The song Jenny Lewis wants played at her funeral
It’s interesting when you lose someone. You’ve probably thought about it before it happens, and in those thoughts, your world crumbles, but that isn’t what happens in real life. Instead, your grief is suppressed, taking somewhat of a backseat as you plan a funeral and wake, overthinking every decision and worrying whether or not you are making the right call. Yes, they always sang ‘Delilah’ on karaoke, but do they really want that played as we walk in the room? Sure, we always got drunk at Willows, but is it an appropriate place for a wake? And so on and so on…
Well, thank the lord for celebrity interviews, as now, when we lose a lot of famous people, it will be easy for their loved ones to choose the tracks that should usher them into whatever might be waiting in the afterlife. Reading interviews like Jenny Lewis’s as she talks about her dream funeral song, epitaph and rationale for both, we should have these conversations with all of our loved ones, as it will make things a lot easier when we pass.
In an interview, Lewis was asked many questions about the songs that shaped her life. During this, she confirmed the first record she ever bought was ‘Pass the Dutchie’ by Musical Youth, the first song she ever sang in public was Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Red House’, and she wished she’d written anything by Bob Dylan. Most answers were light-hearted, but when asked what song she wanted at her funeral, as would be the case for any of us, she went introspective.
“I’ve thought about what I want on my epitaph: ‘I could probably live here’, inspired by Charles Bukowski’s epitaph, which is ‘Don’t try’,” she said. Her song of choice follows a similar theme, one which is oddly nihilistic but also sweet in sentiment at the same time, as she stares at the undeniable fact time is always going to pass, and death is always going to meet us, but that doesn’t mean we need to feel uncomfortable about it.
“There’s this one song that I think I would like to be played at both my wedding and my funeral, and it also happens to be the alarm on my iPhone that I wake up to every morning,” she said, “It’s an absolutely perfect song by this guy Bobby Charles called ‘I Must Be in a Good Place Now’. That just sums it up: wherever you are, enjoy it.”
Funeral music is an illustrious beast, as we need songs that accurately represent the person lost but aren’t too sad; however, any track will have sad connotations because it is being played at a funeral. We must accept that there is no right song to have at a funeral, and the best thing we can do is be true to ourselves and the person we lost.
Jenny Lewis does precisely that. As someone who has done a lot with her life, whether that is acting in films as a child star, fronting the indie rock band Rilo Kiley or releasing music as a solo artist, she has enjoyed herself. Then, eventually, in death, those close to her will be able to take solace in the fact that she did what she loved with her life and the final natural part of that life, death, has come as it inevitably had to. She puts it best: wherever you are, enjoy it.
