There are many ways to sonically memorialize the dead. Standards like “Dust in the Wind” and anything from Elliott Smith’s discography tend to get chosen, but there’s so much more out there. We want you to go out on (literally!) a high note. If you’re feeling less maudlin and more expressive, you could always go the way of the jazz funeral. Below, a few more suggestions.
— Jonny Coleman
Judie Tzuke — For You
Mark McGuire — The Vast Structure of Recollection
Labi Siffre — Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying
Suicide — Dream Baby Dream
The Velvet Underground — All Tomorrow’s Parties
Paul Simon —Graceland
The Smiths — Asleep
The O’Jays — Stairway to Heaven
Sufjan Stevens — For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fathers in Ypsilanti
Arthur Russell — This is How We Walk on the Moon
Chromatics — Running Up That Hill
Dolly Parton & Brad Paisley — When I Get To Where I’m Going
Chico & The Gypsies— Hotel California
Wynton Marsalis — Buddy Bolden’s Blues
West Side Story — Something’s Coming
Smog — Dress sexy at my funeral
2Pac — Dear Mama
Brotha Lynch Hung — Walking to My Funeral
Sebastien Tellier — Black Douleur
Randy California — Rain
Leonard Cohen — Who by Fire
Dierks Bentley — Here on Earth
Willie Nelson — Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die
Allen Toussaint — Last Train
