Tuesday, November 8, 2016

A Singing Will

Taking a break from celebrity and other newsworthy estate planning items, I ran across an interesting article in the NYT this weekend. The writer discussed having an end of life playlist to listen to on one's deathbed. He mentioned how Benedictine monks always chanted, perhaps for a week, around a dying monk, and how music has long provided comfort to others dying. He then discussed songs on his playlist.
A couple of quick thoughts:
1. Of course this does not work for people dying a sudden, unexpected death.
2. As your tastes change, you would have to revise your list lest you be stuck listening to "Funky Town" while dying.
3. One could skip the playlist idea and simply play Sufjan Steven's "Carrie and Lowell" and "Casmir Pulaski Day" on repeat.
4. Thankfully this idea was not idea was not around when I was younger or I would have had Head East's "Never Been Any Reason" on my list although the lyric "save my life going down for the last time" would be tastelessly appropriate.