I'm Gonna Take This With Me.

I'm going to be facetious now.

So brace yourself.

I was thinking - what with all the doom and gloom that's currently around - wouldn't it be nice if I could write a post that would just raise a smile and... and 'accentuate the positive' and generally make you want to go and hug the cat.

(Go, go, hug him... hug him real tight... squeeeeeeeezzzze.)

But, as I was striving for this unerringly happy post, there was only one question that kept jumping into my head. It wouldn't go away.

So the 'happy post' turns out to be just a question.

"What song would I like to have played at my funeral?"

I know, I know, sorry, it's not exactly the cheeriest thing ever, is it? But it's what I was thinking of and I couldn't shake it off. So I'll play you the song I'd like to have played at my funeral down at the bottom.

But this all made me wonder, what tune/song would you like played at yours. Really, it did.

Now, you see, the post becomes almost salvageable. Granted, it may never be the happy-go-lucky recession-beater that I was aiming for but, at worst, we may yet achieve a little public service blogging here.

See, if you tell me what tune you want at your send-off, and then I hear that you died, I can contact the next of kin with the information.

That'd be kind of good, wouldn't it?

Perhaps you could do the same for me? I have a post prepared that's linked to my pulse so, thirty minutes after it stops, the post will come on the blog and announce my untimely... etc. Then, upon reading it, you all could email and remind my family about the song I want played.

Okay?

Now, you may well ask, why doesn't the silly fecker just name the song in this epic pulse-related blog-post of his? Simple answer. That would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Anyway, here's my current funereal music. This may change as I get older and whither further, as I fully expect to. I'll keep you posted, literally.

Oh, and this song is my choice. Right? You go and get your own. Then come tell me all about it. I'd love to hear.

At least it's a change from the 'Seven Odd Things' meme, isn't it?

Okay. Are we happy yet?


26 comments:

Laura Brown said...

"Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats could work well, plus it's a Canadian group.

Nothing philosophical or important or gloomy and stuffy. I'd like something flippant and happy/ cheerful. Then I'd like someone to come out with a whip (or a recorded whip sound) and get them all up to dance.

After that they must all eat cheesecake and ice cream. Then they can stick my body under a hydrangea bush and move along.

Laura Brown said...

PS- Your blog posts didn't load at first. I thought you were making some kind of artsy statement. :)

Anonymous said...

If I had to pick JUST one... this is it. Not my favorite version, but it's a great tune.

http://tinyurl.com/b6udp7

Kat Mortensen said...

Leonard Cohen: "The Stranger Song" and "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen".

Kat

Anonymous said...

I'd like Yo Yo Ma playing Cello Suite #1.

On CD if he can't make it...

:)

Anonymous said...

My dad has the best/worst song ever to be played when he dies.
He wants to be cremated, you see, and the song he wants played is Josef Locke - Blaze Away. (can't find it on youtube =[)
The opening lyric is "we'll make a bonfire of our troubles and we'll watch them blaze away."

My dad has a morbid sense of humour. =)

If I died, though, I think I'd want Release Me by Oh Laura (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjQXMZe2ouk) played. Dunno why. =)

Jim Murdoch said...

I'm not going to have a funeral but if I was going to then, and I mentioned this in Rachel's blog recently: Marillion - 'Freaks' ...

It's 1:30 - can't sleep - so I've got the headphones on and the track up full bung.

All the best freaks are here
Please stop staring at me
Stop staring at me


Maybe I will have a funeral after all.

Jackie said...

Hi Ken,
I think about this also quite often. This is the first time I've ever read or heard anyone else discussing it.

I think you're tune is great. I can't make up my mind. Just when I think I have it nailed. I find another great one.

I better hurry thoguh. I certainly don't want my kids to pick it for me..LOL!!!:-)))

Beamer said...

Mine will be "Dust in the wind" by Kansas. I love that song.

Beamer

tata said...

I haven't really thought about this much. You picked a good one. I love Tom, but I long ago picked a song I'm fairly certain he didn't write (so hard to tell with him, innit?!). Hear it for yourself:

http://is.gd/kM3u

and this one:

http://is.gd/kM2N

and maybe this one, too:

http://is.gd/kM4c

Preferably these exact versions.

And really, I haven't thought about this. Much ;)

Anonymous said...

This isn't something I OFTEN think about, but every now and again, a song comes into your life that just shouts at you "play me, play ME, goddamnit!".

So, for me, it'd be 'Sing for Absolution' by Muse. Lots of angst, heavily tear-inducing but equally uplifting and cleansing. Plus, if it were my time, I WOULD sing for absolution!

Rachel Fox said...

Yes, I did this back in September. Where were you - on holiday?

http://crowd-pleasers.blogspot.com/2008/09/duck-here-comes-final-curtain.html

R
x

Unknown said...

Hi Ken. I'm crying already after listening to that. And you're still here!

For me, I want what I chose for my Dad - Streisand: You'll Never Walk Alone.

Anonymous said...

Hehe that pulse invention sounds... useful! It is a kind of cool question, though I don't think I can answer it. I am pretty sure it would be a song by the Beatles. I know which one I want at my wedding (Here, There and Everywhere), but not my funeral.

Ken Armstrong said...

Laura: Yay, Safety Dance! Excellent. I won't need the whip, I'll be bounding about and singing and... until grief overcomes me, of course. :)

(That vanishing blog post thing is recurring and it's something I will have to attend to one of these days)

Mike: It *is* a great tune and I'm amazed that I didn't know it.

