"Just hear this and then I'll go..."

So James Blunt, top of yet another list (via George)? So depressing, and not in a good way.

Inspired by the blandness of the popular choices, I decided to glance through my iTunes library for good funeral songs, and I found a few. The following would be on my top-ten list of songs for a funeral, and probably in this order, playing throughout:

1. 

   Fishscale
   Spoon, "Anything You Want"
2. The Beach Boys, "I Know There's an Answer"
3. Dusty Springfield, "I Can't Make it Alone"
4. ABBA, "Fernando"
5. The The, "Love is Stronger than Death"
6. Prince, "Another Lonely Christmas"
7. Ghostface Killah, "Underwater"
8. Jimmy Cliff, "Many Rivers to Cross"
9. Patsy Cline, "Sweet Dreams (of You)"
10. The Go-Betweens, "Love Goes On!"

These aren't necessarily all about death, and more importantly, they're not all really that completely sad [1]. It gets a little bit sad around the middle with The The, but then it lightens up (or something) with Ghostface Killah's "Underwater," a truly bizarre & stunning track from this year's Fishscale, which details a trip, well, under water, through pearls, mermaids, & Sponge Bob. And then it gets a little bit sad again, what with Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" & the very sad "Sweet Dreams (of You)" [2].

But then, at the end, there's some light & love with the Go-Betweens' "Love Goes On!" from the exquisite 16 Lovers Lane.

Because: see that exclamation point in the title? That means it's not all about doom & gloom! It's happy in its sadness! It takes pleasure in being morose! But most importantly it captures joy, & sadness, & hope all at once, and I don't know if you can ask for much more than that.

[1] Into which category I'd probably put something like Jeff Buckley's "Last Goodbye," which is just too sad for words, and so sadly doesn't fit my overall theme.

[2] There's this scene in Coal Miner's Daughter, the Loretta Lynn biography, where Loretta has just heard on the radio that Patsy Cline died in a plane crash, and "Sweet Dreams" is playing in the background. At least, that's how I remember it, and it's completely heartbreaking.