Funerals

[silly moo]

Has anyone else decided on hymns / readings for their own funerals?
I like Christina Rosetti's
When I am dead my dearest
Sing no sad songs for me
Plant thou no roses at my head
Or shady cypress tree
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet
And if tou wilt remember
And if thou wilf forget

However In A Pickle gave me another poem to think about in his recent post.

Hymn suggestions
Jerusalem
Majesty
Lord of the dance

[magicdice]

i would LOVE to have agadoo played at my funeral. and i defy you all not to laugh as the pall bearers walk along "aaaaaaaaaaa gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa doo doo doo..." and nobody is allowed to wear black to my funeral.

[kags]

I want Tragedy to be played - the version by Steps, and the mourners must do the dance routine.

[Madge.B]

Fame I,m goanna live forever Fame
I'm gonna live for ever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
I'm gonna live forever
Baby remember my name

[tetherend]

Skyline Pidgeon - Elton John. 

Turn me loose from your hands

And let me fly to distant lands

[natalie_1982]

I want this read:

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
whatever we were to each other
that we still are
call me by my old familiar name
speak to me in the easy way
which you always used
put no difference in your tone
wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together
pray smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
without the trace of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
it is the same as it ever was
there is unbroken continuity
why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you
somewhere very near
just around the corner
All is well

Henry Scott Holland
(1847-1918) Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

 

I don't really know many hymns.  Maybe some others will post to give me some ideas.

[collywobs]

These are just 2 of the poems that i love regarding death

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star that shines at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die."
Mary Frye (1932)

 Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way you always used.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Life means all that it ever meant.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity....
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight.
I am waiting for you.....
for an interval....
somewhere near,
just around the corner.
All is well.

Henry Scott Holland

 i seem to have collected lots of things like this over the years xx L

[collywobs]

opps sorry to have duplicated you natalie we must have been posting at the same time xx L

[natalie_1982]

Great minds think alike!

Errrrr, snall minds rarely differ! :-0

[netibiza]

I definitely want Gareth Gates "Spirit in the Sky" and everyone to dance - we have funerals in the cemetery not in the church and I want a right good party.

[Greenbhoy]

I have decided that i want "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd as everyone is entering the services and "Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac for when the curtains go round my coffin in the Crem.

Have decided to use these instead of "Fire" by The Strange World Of Arthur Brown and "Going Underground" by The Jam.

[Robinia]

Well this has cheered me up ;-)  Actually I talk about this a lot 'cos my sister works as a funeral arranger & she says that it's a shame people don't talk more about their own funerals.  Relatives often have no idea what their departed ones really wanted.

I'm not a church goer but I do like the Do Not Worry verses from the bible Matthew 6:25-34.  Bit odd really as I worry for Britain.  And I also like the same as natalie & collywobs, Death is Nothing At All.

Music....Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken  & Oliver -             Good Morning Starshine               

[acw]

Coldplay - Trouble - make everyone feel REALLY guilty! teehee!  Only kidding, I try not to think about it.  For my Nana (2 years ago this week) we chose Vaughan Williams "The Lark Ascending" and also "Somewhere" from West Side Story... with the line 'There's a place for us'.

 

AND, that brought a tear to my eye. Fabbo.

[natalie_1982]

I asked my fella this the other night and told him that I want him to play Songbird by Eva Cassidy from me to him :-)

[Kay]

Mine are, The Old Rugged Cross,The Lords My Shepherd and Morning has Broken. I want everyone to wear bright colours too!

[Grunty]

collywobs has beaten me to mine.  I have told my daughter that I've made a list of hymns that nobody will know the tunes of.

[oxeyedaisy]

no hymns or bible readings allowed..no man made flowers just wild flowers and herbs allowed..and the fields of athenry to be played..with a booze up afterwards..where i will leave a sealed letter for everyone to read..then my ashes are to be taken and scattered some where of my choice..

[netibiza]

When I checked with my husband  about my choice he said and I quote "begger the music - let's get down the pub" ahh true love.

[Wispy68]

I'd just like to have music played at my funeral: The Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd, Barbers Adagio For Strings, By My Side by INXS, Goin' Back by Dusty Springfield and Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin.  

[FP]

Queen,

I want to break free

[FP]

I don't want a funeral service at all.    I just want a cardboard coffin to be quietly  taken to the local woodland crematorium, my ashes scattered,  and a tree planted for me. 

I would then like everybody I know to have a great big party with lots of loud music (especially the Queen song above), lots to eat and drink and celebrate.