Kat: Thinking of them playing 'I'll take you him again Kathleen' is almost too much to bear... that choice may be *too* potent. Have conciliatory alcohol and drugs at the ready at least.

Cellobella: Classy broad checks out with Yo Yo Ma. I was toying with Jacqueline Du Pre myself (don't tell the missus) :)

I'm always trying to perfect a gag wherein your lovely cellist teams up with Slim Shadey to produce an album called 'Yo Yo Motherf****r' :)

Aislinoc: That's effectively twice that Joe Locke has turned up in the comments. At least it is he that *I* think of when I think of 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen'. Joe was played by the excellent Ned Beatty in a charming 1992 movie called 'Hear My Song' which is full with stage Oirish chirpiness.

Jim: Ahhh, do. We deserve a day out at your expense. :) (Fish sounds very Scottish therein, doesn't he?)

Shinade: Therein lies the rub - get one picked before the kids put Hannah Montana on you. :)

Beamer: Gonna look that one - Bet it's a rocker!

tata: Cool choices (you should have a listen peeps) 'Cold Mountain' is a favorite book of mine, I was quite fevered about its quality when it first came out. People disagreed with me.

Sam Wyld: Muse! That's a bit more contemporary, thanks. They evoke Radiohead for me sometimes, is that a terrible thing to say?

Rachel: Sorry Mate! I did miss that one (as is evidenced by the fact that I wasn't over there making smart-arse comments all over the place). Sors for blatant plagersim but, hey, if I stopped myself from doing everything that you've already done... what the hell would I have left to do? Eh? :)

Jakill: That's a song that carries serious resonances for so many people. It evokes Carousel for me though, which is good. Nice choice.

Penny: Hmmm, interesting, which Beatles song to send you off too? Not Eleanor anyway... 'Penny Laying' perhaps? :) Actually, Long and Winding Road might be good but it would have to be the pared down version off of the Let it Be Naked album.

Susan at Stony River said...

Oy--where'd my comment go? Honestly I did comment yesterday, but if it's lost here's another one.

After they play the required 'Freebird' at my funeral, I don't care what else goes on the list, as long as it's Charlie Daniels and ZZ Top. There's dignity to be maintained y'know.

Apart from the music, I like Laura's plan to force-feed cheesecake and ice cream. I never wanted to leave anybody sad.

Anonymous said...

I was going to say that I'm not sure there is a single song that I could pick but then it quickly entered my head that there is, "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer.

I couldn't listen to your entire song because I started to tear up at the thought that this could one day be playing at your funeral. There is no way I ever want to imagine this world without you. So stop making me!

Ken Armstrong said...

Susan: Never saw that first comment. If I had, it would be framed up on the wall by now along with all the other. :) 'ZZ Top'? She's got legs, she no longer knows how to use them? Do you know that only guy in ZZ Top without a beard was called 'Beard'? Of course you did!

Reggie: Aw!! :) We'll all pop off someday I guess but like that great guy in 'Gladiator' kept saying, "not yet... not yet."

Meanwhile we'll smile, eh? :)

Anonymous said...

Ken, That's a tough question..lol..now I come to hear of Waits because of you...there's a smile now. For me, it would be "My Way"...he he he..you know, the song sang by Frank Sinatra? Yes, that dear old song.

Ken kindly allow me this time to post a long, long one, I just want to recall the lyrics. It's a beautiful song.

MY WAY
Frank Sinatra

And now the end is near
So I face the final curtain
My friend, Ill say it clear
Ill state my case of which Im certain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl95eDA_uR4
Ive lived a life thats full
Ive traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets, Ive had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exception

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
Oh, and more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes, there were times, Im sure you know
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way

Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried
Ive had my fails, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, no not me
I did it my way

For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has not
To say the words he truly feels
And not the words he would reveal
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Reese said...

Hmm. Never thought about his. I'd probably choose My Life (title?) by the Beatles.
On another note, Ken, I was cursing you under my breath last night. I was at a very nice restaurant at an important business dinner. I looked up from the menu to see a bowl of Palmerstown Cheese right in front of me. I almost spit wine out my nose! (And it was a very nice wine)

Anonymous said...

David Lee Roth's "Just a Gigalo" of course!

Anonymous said...

@Ken: Yes. In the mean time, let's keep on a-smiling!

Nancy McCarroll said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6dQoJGL4E

Iris Dement wrote "My Life"; it is sung above and that's what I want played at my funeral :o)

Ken Armstrong said...

Jena: 'My Way' - amazing. Although it's about a person dying rather then a 'person dead' would that be a problem.

And now the end has passed
and they have drawn the final curtain
my friend I've died at last
I've kicked the can
No longer hurtin'
I've died a death that's nice
and may I say
Not in a shy way
oh no, oh no not me
I died it my way :)

(needs work)

Reese: you've gotta get over this parmesan thing - even if they do serve you foot-shavings,I promise, it'll be tasty... why worry? :)

Canucklehead: Of course! :)

Fragileheart: all the way, darlin' :)

Nancy: Iris Dement I know from her work with John Prine, must learn more. Thanks. :)

Reese said...

Ken,
I think I may need therapy!


*confession: I own a Ped-Egg*

Catherine @ Sharp Words said...

'Cwm Rhondda' please, sung by the congregation, or at least a good male voice choir.
It's the family funeral hymn, I think. I know my Gran already has it down in her funeral plan (hers is already paid for and organised, but then she is 97), and I have a sneaky suspicion that both my parents would want it as well.
There's just something about the 'Amen' of a Welsh male voice choir that sends shivers down my spine. And even if I'm not around to appreciate it at my own funeral, I want everyone else to get that.