Scottish mourners are bucking a trend for pop music at funerals with more and more choosing traditional hymns, a study by a funeral director suggests.
In Scotland the number of funerals with hymns rose from 54% to 56% last year, according to Co-operative Funeralcare.
But its survey of 242 funeral homes and 30,000 services showed 58% of people in England and Wales chose pop music.
Frank Sinatra's My Way was most played song at funerals last year and The Lord Is My Shepherd the top hymn.
The Co-operative Funeralcare survey found that since its last study four years ago, the number of people in England and Wales choosing hymns to be played at funerals dropped by 6%, from 41% to 35%, while the number opting for pop music rose from 55% to 58%.
In Scotland the number of funerals accompanied by hymns rose from 54% to 56% and those with pop music fell from 37% to 36%.
The funeral top 10 was headed by Frank Sinatra and included My Heart Will Go On, sung by Celine Dion, I Will Always Love You, by Whitney Houston and You'll Never Walk Alone, sung by Gerry and the Pacemakers.
Alexandra Burke's chart-topping cover version of Hallelujah appears at number 26, two months after it first aired on television.
More than a quarter of funeral homes surveyed received unusual requests during the year, including television themes from Emmerdale, Top Gear and Only Fools and Horses; Doctor and the Medics' Spirit in the Sky, AC/DC's Highway to Hell and So Long, Farewell, from The Sound of Music.
The study also revealed about one in every 10 requests for pieces of music were rejected because clergy conducting the funeral felt the choice was inappropriate.
The Co-operative Funeralcare's Lorinda Sheasby said the study reaffirmed that trends in funerals were changing.
"Today's tear-jerking chart topper is extremely unlikely to be tomorrow's funeral classic, but it's quite possible it will figure highly in the months or even years to come," she said.
"As more people choose non-religious funerals, so they incline towards contemporary songs with which they closely identify," she added.
"Our aim is to make more people aware of the options and choices open to them, so that ultimately the funeral service reflects the life of the individual, which is of great benefit to the bereaved."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Is a 2% drop and a 1% rise in Scotland statistically significant? Probably not. And what this survey does not tell us is that a great many essentially non-religious funerals have hymns in them 'for old times' sake' or out of consideration for Aunty Ethel, or for any number of other non-religious reasons. Hymns give rise to the opportunity for a bit of community singing. There are very few secular songs reckoned appropriate for a funeral. Abide With Me is popular with football fans simply because it is (unaccountably) sung at the FA Cup Final.
It is encouraging to see Co-operative Funeralcare pledging itself to offering options and choices. I look forward to seeing how this translates into reality.
Really a good service as well informative post it is. It is my personal advice to write on funeral agreement. This may help your reader s.
Post a Comment