Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Five tunes to die for

I've just been meme-tagged by Mother Jones RN of Nurse Ratched's Place. My very first meme-tagging. Whassat then? Meme tagging is a game that bloggers play, usually involving posting a list. Then you tell another blogger, "It's your turn!" A meme, of course, if you've read anything by Richard Dawkins, is the cultural equivalent of a gene - a self replicating idea.
So what has Mother Jones tagged me with?

Five songs to be played at my funeral.
1. Tibetan monks' chant.
This to be played as the pallbearers carry my coffin into the crematorium. Many years ago, I was in a production of The Jew of Malta, and this was the opening music.
2. Chantilly Lace by the Big Boppa.
Anyone who's been to a karaoke with me will understand this one. "Hello babe!" is just the thing to open the ceremony.
3.Cinderella Rockefeller by Avi and Esther Ovarim.
This is the song of my childhood. It's also a final "I love you." to my family and friends.
4.Pawn's Lament from The Chess Game by Ian McDonald.
You won't have heard this one. It's from a musical, performed over twenty years ago at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which my brother and sister were in. It goes like this:
I hear the bells toll for just another pawn
Your life was but a moment in the whole of time
The bell rings soft now, but no-one seems to hear
Why am I living when so many lie around?
Why...do I feel so cold now?
When...I have survived.
I don't want to grow so old now
Now that all my friends have died
They're not alive
But they'll survive
Their memory lingers on.
Finally, as my coffin heads towards the oven, the final song -
5.The Cygnet from Carmen Burana.
I can't resist the refrain:
Miser, miser
Modo niger
Et ustus fortiter.
(Alas, alas, now black, and roasted thoroughly.)
So that's my bunch of five. Now who can I tag? Lemmee see now. Mother Jones tagged me, Sapient Fridge doesn't have a blog, so that leaves...
BeepBeepitsme - you're it!

2 comments:

Mother Jones RN said...

I love your list, Deacon Barry. Very nice. Number 5 is a hoot!

beepbeepitsme said...

Oh cool. I like meme tags. I must be one of the small group of people who do. I will do it as soon as time allows. :)