Response to my Funeral Songs by a NEXT listener

Hey Chris,

As my extended vacation comes to a close, I'm feeling a strong sense of loss and sadness. Almost like somebody has died. So......I figured I would capture the moment and put together my first effort at songs for my funeral.

I went for aptly titled, contemplative songs. Not necessarily my favorite 15 songs of all time, and it is not like I'm the most reverent or tasteful person out there, but there are reasons you can't play a song like "Hot for Teacher" at a funeral. And these 15 songs......well I would be happy to hear them anytime.

15) Under the Milky Way - The Church. Such a great song, and it says "small person in a big beautiful universe" with a perfect, haunting sound. And come on.......The Church? This one is a natural.

14) Pictures Of You - The Cure. The ultimate movie montage song.......seems to fit with the general idea of reflection for this occasion.

13) Beautiful World - Colin Hay. Colin found serenity, and wrote this pretty little song. Hearing him tell his story, just before performing this one, is a memorable experience.

12) Watching the Wheels - John Lennon. OK. I almost went with "In My Life" or even "Imagine" because you used this song in your first mix. But I checked with the Library of Congress, and they have no record of any application for a copyright on your song list. So I stole it. Because it is near to perfect.

11) Jesus, Etc. - Wilco. First The Church, and now Jesus? What's next......angels? Well, this is a themed list of songs, after all. Let alone this is the most popular song from one of the great albums of my lifetime.

10) What I Am - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. Did you ever have a song that you loved for the melody, and later loved for the lyric?

09) How It Ends - DeVotchKa. First heard this song in Little Miss Sunshine......which coincidentally is going to be one of the 15 movies shown at my funeral. Sure, its going to take a while, but I've arranged for an open bar.

08) Mystify - INXS. Two albums that I would consider classics came out when I was in high school. Kick is one of them. And Mystify is a good choice for this occasion. "Need You Tonight" would have been a bit creepy.

07) Everyday I Write The Book - Elvis Costello & The Attractions. What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding that Elvis hit a lot of home runs in his prime. This one went out of the park.

06) If I Were an Angel - Marc Cohn. With this title, you knew this was a matter of time, no? A song from the comeback kid, one of our great songwriters.

05) Celluloid Heroes - The Kinks. One of Ray's many hymns for the everyman. The frailties, the aspirations, the fleeting triumphs.......sometimes you forget this guy is the rock star who wrote "You Really Got Me."

04) Where the Streets Have No Name - U2. The other great album from my high school years. I love the build in this song. And the sentiment.

03) What It Is - Mark Knopfler. There just has to be some Knopfler guitar at my funeral. In fact, his playing is so ethereal, I think he might give lessons to the angels.

02) The Body of an American - The Pogues. If it is good enough for Jimmy McNulty's "funeral" it is good enough for me. And since Shane has been flirting with death for a couple of decades now, he ought to know how to write a good funeral song.

01) Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley. I was unsure of what song to use to wrap things up at my funeral. Mostly because the details on the destination are a bit fuzzy. It was either going to be Buster Pointdexter's "Hot, Hot, Hot" or this classic. But I'm an optimist, so I went with Buckley. Maybe I'll see you at the pearly gates.

Thanks for sharing and I know I'll be showing up for the tunes...and did you mention open bar?

More later
Bro



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Now playing: The Shins - Turn On Me (Clint Mansell Remix)
via FoxyTunes

yet another reason

Hey and hello and what up.

Happy Green Day. I know I've already started drinking hopefully you have too.

So the real reason I am posting this today is because I was looking around iTunes the other day and was surprised to see "Hallelujah" as sung by Jeff Buckley as being the number one download.

I was shocked and happy. I couldn't imagine why this would happen. I know Brad Pitt wants to play him in a movie but that is old news...then a friend mentioned that it was sung on Idol.

You would think that anything that gets people to listen to Jeff Buckley would make me happy. It does but my main problem is I watched the video. I had too. I have watched maybe 15 minutes of Idol before I searched YouTube for a clip of this. I...just...had to hear it. I really didn't want to as I have too much love for the Buckley version.

Now "whatever his name", Castro I think, sang it and it wasn't bad...I wouldn't ever think of putting it in the great category but it wasn't bad. My problem is with the judges. Both guys (Man Paula is bad...I mean bad and I doubt she has ever heard Jeff Buckley) claimed that they loved the Jeff Buckley version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and yet they gushed all over this guy. That is the problem. They are supposed to know better.

Now if you've never heard the Buckley version you might be forgiven if you think that this "wanna be Idol" did a great job. Seriously...stop the bad man.

I do hope that all the Idol watchers that downloaded Buckley start to spiderweb from the there and discover some truly awesome talent. I doubt it. They will just wait for the next so so cover of another song and download that one and stop looking deeper. Oh Well. At least we have NEXT.

Also I just read this in the NYTs today too. Vote for the Worst.

ONE MORE THING...I had to turn down the chance to interview Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden on his private jet...I want to die with my boots on. I am bummed.gotta listen to the end. Brilliant.