What Five Songs Will Be Played At Your Funeral?

Sometimes, when I'm jogging, I cut into this graveyard and do a couple laps on this 1/4 mile cul de sac.

This past Saturday, I decided to say 'Hello' to my little ghostly friends.

As I rounded the corner and passed the metallic graveyard gate, I looked up and my shoes came to a cartoony screeching halt.

Lo and be hold, a funeral service was taking place.

People dressed in black, were standing next to a casket with a pastor reading scriptures. Two women were dabbing their eyes with tissues. Their husband's consoling arms were draped around their shoulders.

Add some snow flurries dropping from the sky and five plus inches of snow on the ground, and you've got a stark funeral scene straight out of the movies.

Having never, ever seen anyone at this particular graveyard, it was an eerie sight to behold. So I decided to forgo my jaunt amongst the dead, and opted for a different route home.

Personally, I would feel a little weird if I was at a funeral and a jogger in a hunter's orange cap listening to an I-pod ran by. Wouldn't you?

On the run home, my mind reverted back to the funeral.

Then I started to think about death.

Then I started to think about my death.

Then I started to think about my funeral.

Then i started to think about the five songs I would request to be played at my funeral.

Now, if anyone has seen High Fidelity with John Cusack, The making of a great compilation tape is hard to do.

To quote Rob Gordon from the movie:

"You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch."

Magnify that times ten for the perfect Death Mix Tape at your own funeral.

Seriously though, it would be tough to choose the five perfect songs from your vast collection of musical memories.

In addition, you would have to pick music that's somewhat uplifting, yet a bit melancholy. Although you would want people to have a good time and remember you in a good way, you wouldn't necessarily want people to pull out the cardboard and start breakdancing at your funeral.

Or maybe you would.

Plus, you have to choose music that not only defines who you were on this planet, but music that digs deep into your soul and portrays the heartbreak, the happiness, the sorrow and the joy you experienced on this Earth.

That said, if Death walked up to me today, tapped me with his sycthe and told me I was going to croak in 24 hours, here are the 5 songs I would request to be played at my funeral...

1. Sing It Again by Beck


2. I Don't Know by The Beastie Boys


3. Hurt by Johnny Cash


4. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd


5. Big Balls by AC/DC

Keep in mind, if you talked to me in a week, a month or a year, some of the above songs wouldn't even be considered.

That said, more than likely, I will probably always include a song by the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash and Beck. Some other artists under consideration were songs by Radiohead, Jack Johnson, Guns N' Roses, Cake and Lucinda Williams.

Seriously, depending on the day and how I'm feeling, the possibilities for my Death Music Mix are like Death's job on this Earth...endless.

Now I'm curious, what would your five songs be if you were going to die in 24 hours?

And please be sure to leave your name. I need to put a face to the songs, man. I need to put a face to the songs.