From Taylor Swift to Funeral Playlists: A Melodic Look at End-of-Life Conversations

Let’s talk about music and death. 

Why? Music is on the brain because the pop sensation Taylor Swift just left Vancouver after spending her last three nights of her Eras tour here. And wow, the city went to town for her!

In addition to a whole gamut of special events (other than the concerts) there were 13 Swift-themed lighting installations, including my favourite shared with you here.

I’m not much of a Swiftie, but it’s always fun to see the City buzzing like this.

Another reason I am writing about music is that my friend just sent me an article from the NY Post with this headline:

Half of Americans don’t know their parents’ end-of-life plans — but already have their own funeral songs picked out. 

This didn't surprise me and in fact it made me smile! Why? Because it’s evidence that talking about death doesn’t have to be morbid. 

If you’re into statistics, you can read the full article here. But the message I really want to share is what is written at the end of the article.

“Having a conversation about end-of-life planning doesn’t have to be a one-and-done event and it doesn’t have to be scary. It can be as simple as starting with a question like, ‘What music would you play at your funeral?”

If this appeals to you I have two additional suggestions to turn that question into a juicy conversation. 

My first recommendation is to ask your person why they chose each song. Or if they can’t think about their funeral ask them what they would play at a living wake or a final good-bye party. 

You’re likely to learn a lot about what they think about both their life and the meaning they give to death. And that is a great ice breaker for the pragmatic conversations you may want to have next.

Some of the songs listed in the article include:

“Another One Bites the Dust,” by Queen

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” by Cyndi Lauper

“My Way,” by Frank Sinatra

“Coconut,” by Harry Nilsson

“One More Light,” by Linkin Park

“Amazing Grace” by John Newton

My second suggestion is to ask them to think about songs to prepare for death.  Here are some of my favorites:

“At My Funeral” by Crash Test Dummies. My favourite line is:

"If I should die before I wake up, I pray that the lord, my soul will take. But my body, my body, is your job!”

It’s actually a gorgeous song and if you've never heard it, I highly encourage you to find it on youtube or on spotify. 

“Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by Megan Trainor, and the chorus is:

“I’m going to love you like I'm going to lose you, I’m going to hold you like I'm saying good bye. Wherever we’re standing, I won’t take you for granted, because we’ll never know when we’ll run out of time."

And then finally, “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” by Frank Sinatra and sung by many others. This one needs no explanation, right?

I’d love to hear about your #1 funeral song! Send it to me on the contact page or share your Spotify playlist link.