Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
My Funeral Playlist
I’m working on my funeral playlist.
So far I have:
- Fire and Rain, James Taylor
- Morning Has Broken, Cat Stevens
- Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding
- Time in a Bottle, Jim Croce
- God Only Knows, Beach Boys
- Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
I’m looking for a mix of misery and gumption. I think it’s good for people to feel miserable at a funeral so then they can brighten up in the parking lot and maybe go get a burger and a beer.
It would be best if there was a record player on a table, maybe next to the donuts I talked about in a previous post, and someone was given the job of dropping the needle in the right groove.
But looking at the list, it strikes me that it’s all male. This is mortifying and won’t do. It will give license to the folks who thought I liked men overmuch, that I was a feminist poseur.
So I am thinking about Joan Baez and Cass Elliott and Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin but except for Joan Baez and There but for Fortune which has kind of been a secret anthem of mine for fifty years, their songs are about men leaving which seems inopportune for a funeral where it would be me, in fact, leaving.
So I clearly need to do more thinking. It’s important that I leave directions for folks. Otherwise, they’re apt to play Vivaldi. You know how people are.
They would think that’s what I would have wanted.
6 Comments on “My Funeral Playlist”
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Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
How about both sides now by Carol Kane. “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now. “. Or I will always love you, Whitney Version. I do believe in after life so that influences my ideas.
Downside, most of these are not morning sounds.
Edith Piaf — Je ne regrette rien?
One of my anthems is Refuge of the Road by Joni Mitchell.
You got me thinking sister! I am not one who remembers exactly songs. Just know when I hear them I like them.So I will think about this and see what I can come up with! Only to inspire gumption and realness now!
Is it tacky to use someone else’s playlist for your funeral? I like yours! This should be a daily prompt. I’d love to see what others have to say about this.
Time to say goodbye is pretty heartfelt and guaranteed to bring tears. Then again, if you want something a bit lighter you could always play “Always look on the bright side of life” by Monty Python.
Joni MItchell? How about Lesley Gore “You don’t own me”? Or Eartha Kitt – “C’est si bon”? Oh boy, this is fun! I need to make my funeral playlist, too.Good luck, Jan.