Can you imagine going to a funeral and hearing AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" come on in the background? It's a very funny but dark thought, but there's a funeral home that's actually been requested to play it before at memorial services, along with songs by Led Zeppelin, Queen and more.
Phaneuf is a New England-based funeral home and crematorium with several locations in New Hampshire and Vermont. Last summer, they published an article about music playlists and which songs in particular they've been requested to play during memorial services. While classics including Frank Sinatra's "My Way" and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea Bocelli were common contenders and country playlists were often wanted, there were a few rather unusual rock requests as well.
The funeral home accepts requests and curates playlists based on the family of the deceased's desires. In the past, they've had families who wanted all Metallica, Rob Zombie and other metal artists to be played throughout the service, as well as The Grateful Dead. Considering some artists have cult-like followings, it's no surprise that a mega-fan of any of them would have wanted their music to play as their loved ones gathered in celebration of them.
"The music is so personal and such an important element of the grieving process, so we make no restrictions," Phaneuf wrote.
In addition to "Highway to Hell," specific songs that have been asked for include Queen's "The Show Must Go On" and "Another One Bites the Dust," Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" — funny enough, a lyric in the chorus reads, "Like Frankie said / I did it my way," a reference to Sinatra's aforementioned tune.
Some of the others are, er, rather disturbing, such as "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" from The Wizard of Oz, Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack" and "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred. We aren't judging, there's probably a humorous explanation behind these, but they were certainly a bit shocking to see up there at first.
We're just imagining a bunch of Munchkins singing "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead" at a funeral now.