The unusual song Zach Braff wants played at his funeral
Since his 2004 directorial debut, Garden State actor and filmmaker Zach Braff has been one of the Hollywood stars most closely linked to the music world. Famously, the drama, which Braff starred in alongside Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Ian Holm, has a soundtrack that boasts some familiar indie acts, including Coldplay and The Shins.
In a notable early scene in the film, Portman’s character Sam passes Braff’s protagonist Andrew a headset, playing ‘New Slang’ by The Shins. She says: “You gotta hear this one song — it’ll change your life, I swear”. As well as being tied to The Shins forever after that sequence, Braff became a prominent Coldplay fan due to the film’s use of ‘Don’t Panic’, a song that meant much to him at the time of writing Garden State. This is a topic he’s never shied away from.
A decade later, Braff turned to the music he loves again for his 2014 movie Wish I Was Here. Somehow, he coaxed Bon Iver out of hiatus to record a song for the soundtrack and returned to British rockers Coldplay. He and their frontman Chris Martin even organised a collaboration on the title track with Cat Power.
In an audio commentary for the film, Braff explained: “We wanted to fill this soundtrack with stuff that is just special and unique to the film. So I just asked some of my favourite bands, ‘Would you consider watching the film and then writing the song that is the piece of art that came out of you after you’ve seen this movie, which is funny but also quite emotional?’ What a great, fun collaboration.”
Whilst many have pigeonholed Braff as being solely a fan of indie’s more melancholic side, that doesn’t do him justice. When speaking to the NME on March 24th, 2023, for their ‘Soundtrack of my Life’ segment, he revealed the name of the song he wants to be played at his funeral, and it comes as a big surprise. It is Sir Mix-A-Lot’s sexually-charged 1992 hit, ‘Baby Got Back’, more commonly known as the “I like big butts, and I cannot Lie” song.
Of this unusual choice, Braff said: “This song got me through a lot of hard times. I would like for it to not only be played at my funeral but for everyone to be forced to sing along and gently twerk. Not trousers down. Everyone can keep their trousers up, but the rabbi will say: ‘Please stand and turn around, and now if you wouldn’t mind, it is the deceased’s request that you gently twerk next to your seats.’ Just a light bop. I don’t want any of the seniors hurting their backs.”
