A survey carried out by Co-operative funeral care has found that pop songs are replacing hymns at the majority of British funerals.
Only 4% of mourners requested classical music and just 30% opted for hymns to say goodbye to their loved ones.
For the seventh year running Frank Sinatra’s My Way was the most popular choice while Adele’s Someone Like You entered at number 22 in its first year in the funeral music charts. Other popular choices included Bette Middler’s Wind Beneath My Wings and Eric Idle’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, for those with a bit more of a humorous approach to death and funerals.
Abide with Me was the most popular hymn choice and Elgar’s Nimrod took the top spot for a classical piece.
I think that choosing songs that reflect the personality and tastes of the loved one that you have lost is a really great idea. Funerals should celebrate people’s lives and by personalising the service it makes everything a bit more special. It is lovely that churches are adapting their usual musical choices to meet the requests of the congregation.
The report also stated how some churches have refused to play certain songs as they disagreed with the lyrical content. One of the songs that was deemed inappropriate was John Lennon’s Imagine because of the opening line “Imagine there’s no heaven”, not the best choice for a church funeral…