‘Going Underground’ voted top track for funerals

‘Going Underground’ buries the opposition as top track for funerals

Research from Sun Life Direct reveals that while men opt for comical 'Going Underground" as the song to play at their funeral, women chose Dirty Dancing's "I've had the time of my life".

19 January 2011

Posted in Newsroom

As predicted doom and gloom captured some of the nation last Monday (Blue Monday), but research commissioned by Sun Life Direct, as part of the celebration of the 200^th anniversary of its Sun Life brand, revealed that people do look on the bright side of serious matters.

The days of traditional hymns are being replaced with lighter pop songs, as an upbeat celebration of life. Women are opting for chick-flick favourite of ‘I've had the time of my life’ while men go for the comical factor and opt for The Jam's ‘Going Underground’ with the aim to make their loved ones smile.

Top tracks for funerals

Men		Women
1.	Going Underground - The Jam	1.	I've had the time of my life - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
2.	Football club anthems	2.	Angels - Robbie Williams
3.	Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen	3.	Fields of Gold - Eva Cassidy
4.	The Show Must Go On - Queen	4.	Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
5.	You'll Never Walk Alone - from the musical Carousel	5.	Going Underground - The Jam
6.	My Way - Frank Sinatra	6.	Time to say Goodbye - Andrea Bocelli
7.	I've had the time of my life - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes	7.	Wind Beneath my Wings - Bette Midler
8	Lean on me - Bill Withers	8.	The Show Must Go On - Queen
9.	Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum	9.	I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
10.	Angels - Robbie Williams	10.	Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

‘Going Underground’ takes the overall top spot with over a third of people (37%) wanting their farewell song to raise a grin from family and friends, while a further 12% want the song to be a talking point of the future, something to help their loved ones to remember them fondly.

The desire to raise a wry smile at our passing also appears in our top choices of people to read our eulogy, with three out of the top five being comedians. If we could choose someone famous, ‘QI’ presenter Stephen Fry would be the man of choice with almost a quarter (21%) opting for a witty farewell, closely followed by an ‘Aufwiedersehen Pet’ style goodbye from ‘X Factor’ judge Cheryl Cole (11%) or a cheeky cheerio from funny man Russell Brand (9%).

Celebrity of choice for eulogies

Stephen Fry
Cheryl Cole
Russell Brand
David Beckham
Alan Carr
Smithy (James Cordon)
David Mitchell
Sean Connery
The Queen
The Prime Minister

Mark Howes, managing director, Sun Life Direct said: “Our research confirms that funerals really are a celebration of a person's life. Being able to make our own choices and express ourselves to those we love when we say goodbye is clearly important. With such different sentiments indentified between men and women, it is essential to talk to our loved ones so we are sure they receive the truly personal send off they want.”

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