God's Waiting Room (12/5/13)

So, I was thinking about my funeral.

Not in a morbid 'I'm going to die soon' way, just in a 'it crossed my mind, like it does' kind of way.

Basically. I'm working on day 150. It's a list. Obviously. I trap myself into these things, swear that I'm not going to do it again but then do it anyway. It's 150 'things', I'm 33 'things' in and it's already over 1,000 words, it may actually become unwieldy and you may get to day 150 and find that I'm a blubbering wreck apologising for the fact that I've got either too much to say or absolutely bugger all.

Anyway, I was in the car and I was thinking. 

So, funeral. Music for same. You need to have these things prepared, you need to be ready, God forbid that somebody should decide on something unsuitable. 

And I've had my choices prepared for a long time. A very, very long time. 

For going in;  Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground. Apart from the fact that its the greatest song of all time, it's infinitely sad and has this lovely moment halfway through - a simple, understated, perfectly suited guitar solo. A couple of seconds in somebody turns on the reverb as though they'd forgotten it so far. It's gorgeous.

Going out? Reward by The Teardrop Explodes. You should leave to a fanfare. Curtains close, trumpets blare: Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba-Ba-Ba. I've gone to accept my reward (see what I did there?)

But then occasionally I'm tempted to change my choices to;

Ocean Rain by The Bunnymen to start. Grandeur and glory, builds from a strummed acoustic to a full orchestra. Live the dynamics are unbelievable and there's always a moment where McCulloch shoots out the stage lights as the music drops. It's drama and you should always have drama.

And ending on The Waterboys 'This is the Sea' - the title track from one of the greatest albums of the eighties, an album that seems to have been forgotten by the world at large. The title track is about moving on to bigger things "once you were tethered, now you are free. That was the river, this is the sea" - it's about moving on to a bigger place. Moving into the infinite. A bit of philosophy to send people on their way.

As I said, not morbid, not maudlin, just practical, making sure the details are right. Making sure that there's glory and beauty at the end. Making sure that I inflict my musical tastes on everyone one last time.