Searching for Music for Funeral Service

Unfortunately, yes, it is time to think about music choices for a funeral, this time for my aunt. My mother and I are the next of kin and next-next of kin, as Aunty never married and there are only cousins left apart from us. I am usually brilliant at thinking of the perfect music for any occasion, but this is a little harder, Aunty was 76, and we'd probably prefer to pick music she knows, though I know many beautiful songs that would otherwise suit. I also have the sinking feeling she and my mother would like the stereotypical songs like Wind Beneath My Wings, and Because You Love Me....

Yikes!

It will be a church service, so there will be traditional hymns involved, so that part will take care of itself fairly easily.

But a song for a photo montage, or to lift our spirits at the end of the memorial? That is what I'm looking into now.

I bloody know the songs I'd want for my own funeral, I don't know if I should admit this but I have even thought about songs for my parents (both alive and kicking), but this.... I'm not sure. I have to think about it.

The 10 Songs You Absolutely Should Not Listen to if Single on Valtentine's Day

... and the 10 you should


10 Songs I forbid in my house on Valentines Day when Single

• All By Myself, Eric Carmen
• I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton
• Without You, Mariah Carey
• Save Me, Queen
• Walk On By, Dione Warwick or Cyndi Lauper
• Goodbye My Lover, James Blunt
• White Flag, Dido
• Here Without You, 3 Doors Down
• Stay With Me, Shakespeare's Sister
• The Story, Brandi Carlile

And 10 Songs I recommend for hope, and some fun

• True Love Will Find You in The End, Beck (hope)
• Somebody to Love, Queen (fun)
• All By Myself if performed in a spoof of Bridget Jones in equally tragic ironic style (fun)
• Try A Little Tenderness, Aretha Franklin (hope)
• New Soul, Yael Naim (hope and fun)
• Neapolitan Dream, Lisa Mitchell (fun)
• Smile, Lily Allen (fun with some revenge thrown in)
• I Will Survive (okay she's been dumped, but she's got her groove back)
• Fighter, Christina Aguilera (fightin' back)
• Hey Na Na, Katie Herzig (fun, and ready to hit on a new guy)

Ukulele... If Only I'd Known

I had the best public school music teacher in primary school... and thanks to her I have learned several instruments, however when she suggested I learn ukulele... I was less than pleased. At that age, the only exposure to ukulele music I had was that played by bum clowns and daggy scenes in television and movies. I felt the ukulele was beneath me. I wanted to learn something a bit classier... cello, flute, to compliment my other skills.

Now I seem to have taken quite a shine to some beautiful, quirky, ukulele songs and would LOVE to learn this instrument.....

Here are some of the songs that have changed my outlook:

Israel kamakawiwole "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Dan Kelly "Nothing Compares to You"

Priscilla Ahn "Never Find My Way Back Home"

Cat Power "Sea of Love"

Ingrid Michaelson "You And I"

Joe Purdy "Wash Away"

Jason Mraz "I'm Yours"

Sophie Madeleine "Take Your Love With Me"

If only I'd learned then, I could be playing them now! Its not too late, I'm young, I can learn... but where I live now, its hard to find a teacher... so I'm having some regrets. I am wondering if I have enough aptitude to learn from books and online alone.... I'll have to figure it out somehow.