think the living would enjoy light snacks, dry cleaning, games of chance, and the sweet, sweet flirtations of the assembled peasantry.
# Posted on June 21st 2010 by NEW Pure Drop® Ear Canal Oil
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Blarney Pilgrim - a tune occasionally murdered.
# Posted on June 21st 2010 by bogman
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Blarney Pilgrim. That's one of the few tunes I can play. I probably murder it, too.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Jimmy B
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
william bloat would not be good for a funeral :D
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by James Morgan
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
The theme tune to the kids show SMart
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by I ♥ Dow
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Anything but "Wake me up before you go-go" by Wham!
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Amazing Grace
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Ilkley Moor Baht 'at.
"Then we shall all have eaten thee..."
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I disagree Steve, what about the classic Leonard Rossiter as the sewage worker? I think it's a great and noble thing to bury oneself and come back a fresh and changed.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by ...
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I Buried Myself and Danced On My Grave
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Toppish
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Old Hag, You Have Killed Me. will do nicely.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by gdhow62
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Any tune on the "box" will do me.....
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Rudall the time
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/346
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Henk Bos
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I would like them to play the second placed 2099 Irish eurovision entry
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by bazouki dave
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/2399
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Henk Bos
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Pigeon On The Gate & Foxhunters played in the choir loft by the Tulla Ceili Band.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Threewood
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I might just want silence.
Like in American Pie...'The Day the Music died....."
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by zippydw
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Shaddap You Face
Imagine
The Ride Of The Valkyries
Anything by Satie / Ravel / Bidet
Anything by Queen / Michael Jackson
Pretty well anything which is played backwards
The King Of The Fairies and The Horse's Brawl
Helter Skelter / Hava Nagila / The East Is Red
All songs in praise of the Dear Leader
ANY bloody version of the Ode To Joy
World music of the kind one has to make allowances for, which is nearly all of it
....and many, many more.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by nicholas
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I haven't decided just exactly which pieces I want played at my funeral but I do know that whatever is played, must be played live by living musicians. If they even dare to play any recorded music at my funeral service, I will sit up temporarily and cuss out everybody in the worst way possible before I go back to the permanent sleep of death in my coffin. And, no, it won't do any good to seal up my coffin because then my ghost will float out of the coffin and haunt everybody who was dumb enough and stupid enough to actually play recorded music at my funeral instead of live music.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by fauxcelt
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I want a Dixieland Band marching in front of my cortege playing 'Just a closer walk with thee' Then a brass band to take over with The dead march from Saul, followed by a pipe band playing The Flowers of the Forest. In the church I would like a violinist to play Massenet's Meditation and at the grave side, following the oration I'd like..............hang on.........I'm not finished yet..........Oh all right then, I'll settle for a chorus of 'Goodbye from the White Horse Inn'.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Free Reed
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
YES- trad tunes on the GHB
NO- Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Tommy peoples reels Altan ,Isnt it Grand boys, Clancy Bros, Mozarts piano concerto 21 in g minor and before they cart me out of the church The Parting Glass by the Clancy's..
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by belfastrab
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Marc Gunn's entire Happy Songs of the Dead.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by jrathbun
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
At my dad's funeral, I played Far Away and Kid on the Mountain. For a lifelong traveller, climber and mountaineer, I like to think they were appropriate.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Tirno
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Tirno, that must have been very difficult for you to do and I admire that. I also know how hard it is; I played Taps on my cornet at Dad's funeral.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
The Night that Patty Murphy Died
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by scordion
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Greg, I played Taps over my father's grave as well. The Army sent two young troopers to present the flag to my mother, with a boom box and CD for Taps. As he was a lifelong trumpet player, and so were most of his sons, we couldn't let that happen--the poor man would have rolled over in his coffin before he was even properly placed in his grave.
# Posted on June 22nd 2010 by AlBrown
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
We lost a good friend about three years ago, a founder member of our small Sacred Harp group, and and had 16 current and original members to sing at her funeral - it was a fine, high-ceilinged brick building with excellent acoustics, and I hope we did her proud.
