In doing research for blog posts yesterday, I found a list of suggested funeral songs. Among the list were numerous movie songs. The list starts with the not so unique to the one I never would consider, although I did have a tough time choosing between the top three.
The Movie Fanatic’s List of Funeral Songs
Numbers 10 to 4
“The Rose” – Bette Midler – From the movie of the same name. Love this song. It is a classic performance by the Divine Miss M.
“Over The Rainbow” – Judy Garland – From “The Wizard of Oz”. I never get tired of hearing this song. Ms. Garland sings it wonderfully.
“My Heart Will Go On” – Celine Dion – From the movie “The Titanic” – I will haunt whoever has this song played at my funeral. I love Celine but this song makes me gag. “Spoiler alert!” – It still sinks.
“I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston from “The Bodyguard.” This was one of Joe’s favorite songs. It is one of Ms. Houston’s best performances.
“Chariots of Fire” – Vangelis – from the movie of the same name. I loved this movie and the soundtrack. I can easily see this being played at a funeral.
“As Time Goes By” – Herman Hupfeld, writer. From the movie “Casablanca.” One of my all-time favorite movies. Although it seems too romantic for a funeral.
“The Ballad of Easy Rider” – Written by Roger McGuinn with input from Bob Dylan and sung by The Byrds. I only have seen clips of the movie. It just never appealed to me, but I can see the song being played at a biker’s service.
Numbers 3, 2 and 1
This is where I had a tough time putting the songs in order.
“The James Bond Theme” – written by Monty Norman. I love the theme and the “James Bond” movies (that is until Daniel Craig took over the role.), but not so sure about hearing this at funeral.
“The Pink Panther Theme” – Henry Mancini – From the movie of the same name. A classic movie theme written by a great composer. I don’t see it for a funeral unless the deceased loved pink.
“The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” – Hugh Montenegro and his orchestra. From the movie of the same name. Joe and I watched this movie several times. Although playing this might leave those attending the funeral to wonder which term applied to the deceased. His/her family might see the dearly departed as “The Good” but those attending might see him as “The Ugly.”
This list is not all inclusive. I am sure there are many more songs for a movie fanatic’s funeral. However, it is time we move on to the musicians. We will explore songs for their funeral tomorrow and I will reveal the source of the playlists.
See you then and trust me, their list is more…uh…unique.
JoyReturns 