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Op-Ed Contributor
What Songs Do You Want Played At Your Funeral?
By Robert Paul Reyes
Hymns are being replaced at funerals in one Australian city by popular rock classics like Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell,' a cemetery manager said Wednesday.
At Centennial Park, the largest cemetery and crematorium in the southern city of Adelaide, only two hymns still rank among its top 10 most popular funeral songs: 'Amazing Grace' and 'Abide With Me.'
Leading the funeral chart is crooner Frank Sinatra's classic hit "My Way," followed by Louis Armstrong's version of "Wonderful World," a statement said."
Quotation from the Associated Press
I heartily approve of this trend to play pop songs instead of hymns at funerals. It's somewhat hypocritical for hymns to be played at the funeral of folks who never darkened the door of a church. I wince when I hear "Amazing Grace" played at the funeral of a someone who was anything but a choir boy.
Pop songs are the soundtrack of my life; I want pop songs, and not hymns, to commemorate my death.
I'm always listening to music, even now as I write this essay I have Van Morrison playing on my stereo. I want the right songs to be played at my funeral; I will have to give some thoughts to what songs I want played.
"Another One Bites the Dust" might be appropriate, but not too sentimental. Louis Armstrong's version of "Wonderful Life" is too schmaltzy for a cynical columnist. Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" is one of my fave tunes, and it never fails to make everybody happy. I will have to think of what other songs I want played at my funeral.
Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.
Tags: funeral, van morrison, songs, pop hits, louis armstrong, robert paul reyes
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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