Also had a fine lady who my wife had worked with,and she insisted that there were no religious moments of any sort at her funeral, so it was run by a member of the Humanist Society, that was well done too.
Sometimes all you can do at a funeral is to be there, sometimes you can make a contribution, and to be able to do that feels an honour as well.
I haven't yet decided what music I would like at my funeral, I do hope it's still quite a few years off, but I DO know I want a party and a dance afterwards, and no-one is allowed to wear black unless they look drop-dead gorgeous in it.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Spot on Guernsey Pete
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Some months ago I played in a friend's funeral. The tune was "stolen apples". I didn't play it for six months before it. It's bad yuyu to practice a funeral tune before dead happen's.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by fer
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
We had tunes at my Dad's funeral. Had a piper-he requested it. He also wanted me to stand guard against ghosts for the first night after he died. Crazy bstrd he was! Hope the ghosts didn't get ya Dad! He requested Amazing Grace(Gads!) but I think he related to that, as I guess many people do, because of the lyrics. The guy played some other tunes too. I wouldn't want Amazing Grace at my funeral. Probably Some old Coleman 78's, Ramones and the Stooges. They better not put me in a suit either!
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by shanty
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
sorry, happens
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by fer
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I'd wrather be in a pink tututu or a golden ball gown. Maybe a bigfoot suit!
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by shanty
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Truly, your wrath nose know bounds.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I do know that I want my funeral service to be a celebration of my life and of all the hundreds of times when I had the opportunity to play music with my friends. I do want it to be a party with lots of good stuff to drink ( such as Shiner Bock) and lots of good food. And, most especially, a lot of live music. Even though I will be gone, I want my friends and family to remember all of the good times and fun we had while I was still alive.
# Posted on June 23rd 2010 by fauxcelt
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I always thought it profoundly and utterly pointlessly selfish to offer any opinion on what should happen at "one's" funeral party. I say "one's" only because that's the convention, but it's not your party is it. By definition, you are the one person who ain't gonna be there.
It's your friend's and family's party. Let them do what ever the feck they want. Imagine trying to still want to be in charge after you're feckin dead?
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by ...
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Right, it ain't my party, it is theirs.
# Posted on June 24th 2010 by AlBrown
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Maybe, but if any berstid at my funeral wears a tie or does any religion I'll haunt the bugger until it's time for their funeral.
# Posted on June 25th 2010 by Steve Shaw
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
As they do at a robot's funeral, maybe they should say "Oxides to oxides, rust to rust" over me at my funeral.
# Posted on June 25th 2010 by fauxcelt
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Agree with llig: Do your best to arrange for the people you are fond of to be present (especially if you are paying for it!) and let them entertain themselves as they see fit.
"after my hastily varnished box is nailed water-tight and pushed past the breakers"
Please don't allow that, NPDECO, as some careless sailor like myself might crash into it, sinking both. Much more appropriate (and "green") to go with the traditional stitching up in hammock, with a cannon ball included, to take you straight to the bottom where the wee fishies can recycle you.
A brief, respectful tootle on a whistle may then be appropriate, and no harm done if you call that tune in advance, as long as you leave drinking money behind.
# Posted on June 27th 2010 by oldstrings
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Steve, though I am reluctant to raise something that may cause discomfort, I was a bit puzzled about the " I am the life that'll never, never die, I'll live in you if you'll live in me " stuff
on C&F. Isn't that religous ? The ' jested, quaffed and swore' bit I could follow.
# Posted on June 27th 2010 by David50
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Oops, that may have been a bad idea.
# Posted on June 27th 2010 by David50
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
The Dubliners - "Lord of the Dance"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fzRZuGEr04
# Posted on June 27th 2010 by Ben Steen
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
Banish Misfortune or Sligo Maid
# Posted on June 28th 2010 by Leendah
Re: which tunes do you not want at your funeral?
I once attended a friend's "going away party". He was dying of cancer, and was on his feet but only had a few days left.
A New Orleans Funeral type of party took place, complete with jazz band playing his favourite tunes. It was ...weird.
# Posted on June 29th 2010 by oldstrings